Search - Various Artists :: Requiem for a Dream: Remixed

An up and down experience

syLenxor | New York | 03/22/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"After thoroughly enjoying the movie "Requiem for a Dream," I bought this album mainly because of my interest in electronic music (and the movie, of course). The electronic remixes provide very "interesting" takes on the music of the movie.



Some of the songs are good, but most of them are just too bland to be catchy. Overall, the album has a boring feel to it, stemming from the collection of samples taken straight from the movie. Sure, they serve to create a haunting atmosphere and make you feel like you're watching the movie, but I'd rather watch the movie again instead. Personally, I consider them plain filler. In addition, the little audio clips aren't very ideal for MP3 players (such as my iPod), when I prefer to listen to my entire library shuffled. After all, who likes listening to 10-second tracks mixed in with his or her other songs? But maybe that's just me. People who listen to CDs from beginning to end will have a better listening experience than I did and will definitely be taken for a haunting ride. And to keep the whole ride going smoothly, each song is slightly mixed with the next, which is something that might annoy some listeners (that includes me). Otherwise, the brief interludes serve their purpose pretty well.



As you probably know already, I like only a few songs on this album, and they are:



"In the End It's All Nice" by Plant - It's a remix of the main theme, and it has a dark, bouncy groove. This song should have definitely been the "intro," as the cleverly used samples provide a nice overview of the movie's plot and atmosphere.



"Ghosts In the Machine" by Psilonaut - It's a very interesting take on the "Ghosts" theme. It starts off slow, but eventually the calming, powerful (maybe even a bit repetitive) vocals smoothly take you to the end of the song. The sampling in it is weird (a robot counting from one to ten... whoa), but it adds to the haunting atmosphere without being too distracting.



"Aeternal" by Paul Oakenfold - It's another remix of the main theme, but this time it's a hip-hop sort of beat. The song never really changes its style or beat, but perhaps it's good that way.



"Deluxed" by Delerium - This is the darkest remix of the main theme, done by a very talented duo. The song starts off very slow, builds up intensely, and slowly ends back where it started. It's probably the best song on the album.



"Overturned" by ILS - It's nothing really special, but I like this drum-and-bass remix of the main theme for its novelty value.



As for the other songs, I can't say much about them other than I don't like them. But I do recommend this album to anyone willing to experience something that's new and unusual. The songs retain most of the chilling feel of the movie's original score, while they introduce a cool electronic twist that listeners may really enjoy."

A very original remix

Boris Ivanov | Montclair State University, NJ | 06/15/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After I saw Requiem, I was immediately affected by the amazing score. The movie wouldn't have been half of what it was without it. I borrowed a CD of the original score from a friend, but ultimately was disappointed. The original CD is basically all the music from the film, even background music, with nothing new. Just as the film is nothing without the score, the score is nothing without the film's drama and originality. But then this remix caught my eye. Remixed by some of the greatest producers in dance music, this was something that could be enjoyable by itself. In the world of techno, there is tons and tons and tons of really bad music, so it is hard to pick out the good stuff. THIS IS THE GOOD STUFF. 11 blazingly original tracks, all infused with the film's intense sadness and beauty, do more than justice to the equally beautiful score, while managing to remain quality dance music. If you like good, non-cheesy, original techno, why aren't you buying this CD?
I especially like the Hive, Delerium, and Oakenfold tracks.
Overall, awesome and something to be listened to over and over again."

Not quite what I was expecting

moggyness | Apopka, FL United States | 08/18/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Well where can I begin? I did love the original soundtrack, and I've always been a fan of trance, but this CD still came to me as a bit of a disappointment. I'd say of the 12 original tracks on the album, I enjoyed only four or five. When listening to the CD, several of the new tracks give me that 'cheap, slapped on' feeling. Not really what I was expecting, but if you can get a good deal on it like I did, it's still probably worth the money. The Oakenfold and Delirium tracks were probably the tracks I enjoyed most. I wouldn't say it's a bad CD, but I feel that there was a lot of room for improvement. From such an awesome soundtrack, I expected much more in the remix...."