REAL STEEL - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2011)

If steel robots had a favourite genre of music, it’d probably be…metal? That is probably why the producers of this soundtrack album concocted this lineup of songs to accompany the Shawn Levy movie about a former boxer (played by the ever versatile Hugh Jackman) and a boxing robot named Atom (realistically brought to life by motion capture technology).

The 48 minute album kicks off with “Fast Lane”, the lead single by hip hop duo Bad Meets Evil, a group composed of rapper Royce da 5’9” and everybody’s favourite bad boy Eminem. The four minute track sets the tone for the entire soundtrack with its steroid driven funk. American hip hop trio Beastie Boys, alternative rock band Foo Fighters and rapper 50 Cent follow up with equally earth shattering tunes “Here’s A Little Something For Ya”, “Miss The Misery” and “The Enforcer” respectively.

Eminem returns in “Till I Collapse”, a song from the 2002 Grammy nominated album The Eminem Show. The song, featuring additional vocals from late rapper Nate Dogg in the chorus, is an infectious tune which will have you bobbing your body to its steady rhythm. Other recognisable names on the album are rapper Timbaland (who performs the synthesizer heavy “Give It a Go”) and rock band Limp Bizkit (who performs the scream fest “Why Try”).

Elsewhere, artistes like Tom Morello, Prodigy and Rival Sons contribute earsplitting songs to the album. That’s why it’s nice to hear Alexi Murdoch performing the calming “All My Days” after all the brouhaha, before the album closes with composer Danny Elfman’s one odd minute score track “Kenton”. We’d have loved to hear more of Elfman’s compositions on the album, and hear how the talented composer come up with music for a science fiction movie set in a futuristic world where humans have been replaced by robots in boxing.     

ALBUM RATING:

Recommended Track: (6) ‘Till I Collapse – Eminem featuring Nate Dogg

Review by John Li