{"Ok...I took this from Metal Edge (Feb. 2000 issue) page 81. I originally hand-copied this soundtrack review from the magazine. Seeing as how I can't read my own friggin' handwriting, I'm just going to assume this is what was written: "} Chindem

End of Days

The holiday season and an actin-thriller starring Arnold Schwartzenegger. Just roll up the Brinks truck, because this one's got blockbuster stamped all over it. Too bad the movie can't possibly live up to the hype of its soundtrack. Korn? Limp Bizkit? Creed? Hah! Hype? This sucker's got the new Guns N' Roses song on it, the band by which all bands will compare their arena-filling, anthem-spouting, rockstar rap sheets. Yes, all others on this soundtrack pale in comparison as we line up to hear Axl Rose's first offering in the better half of a decade. There's no Slash, no Duff McKagan, no Izzy Stradlin, no Gilby Clarke and no Matt Sorum or Steven Adler--can the all-new Guns live up to the hype?

To the disdain of unwavering purists and naysayers, they do. Rose always said he wanted to evolve with music, leading many to shutter at the thought of a "techno" album, but the resultant "Oh My God" picks up right when teh Use Your Illusion duo left off, building like a steroid-enhanced "coma" and riveting without relent from start to finish. Slash always pushed the envelope as a guitarist, and Axl continues to do the same musically, opting for a team of fret-players that features Dave Navarro (ex-Chili Peppers/Jane's Addiction), Nine Inch Nails' Robin Finck, and Rose's longtime friend Paul Huge. There are no flashy solos, and no mid-song blues actions, but the strings race with unrivaled urgency throughout, as the bombast of former Replacements bassist Tommy Stinson and ex-Vandals drummer Josh Freese provide the maddened backbeat. It's intense, a three-and-a-half minute thrill ride sure to make any scene in End of Days a memorable one.

From there, with the exception of an impressive debut from Professional Murder Music--"Slow" spirals forward like a metallic bastard child of Static X and the Deftones--the rest of the tracks offer little we haven't heard before. Korn's "Camel Song" and Limp Bizkit's "Crushed" sound like leftovers from recent releases, Korn's blending the heavier sounds of their first album with their more commercially palatable side, and Limp swaying farther from rock with beat-driven trip-hop. The rest of the album's harder edge is represented by previously released tracks from Rob Zombie, Powerman 5000, Creed, Prodigy, Eminem and Everlast. Did we mention Guns N' Roses? With the album's glaring lack of other selling points, it's about the only thing that makes End of Days a keeper.--Paul Gargano

Thanks to Chindem