Okay, yeah. This is going to be one of my more unusual album reviews. But because this is my blog, I can do what I want. And today I want to write about the soundtrack for my favorite movie of the year. Genuinely, the K-Pop Demon Hunters soundtrack has probably been my most listened to album since I first saw the movie on November 2, just about three weeks ago as I'm writing this. After watching the movie (in theaters with friends from my band!), I immediately ordered the soundtrack CD and have listened to at least part of it almost every day. I am full on obsessed and I will not apologize for that. However, I do have some notes. Obviously, I love the music on this album. My main complaint, though, is that the song order on this CD is downright baffling.
We're talking about a soundtrack, so obviously the song order is going to have to be a bit of a compromise. Either songs are going to have to be in chronological order, which would bury the good songs in the middle or at the end, or you'd have to disregard the chronology and put the heavy hitters at the front of the album. Both of those are compromises, but I would probably prefer to have it be chronological. However, the K-Pop Demon Hunters soundtrack can't seem to decide what it wants. Songs are out of order compared to the movie, but they're still mostly in order which calls attention to the out of order songs and makes them seem like mistakes. Not only that, but there are songs on the soundtrack that are only minor incidental music in the background, and there are songs missing that I would really expect to be on the soundtrack CD (Jinu's introduction song about Gwi-Ma letting his fire die comes to mind here). And, if all that isn't enough, the first song on the album is the end credits song. What!?
If it were up to me, I would have made the soundtrack stick to a strict chronological sequence in accordance with the movie. But that's really a minor complaint, because there's nothing stopping you from listening to the songs on this album in any order you want. If it's really a problem, it's nothing that creating a playlist can't fix. What matters more, however, is how the soundtrack versions of the songs differ from the movie versions, and in this area, the soundtrack is a clear step up.
In the movie, songs are treated the way musicals always do; they are secondary to the narrative and serve as a vehicle for moving the plot forward. That's all well and good, but of course, that leads to compromises in the music. Thankfully, the soundtrack does the right thing and presents the songs as songs. There are no awkward breaks, there is no dialogue, and none of the reprises are included. I like this. It feels much more like an album than some soundtracks I've listened to, which is why I wanted to write this in the format of an album review in the first place. I feel like this is truly a pop album, which makes sense because the movie centers around a pop band. It makes me so happy that I get to hear the full versions of songs that get cut off in the movie. It's like listening to the same version of the songs that I imagine the Huntr/x fans in the movie's world would be hearing.
One particular example of differences between the movie version and soundtrack version of a song that stands out to me is Your Idol (which is placed before Free on the soundtrack for some reason I cannot tell). For those who don't know, I studied music in college. There is absolutely no way that I would miss a direct statement of the Dies Irae, a famous piece of music used in movies as a motif for death. When I listened to the soundtrack for the first time, I was shocked that I had apparently missed the Dies Irae when watching the movie. And it's not like it was subtle, either. It's right there in the intro to the song, not being covered up by anything else in the music, and it's complete with the Latin text and everything. I felt like I missed something huge- that is, until I watched the movie again and the Dies Irae was not present. I listened as hard as I could, and I have yet to hear it in the movie mix of Your Idol. It's front and center in the soundtrack. Some of the vocal parts are also mixed drastically differently, as well. The biggest example of that is when Jinu sings "I will make you fray when you're all a part of me", which is clearly audible in the movie but more than a little bit buried in the soundtrack mix. These sorts of differences in mixing are present in the majority of the songs in K-Pop Demon Hunters, and for the most part, I get it. I understand why some vocal parts would be emphasized in the movie but not in the pop song version. I still have no idea why the Dies Irae is omitted from the movie, though. It's such a good reference and it makes the classical music nerd in me happy, but hey. At least it's in the soundtrack.
Overall, I love K-Pop Demon Hunters as a movie, and I love the soundtrack as a genuine pop album. I have issues with the track order, but that isn't enough to detract from my enjoyment of the music. In fact, I like the music on the soundtrack way better than I like the music in the movie. Listening to this album has made me spend a lot of time thinking about what a soundtrack CD can and should be. I wish more musicals took this approach.
Oh, and when it comes to the actual music, it's all amazing. Right now I'll say my favorite song is How It's Done, but that could change at any moment. Pretty much any of the Huntrix songs could be. One final spoiler-heavy note, though, is that I really wasn't that much of a fan of Takedown until I realized it isn't actually a song about the Saja Boys. It's about how Rumi sees herself. Once I started listening to that song from the perspective of Rumi thinking those lyrics applied to her, I got a lot more out of the experience. I could talk forever about how the music and the narrative support each other, but I feel like that's beyond the scope of an album review, so I'll leave it here. Watch the movie. If you have watched the movie, listen to the soundtrack as an album. I think the music has a lot to say that you can't pick up just from watching the movie.
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