The Skin of a Killer - How Twilight Changed the Alt-Music Scene
Autumn 2008 will forever live in the collective imagination of those who were - mostly - teenage girls at the time. Twilight, the film adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's bestselling love story between the awkward heroine Bella Swan and her immortal love interest, vampire Edward Cullen, was about to arrive in cinemas. The anticipation wasn't only about the film itself. Music was a huge part of what inspired Meyer to bring the story to life, from MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE and MUSE serving as a starting point when she wrote the first lines, to depicting Bella listening to LINKIN PARK in her room. The soundtrack, therefore, could not afford to disappoint.
There is no doubt that Twilight created a remarkably distinct sonic world: edgy, yet romantic and melancholic, suited to the rainy Forks landscape in which the story unfolds. Much of the credit belongs to music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas, whose careful curation resembled an intimate mixtape shared between lovers, with the perfect balance of established alternative names and emerging artists. Culturally, the soundtrack was a reflection of its time. Alternative rock and the rise of the emo subculture were very much having their own moment in mass appeal. While MTV, MySpace, and mall goth aesthetics had made this scene increasingly visible, the arrival of Twilight put a force behind it: vampires were slowly creeping out of the shadows and into the mainstream.
Twilight's contribution to the alternative music scene came from bringing that already thriving culture into one of the decade's biggest media phenomena. It was also a beautifully crafted collection of great artists under one roof. Unfortunately, there was a strange hierarchy to what was considered worthy of attention. Alternative rock and its associated genres could be taken seriously when their audience was perceived as real music fans. Anything loved by teenage girls, however, was far more easily dismissed as a fad, or something to be embarrassed about.
The film wasted no time bringing these two worlds together, with LINKIN PARK's Leave Out All the Rest rolling over the closing credits. By 2008, LINKIN PARK were already one of the biggest nu-metal bands in the world and their presence represented the coexistence of two worlds that, until then, had been kept separate. A well-respected act, with years of musical credibility behind them, was now part of the world of Twilight.
The artists placed into the soundtrack were reaching audiences far beyond their existing fan bases. MUSE, in particular, found a breakthrough in the US through the franchise. The trade-off was Supermassive Black Hole, released two years prior, being redefined and forever associated with the iconic scene in which the Cullens swing their baseball bats during a vampiric game in a thunderstorm.
PARAMORE's Decode was written specifically for Twilight and became part of the film's pre-release promotional campaign. Its music video also featured footage from the film, helping carry the band far beyond the demographic they had built around Riot! and Misery Business. Similarly, BLUE FOUNDATION's Eyes on Fire became so closely ingrained in Twilight that, almost twenty years later, its first notes can still transport fans straight back to Forks. Its resurgence on TikTok meant that, for many listeners, the song is now more recognisable for its place in Twilight than for the band behind it. But there is more to the soundtrack's longevity than nostalgia. The quality of the music itself has given it a remarkable shelf life. As the saga continued, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn evolved with the times, welcoming newer indie rock, folk and themes associated with the new hipster era rather than trying to recreate the exact formula of the first film.
At this point, Twilight had the world’s attention and a huge, passionate fanbase willing to buy anything associated with it. From a commercial point of view, it was a win-win situation: artists gained promotion, labels made sales, and fans got more music. But even the artists benefiting from this newfound exposure were aware of the irony of being embraced by a mainstream they had once stood apart from. MUSE bassist Chris Wolstenholme likened the band's involvement with Twilight to "selling your soul". Despite the reservations, MUSE returned for New Moon with I Belong to You and Eclipse with Neutron Star Collision.
A much firmer stance was taken by one of the OG bands that inspired the saga. MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE declined when approached by the Twilight franchise to contribute music to the films. They saw the alternative culture they had spent years contributing to and standing for starting to become stripped, repackaged and repurposed into a vapid version of what it represented. Vampire Money, from their 2010 album Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, was written as a protest against those approaches.
Almost 20 years later, Twilight remains a cult classic. The film may be easier to look back on now and recognise what hasn’t aged particularly well. The soundtrack, meanwhile, continues to be praised as one of the film's strongest elements.
But its legacy also raises an uncomfortable question. Twilight gave bands exposure on a
much bigger scale, introducing an entire generation to music they may never have discovered. At the same time, it took something that had largely belonged to the weird kids and repackaged it for a mass audience - arguably becoming the very opposite of what alternative culture had stood for. MCR’s song could not have said it better: “Sing it like the kids that are mean to you / When you wanna be a movie star / Play the game and take the band real far.”
Words: Lorena Hurtado
Photos and videos: Summit Entertainment, Movieclips, PARAMORE, MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE
Comments