Brandon Lee’s The Crow soundtrack consisted of a bunch of iconic songs. It was executive produced by Jeff Most, the film’s producer, and Jolene Cherry, the film’s music supervisor. Most insisted that they wanted to create a soundtrack out of original songs and covers, that wasn’t available anywhere else. It was a challenging task at the time when films used established hit songs to make sure that the album would sell.
It was a difficult mission at the time but they managed to convince hard rock and heavy metal bands like Rage Against the Machine, Rollins Band, and Pantera, to create music for the film. The soundtrack had to undergo a few changes after Brandon Lee’s tragic accidental death. Jeff Most later regretted removing one song from the soundtrack during this time.
Brandon Lee’s The Crow Soundtrack Had To Remove One Song That The Producer Deeply Regretted
Jeff Most’s plan for Brandon Lee‘s The Crow soundtrack took off when Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails was intrigued by the film’s script. Most wanted the industrial rock band to perform a Joy Division cover since the ’70s rock band was referenced in James O’Barr’s comics. When Reznor finally agreed, he only had one condition—he wanted to select the song (and he went with Dead Souls).
The rest of the soundtrack fell into place after Interscope and Atlantic signed on to release the album, thanks to NIN’s involvement. However, Lee’s death changed things as the crew wanted to preserve his legacy. It meant that some songs could no longer feature in the film. Stone Temple Pilots ended up changing their song from Only Dying, a song about Eric Draven’s death, to Big Empty.
One song that Most regretted removing from the playlist for this reason was Radiohead’s Creep. It was the debut single of the rock band that revolutionized the alternative rock subgenre. It was featured in their debut album Pablo Honey and went on to become a worldwide hit.
The producer admitted to Mashable in an interview that he should’ve included the song in the record. However, he shared that he was emotionally affected by Lee’s loss and the lyrics of the song, “I’m a creep / I’m a weirdo”, didn’t sit well with him. Most shared with Mashable:
I’m probably copping to this for the first time. The one song that I should have included but didn’t. That was Radiohead’s ‘Creep,’ which kind of hangs over my head. I should have put it on the record. It was after the loss of Brandon. And maybe I was very emotionally affected. When I heard the lyrics, I just worried. But in hindsight, I should have been more objective.
Most was also upset about not including another song, but it was not his fault. He wanted to include White Zombie’s Babe Ruth, but the record company didn’t believe in the heavy metal band. Most later used their track I’m Your Boogieman in the sequel The Crow: City of Angels, which went on to earn a Grammy nomination.
The Crow Soundtrack Guide — All The Songs Featured In The Brandon Lee Film
Jeff Most badly wanted The Cure to make a song for the film since their songs were featured in the comics. The band’s frontman Robert Smith took an interest in the film and agreed to write a song for a movie for the first time. The song Burn from the British rock band became the first song on the soundtrack.
For the final song in the film, Jeff Most went with a gentle ballad, a deviation from the other genres in the film. Canadian singer-songwriter Jane Siberry wrote It Can’t Rain All the Time, the title based on a line in the film written by screenwriter David J. Schow.
Here’s a full list of the songs in The Crow: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack:
| Song Title | Artist |
| Burn | The Cure |
| Golgotha Tenement Blues | Machines of Loving Grace |
| Big Empty | Stone Temple Pilots |
| Color Me Once | Violent Femmes |
| Milktoast (Also known as Milquetoast) | Helmet |
| Slip Slide Melting | For Love Not Lisa |
| After the Flesh | My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult |
| Snakedriver | The Jesus and Mary Chain |
| It Can’t Rain All the Time | Jane Siberry |
| Dead Souls (Joy Division cover) | Nine Inch Nails |
| Ghostrider (Suicide cover) | Rollins Band |
| The Badge (Poison Idea cover) | Pantera |
| Darkness (Re-recording of Darkness of Greed) | Rage Against the Machine |
| Time Baby III (Re-recording of Time Baby II) | Medicine |
The complete soundtrack from the film is available to listen to as a playlist on Spotify and Apple Music. The Crow (1994) is currently available to watch on Paramount+ and Prime Video.
