If you saw Queen of the Damned this weekend, you may have recognized Lestat's singing voice as that of Korn singer Jonathan Davis. It's difficult not to ? Davis has one of the most distinctive voices in rock music. If you went out and bought the Queen of the Damned soundtrack, however, you didn't hear Davis at all, despite the fact that he wrote and produced, along with Richard Gibbs, five of the album's songs.
Davis, who also scored the film, does not appear on the soundtrack because, according to MTV News, his contract with Immortal ? which is owned by Sony ? prohibits him from appearing on a Warner Bros. soundtrack. Davis is heard in the Warner Bros. film and in the music videos that accompany it, but not on the soundtrack, a fact that is glossed over in the film's production information. "While Davis provides Lestat's vocals in the film," the press packet reads, "the rock songs he co-wrote with Gibbs are performed on the soundtrack by a virtual who's-who of contemporary rock artists." And a virtual who's-who it is, with Marilyn Manson, Jay Gordon of Orgy, Wayne Static of Static-X, David Draiman of Disturbed and Chester Bennington of Linkin Park standing in for Davis.
But are Korn fans happy with the results? The film's Web site, http://queenofthedamned.warnerbros.com features message boards full of feedback. "Oh what I wouldn't give for them to release a 'Vampire Lestat EP' with Jonathan's vocals," posts loreieixx. An even more excited fan, pennylaneishere, posts, "i thought i was going to crap my pants from joy. any korn fans go to see this movie? jon's voice was abviously meant for the songs, the soundtrack doesn't seem to work for me though. jon's voice is needed, thats all i gots to say. AND WHY ISN'T THERE ANY INFO ON JON DAVIS ON THIS SITE OR ANYTHING ABOUT THE MUSIC!??!"
Another fan even attempts an Internet petition of sorts, posting:
"As many of you know, the 'queen of the damned songs' which were written by Jon are performed by various artists (wayne static, jay gordon, david draimman, etc,?) on the soundtrack cd.
however,?in the movie itself, they ARE sung by Jon!!!
we all need to email immortal records and let them know that we want the movie versions of the Queen of the Damned songs released,?for us, the fans. We need to let them know that without the consumer, they would have no business. And this is what we want. Dont think that your ONE email wont help in the matter, because each and every one matters and will put us one step closer to getting what we want. We need to let them know that this is something that will please BOTH the fan/consumer AND their business. If they think noone will buy this if it were to be released, they are sorely mistaken. PLEASE get as many people as you can to email them, the more the better!!! One thing to remember is to be nice when emailing them, dont at them!! Their address is: immortalrecords@hotmail.com
PLEASE help in this fight, email immortal today!!
also, cut and paste this entire message in each and every korn page/website you can find!! (if it hasnt been posted there already) thanks, deadliner" People like deadliner, pennylaneishere and loreieixx are in the majority on the message boards. Anyone who dares to post a negative response to Davis' vocal performance in Queen of the Damned is met with responses such as this one, from pennylaneishere: "jons voice sounded kick ass. what the hell are you talking about. the soundtrack is what sounds weak. the songs were made for jons voice and noone elses."
To be fair to the soundtrack, if you can get over the fact that Davis is not on it, or never cared if he is or isn't, the album is not weak. Having not seen Queen of the Damned, I enjoyed the soundtrack for what it is, a collection of songs, new and old, for death- and isolation-obsessed goth kids to enjoy. Unbiased goth/industrial/hard rock/nu metal fans are likely to enjoy the five new tracks, although most hard rock/nu metal fans probably already have a copy of the Deftones' "Change (In the House of Flies)" and Disturbed's "Down With the Sickness," two of the previously released songs on the album. While the majority of the new tracks, Static's "Not Meant for Me, Draiman's "Foresaken" and Bennington's "System," sound like something off of a Korn album, in terms of both music and vocals, both Marilyn Manson and Orgy's Gordon put their stamps of distinction on Davis and Gibbs' songs.
Jorge Saralegui, a producer of who's been involved with Queen of the Damned since 1998, addresses frequently-asked questions on the Website. On the music: "We made three Lestat music videos. MTV may not play them, because the movie has an 'R' rating, but VH1 could. In addition, we intend to release them on the net. The videos are seen in part in the movie. They will almost certainly be on the DVD. They will probably be shown at some point on the TV music channels. However, we hope to release them in other formats soon. The videos are of Lestat and his band, so no one else from the cast, including Aaliyah, is in them. In other words, they aren't Queen of the Damned videos (which could include Aaliyah); they are videos from the band 'The Vampire Lestat' (aka 'Satan's Night Out'). For those who care, they each have a classic horror-movie theme: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Murnau's Nosferatu and Browning's Dracula."
For fans who would have preferred to hear Davis on the soundtrack ? "this movie is going to have to hold me over until the next korn album," kandykorn007 posts ? the wait is actually not too long. Korn's fifth album, Untouchables, is set for a May 14 release. The band's Website, http://www.korn.com, promises that the first single, "Here To Stay," will be out "soon" and a Feb. 25 news release states that the video for "Here To Stay" is being directed by the Hughes Brothers (From Hell, American Pimp) this week in Los Angeles.
