{{stream}} watch The Hunger Games Catching Fire 2013 online

by Yeni Deui manager Watch The Hunger Games Catching Fire HD Caliber Full Movie Various artists, "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" Soundtrack (Republic/Mercury)

Choosing the tracks for "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" soundtrack must have been a mini-Hunger Games in itself after the wild success of the first film. The victors offer a mix of indie and mainstream, adding a rounded, energetic and emotional dimension to the film.

The twelve tributes (fifteen on the deluxe edition) of album No. 2 battle it out to discover who puts out the edgiest, yet accessible, song in homage to the story. One can see a shift in tone from the first film's T Bone Burnett-produced soundtrack from folky melancholy to a slicker, more eccentric offering supervised by Alexandra Patsavas.

A few traces from the original DNA remain with such tracks as the folky "Lean" by The National, "Devil May Cry" by The Weeknd and the dulcet tones of "Gale Song" by The Lumineers. The lead single "Atlas," from British rockers Coldplay, brings a low simmer resignation to boil over into anger. It's a resounding anthem to fighting against oppression and feeling the weight of the world on one's shoulders in dulcet piano tones. Christina Aguilera adds to the film's mainstream cred with her powerful vocals on the catchy "We Remain."

But the indie performers modulate their voices in a different direction — instead of reassuring, revolutionary tones they all go eerie synth. Teen sensation Lorde does an underwater-sounding cover of Tears for Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" that takes its original cheerful spirit and twists it into a macabre warning. Australian Sia convincingly taps into the best of tribal pop on "Elastic Heart," featuring The Weeknd and Diplo, while Ellie Goulding goes all angelic sci-fi electro in "Mirror."
The soundtrack for The Hunger Games featured the subtitle Songs From District 12 and Beyond. This was a nice reference to the film itself, but it also evoked the folky, rabble-rousing bands like Arcade Fire, The Decemberists, The Low Anthem, and others that were included within. This time around, however, there’s no subtitle for the soundtrack; the film’s own Catching Fire title takes precedence, and the songs are made to match.

The film’s protagonist, Katniss Everdeen, is now famous and victorious, so this time around, bold pop songs are better suited to fill the collection. References to the source material crop up commonly, but none are too overwrought to disrupt the songs. The biggest star on display is Christina Aguilera, whose stomping, strong anthem “We Remain”, powerfully demands “burn me with fire, drown me with rain.” Ellie Goulding’s reference to being “the girl on fire” slides nicely into her dark, slinky, self-examining electro-jam, “Mirror”. Santigold’s “Shooting Arrows At The Sky” has an obvious nod to Katniss in its title, but the song itself slots in nicely amongst her collection of loud and ecstatic funky pop, regardless of its inspiration. The Weeknd still manages to sound overtly sexy when he’s singing about faces in the crowd at the victory party in “Devil May Cry”. Lorde’s cover of “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” completely does away with the melody of the Tears For Fears hit, turning it into a bleak, atmospheric, industrial romp, as though our protagonist is seeing the predatory inner desires of all those that surround her, the end result almost unrecognizable from the original.

Of course, romance is a large part of the story, and that’s taken care of here by Sia, whose “Elastic Heart” steals the show (with the help of The Weeknd and Diplo), as she sings passionately about remaining unbroken through a war-like love, over excellently cresting bass and skittering drums. Elsewhere, Phantogram delivers a typical tapestry of nocturnal tones in the ill-fated tale “Lights”.

The collection does feature a ragtag bunch of indie bands, but there are far more chart successes this time around. Coldplay kicks off the collection with the spirited “Atlas”, and Of Monsters and Men, Imagine Dragons and The Lumineers each use their uplifting, troubadour folk formulas to produce effective results. Even a strong character like Katniss has her moments of understated poignancy, and these are handled by The National’s “Lean” and its refrain of “dying is easy,” and Antony & the Johnsons’ spellbinding “Angel on Fire”.

All in all, this soundtrack is a solid collection of B-level material from a varied selection of artists. Young listeners picking it up because they’re fans of the franchise or one of the bigger artists could easily use this as an entryway into a new musical discovery. And, in the end, that’s as much as you can hope for from a soundtrack of all new work.

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Created on Dec 31st 1969 18:00. Viewed 0 times.

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