I get a little sick of major blockbuster movie follow-ups; to me it’s a bit cynical. But the saving grace for me, sometimes, is the movie soundtrack. The first Matrix soundtrack included some of the most innovative and powerful rock music released that year. This is no different.

The opening Linkin Park instrumental, Session, is a tantalising slice of anticipation. Marilyn Manson’s This Is The New Shit is as good as anything he has ever done, while Rob Zombie pushed the boat right out with another masterpiece in the super-aggressive warped metal of Reload. This song should be played on every alternative dance floor on the planet, to the exclusion of just about everything else. Rob Dougan’s Furious Angels is welcome, melodic instrumental calm in the storm. Then a rather surprising highlight of the collection - the Deftones and their glacial, ghostly five minute wonder, Lucky You. The rest of CD1 is also excellent and includes tracks by Team Sleep, P.O.D., Unloco, Rage Against The Machine, Oakenfold, Fluke and Dave Mathews Band.

CD2 offers a solid glimpse into the heady orchestral side of the movie soundtrack by Don Davis who is repsonsible for the main title track, Trinity Dream and the final Matrix Reload Suite. Davis also collaborates with Juno Reactor on several other amazing symphonic rock tracks.

If you’re into soundtracks, this is one you simply must own. There’s a nice variation of pace, rock music innovation aplenty, and symphonic music which is as good as anything I’ve heard on a movie soundtrack. But the other major point is that the music is wonderfully in tune with the nature of the film. A superb soundtrack.

4.5/5