The Twilight Saga is a story of teenage romance, vampires, and unconsummated desire. The books, authored by Stephenie Meyer, popularized a niche market of vampire romance novels and created a rabid fanbase through the film adaptations featuring Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan. The first installment of Twilight soundtracks, "Twilight Soundtrack," looked like an effort to create a chart success with the faint hope of getting indie cred. The line-up included Linkin Park, Paramore, and Collective Soul next to Muse, Iron and Wine, and The Black Ghosts.

If there were insecurities from the first movie's ability to sell a soundtrack, they were lost on the curators of the second soundtrack. "Twilight: New Moon" was stacked with a list of who's who indie artists: Bon Iver, Grizzly Bear, St. Vincent, Thom York and Death Cab for Cutie all contributed to the films cross-over appeal to indie music fans.

The move to attract music fans must have worked because "Twilight: Eclipse," the third film's soundtrack, is chock full of exclusive collaborations and "indie-indie" like the whisper of Kristen Stewart's eyebrows... if such a thing exists. The highlights of the album include Beck working with Bat for Lashes on "Let's Get Lost," and Alison Mosshart's steadfast vocals on The Dead Weather track, "Rolling In On A Burning Tire."

Musically the soundtrack delivers what you would expect from each artist. The Black Keys sound bluesy, the Bravery are predictably bland, and Cee Lo Green is comfortably soulful. Like the movies, the soundtrack never fully reaches it's potential. "Twilight: Eclipse" is a typical soundtrack that puts a glossy finish on everything leaving you wanting the real thing rather than the Hollywood version of indie rock.

Related

• Twilight New Moon soundtrack review by Barb Abney