Check It: Transformers Sdtk.
I must say, this has to be a franchise of things you thought would suck but turn out to be pretty decent. I thought the same about the movie, going in expecting a major level of suck, but coming out wanting to catch it a second time. The soundtrack judging by the initial track listing is a give or take, but goes down surprisingly well.
A combination of bands featured in the movie and Projekt Revolution sampler, the usual suspects provided new tunes to please the ear… Julien-K, MuteMath, etc. The release follows the typical formula of packaging bigger bands with lesser known artists, and crosses a decent amount of the modern rock to alternative to electronic spectrum that at times throws the flow off, but being a soundtrack that is pretty expected. No Nickelback though… who left those guys off? C’mon now!
As stated earlier, Julien-K, the new project of Ryan and Amir or Orgy fame, provide one of the more promising tracks of the album with their blend of electronic, rock, and industrial influences in a track that hits hard yet retains it’s emotion even when hidden behind a vocoder. The introduction of Styles Of Beyond (featuring Mike Shinoda) presents a sound that is a bit dated, but could potentially be a grower, we’ll have to wait to hear more before passing final judgement.
Heavy hitters lend tracks that you’ve heard about six million times this summer including Linkin Park’s “What I’ve Done”, Smashing Pumpkin’s “Doomsday Clock”, and just starting to spin The Used’s “Pretty Handsome Awkward”.
It does a good job at being alternative rock’s answer to the “Now” compilation and an introduction to about 2/3rd of the bands on Linkin Park’s Projekt Revolution tour, but overall there is some worthwhile stuff buried on the album amongst the tracks that you hold near and dear every time you hear them on the radio in 30 minute intervals.