The Hunger Games has always had a distinguishable musical signature, a realistic, dark and emotional vibe that has made each movie soundtrack a marvel to music enthusiasts. This time for the third movie’s soundtrack, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part One, Lorde has been assigned to curate the album. Replacing previous featured artists such as Coldplay, Taylor Swift, Imagine Dragons and many other heavy hitters, Lorde has chosen a range of rising artists, from Tove Lo to XOV, and well, a lot of Lorde. Here’s my track-by-track review on The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part One Movie Soundtrack. (Spotify Version)

 

1. Meltdown – Stromae, Lorde, Pusha T, Q-Tip, Haim (66)

– Not the greatest starting single, though the parts with Lorde bursting in help maintain this choppy track. The artist line-up behind Meltdown is impressive to say the least.

 

2. Dead Air – CHVRCHES (70)

– I feel like Dead Air should have a pop-up warning of incoming 70’s/80’s pop. I like the vocal performance and bursting electronic tones, but something in the end feels absent. Maybe it’s that Hunger Games vibe I was talking about before 😉 .

 

3. Scream My Name – Tove Lo (89)

– One of the best tracks on the soundtrack, Tove Lo’s Scream My Name may not be a masterpiece, but it sure does impress.

 

4. All My Love (feat. Ariana Grande) – Major Lazer (73)

– All My Love, I feel would fit better on Catching Fire’s soundtrack. It has this wild, crazy yet grounded sound, something Lorde purposely tried to avoid with this album. Not a bad single, but for this album, it’s out of place.

 

5. Lost Souls – Raury (86)

– The lyrics of this track are entirely Hunger Games material, the feel of Lost Souls is haunting, eerie and quite beautiful. A great song for a movie with an ambient architecture.

 

6. Yellow Flicker Beat – Lorde (85)

– How could Lorde curate an album with nothing of herself in it? Well, she found her place with three of her own works in the album, including this wonder, Yellow Flicker Beat. A track that had to be wholly inspired by Katniss Everdeen’s heroic nature, and, of course, her conflicting feelings of revenge and survival.

 

7. Plan The Escape (Son Lux Cover) – Bat For Lashes (59)

– Other than the lyrics, Plan The Escape sounds like a gothic Christmas carol, which for some may excite, but is a rarity on my Spotify song collection.

 

8. Original Beast – Grace Jones (48)

– I don’t know why I feel so freaked when I listen to this song, but for some reason I just have this urge to skip the song as soon as it plays. Way to distant from the Hunger Games and the other tracks, like All My Love, it doesn’t belong.

 

9. Flicker (Kayne West Rework) – Lorde (92)

– Yellow Flicker Beat with more poignant prowess and depth. How do you make the original song better, get Kayne West to do a rework. (please note, this doesn’t mean I like Kayne West, it means I tolerate him)

 

10. Animal – XOV (80)

– Dystopian, post-apocalyptic and all-in-all a solid track. Animal is a great addition to the soundtrack.

 

11. This Is Not A Game – The Chemical Brothers, Miguel (76)

– This soundtrack is not a game, and this track I feel does not understand that. While I like the message behind it, it doesn’t take the material it was supposed to be inspired by seriously.

 

12. Ladder Song – Lorde (84)

– Before people start calling me a Lorde fan, let’s make this clear, great artist, not my style. Even with that said, Lorde has impressed me time and time again, and this song does not upset.

Many by the end of this review may hate me now, but I thank you for reading it, your opinion is your own, and that’s special, but the same can be said about mine. Thanks for reading, Joel Freecheck.