The Twilight Saga: New Moon (soundtrack)

New Moon: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

New Moon's soundtrack comprises songs that are all original and exclusive to the soundtrack and are performed by various indie rock and alternative rock artists. New Moon director Chris Weitz stated that the soundtrack would feature songs from Radiohead, Muse, and Band of Skulls. Death Cab for Cutie contributed the soundtrack's lead single, a song written specifically for the film called "Meet Me on the Equinox", which debuted September 13 during the MTV Video Music Awards. Bassist Nick Harmer says, "We wrote 'Meet Me On the Equinox' to reflect the celestial themes and motifs that run throughout the Twilight series and we wanted to capture that desperate feeling of endings and beginnings that so strongly affect the main characters." The music video for "Meet Me on the Equinox" premiered on October 7, 2009 and includes clips from the movie. The English rock band Muse contributed a remix of their song "I Belong to You", which appears in its original form on their 2009 album The Resistance. St. Vincent collaborated with Bon Iver's Justin Vernon to create a song called "Rosyln". When describing the song, she said, "[Justin] sings in his beautiful falsetto and I'm actually singing very, very low... I think there's something vampirey and creepy about the two of us singing together. It's a simple, stripped-down kind of song." The soundtrack originally had a release date of October 20, 2009, but the date was moved up four days to October 16 due to "overwhelming and unprecedented demand".

iTunes digital album

A digital version of the album, available for purchase on iTunes, was released simultaneously with the physical edition on October 16. It features 3 bonus tracks and a music video, in addition to the 15 standard tracks. The pre-ordered albums include four additional bonus tracks.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Companion

The Twilight Saga: New Moon – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Companion CD/DVD album consists of the international bonus tracks (with the exception of the Japanese bonus track) from the New Moon soundtrack, as well as a bonus DVD. It was initially announced for release on March 16, 2010. On March 1, Warner listed the album as "sell hold" and gave it a new release date of December 2011, effectively postponing the album. On March 24, 2010, it was reported that Warner had relisted the album with a new release date of May 25, 2010 with a few changes to the DVD; the removal of an interview with Chris Weitz and Alexandra Patsavas and the video for Lupe Fiasco's track "Solar Midnite".

Marketing

Hot Topic locations across the United States hosted New Moon soundtrack listening parties on the release date, October 16, where fans were able to listen to the entire soundtrack and hear special messages from the featured bands. The album's CD booklet folds out into a New Moon poster.

International versions of the soundtrack are available in certain countries, featuring bonus tracks from "local" artists. For example, Mexican Grammy and Latin Grammy nominee Ximena Sariñana is featured on Spanish language versions of the soundtrack, with the song "Frente al Mar" ("In front of the Sea").

Reception

Initial critical response to the New Moon soundtrack was generally favorable. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 70, based on 11 reviews.

Chart performance

The soundtrack debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and climbed to number one a week later after selling 153,000 copies in its first full week of release. It made history as the first time ever a soundtrack and its sequel have both reached the #1 spot on the chart. The album was certified Platinum by RIAA, and has sold 1,305,000 copies in the US as of August 2013.

In New Zealand, it was certified Gold on October 18, 2009, selling over 7,500 copies in its first two days of release. The album debuted at number two and was certified Platinum after its first week of release, selling over 15,000 copies. In Australia, the soundtrack rose to number one on the iTunes Store and has largely stayed in the top five since its release. It debuted at number two on the ARIA Albums Chart in the week beginning October 26, 2009, and was certified Platinum in its first week. In Mexico, the album is jumped to No. 1 on the international album charts and No. 4 on the main chart after five weeks inside the chart, caused by the success of the film. In the UK, the album debuted at number one on the compilations chart.