Dracula 2000 Soundtrack
Released in 2000 (this is just an educated guess)
This is the only soundtrack I have with multiple artists on it (the other is from Weird Al's movie, so it's just him), and the only non-Tarantino one I would ever consider buying. I bought it because most of the artists interested me at the time, and I'm still content with it today. The movie sucked, by the way, but most of the artists here are still good. Let's review them, shall we?
1. POWERMAN 5000 - Ultra Mega (3:30): The first song is very energetic in a techno/nu-metal kind of way. You'll be hearing more of them in the form of Static-X later on, but this song is distinguished by its position as the album opener, and it is very effective in that regard. 4/5
2. DISURBED - A Welcome Burden (3:31): Disturbed is sort of a nu-metal band, but the vocals are more unique and the guitar playing is above-average. This song is particularly good for a nu-metal song, except for this weird lyric, which sounds like: "...and all the Pokemons taste my misery." There is no explanation or excuse for that verse, but the rest of the song is solid and Dave Draiman's vocals are great and haunting as usual. 4.5/5
3. SLAYER - Bloodline (3:21): This is on Slayer's latest album "God Hates Us All," and it's a bit slower than their 80s stuff. The eerie, slow doom of the song turns into a much faster and more satisfying thrashfest by the time the bridge kicks in, but the solo is less than we've come to expect from these guys. It's still great for this compliation though, so it gets the ol' 5/5.
4. SYSTEM OF A DOWN - Metro (2:59): This is a cover of a song by nu-wave band Berlin, and I didn't even realize it when I first bought the album. SOAD manages to make it their own with their brand of kooky nu-thrash/metal/hardcore mentality. There's a mini-guitar solo mimicking the keyboard melody, and the bass is strong. All is well for this song, and it's good for people who normally don't like this band. 5/5
5. MONSTER MAGNET - Heads Explode (3:49): I don't know the story of this band, but I think they're an old 80s hair metal band. Either way, they've reformed and brought a kickass rock song to the mix that sounds a little like Beck or the 60s mod rock he samples from. It's very energetic and fun, which this album's catalog usually lacks. 4.5/5
6. GODHEAD feat. MARYLIN MANSON - Break You Down (3:17): You can tell how this band is influenced by the fact that I frequently have a hard time distinguishing between Godhead's frontman and Manson himself. A creepy descending bassline (Twiggy is credited with the bass here) compliments the eerie harmonica and makes this song work great. 4/5
7. LINKIN PARK - One Step Closer (2:37): This song wasn't yet popular when I first bought the album, but eventually it was used in ads for the movie. I remember listening to it a few times, but that soon became unnecessary as the song was forced down my throat. It wasn't anything special anyway, trust me. 2/5
8. PANTERA - Avoid The Light (6:27): This semi-power ballad starts off with acoustics and soon the power chords come in. Phil's lyrics shout forward amidst guitar squealings that sound like a malfunctioning machine, and the chaos of the song is complete. There's a great guitar solo by Darrell in here and the song's atmosphere perfectly matches that of what the movie was acting to accomplish. This may have been Pantera's last original song recorded, and what a way to go out. By far the album's best track. 5/5
9. STATIC-X - Ostego Undead (3:52): If you've never heard Static-X before, then this will educate you rather quickly. Electronic blips, heavy riffs, and endless repeating of the chorus are all par for the course in this song, but it's not necessarily bad. This song can also be found on their second album "Machine," so if you pick that up you'll know what to expect. 4/5
10. HED P.E. - Swan Dive (3:36): Starts off kind of low-key, with a Sublime-type of mellowness. But the lyrics explain how this is eventually going to blow up, as the singer screams "What could be better than a/ swan dive/ into the asphalt? / I don't know/ nothing can be better than a/ swan dive into the asphalt!" The bridge turns into a rant of some sort, and the craziness gets kicked up a notch too. Fun lyrics, but derivative band. Have fun! 4/5
11. TAPROOT - Day By Day (3:20): This was way before the band became famous for "Poem," so I actually had to form an opinion of them by myself. Bet you wish you had that advantage, eh Linkin Park? Starts off with what sounds like a picked bass riff, then turns into heavy nu-metal territory. The lyrics are really fast talking, almost like Fred Durst. Then you hear the now-familiar whining lyrics, and they're really starting to sound band now. Jeez, what WAS my opinion of them anyway? 2.5/5
12. ENDO - Malice (3:43): Starts off low-key with some mumbling lyrics and a bassline in the background. You could tell where this was heading: nu-metal whine-fest! The "singing" is that half-rapped garbage, sort of like Korn except without the benefit Korn had of doing it first. Way too angry, sorry. 2.5/5
13. FLYBANGER - Blind World (4:06): Weird, it starts off kind of jazzy. "Check this one out... bi
tch!" Ha ha, then it turns into a more driving rock/metal riff. "When are we gonna finally meet disorder?" Sounds almost like Disturbed in the vocals category, but Flaw is also an acceptable influence. I actually kind of like this one too; I guess that weird joke beginning caught me off guard. 4/5
14. HALF COCKED - Sober (4:07): Here's the joke: the band has two guys and two girls in it. Get it? Yeah, real clever guys. The song is straight-up rock and roll before "The" bands made it popular, and the singer is one of the women in the band. Pretty good song, but did they have to take the title from one of Tool's biggest hits? Nice and upbeat, but it's never really been my style of music. 3.5/5 + guitar solo points.
15. SALIVA - Your Disease (3:58): Ah, this song. Once again, the song and band had not yet reached popularity, but they did in due time. This song's okay, but I'm still in shock over their hubris about not being a typical "whiny" band as they bragged in "Click Click Boom," and yet they made a really big stinker on their next album by writing a "baby don't leave me!" type song. But that's just the band; the song isn't quite that atrocious. I still think it wears out its welcome pretty quickly though. 3/5
There you have it. An excellent selection of songs if you don't have a download program or CD burner. Plus, many of these tracks are found nowhere else (except Kazaa wink wink!), so you probably wouldn't be too sorry if you picked it up on sale or something. If you're wondering about the level of musicianship on here, I'll have you know that Slayer and Pantera are the absolute best musicians on the album, and that's not too shabby.
Final grade: 3.5/5
