Alice in Wonderland Soundtrack Doesn’t Sound Like Burton

It’s a sad day when Stephanie Meyers trumps Tim Burton, everyone. If that statement sounds as odd as we feel saying it, we have our reasons. Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland appears to be a quirky, strange, fantasy version of the original story and fans of the Burton’s past films (including us) couldn’t be more excited to see it. Burton always had a different way of portraying his tales through the lens and his choice of having Danny Elfman as his go-to-composer has made us even happier throughout the years.

Today, however, our hearts couldn’t have shot up our throats any faster than when Alice in Wonderland‘s soundtrack (titled Almost Alice) unveiled its track list. If you weren’t too fond of Paramore having the lead single for Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight film, make sure you’re sitting down before you read the next few words: Avril Lavigne will have the lead single off of the Alice in Wonderland soundtrack. Brace yourself for the track list after the jump.

1. “Alice (Underground)” performed by Avril Lavigne
2. “The Poison” performed by The All-American Rejects
3. “The Technicolor Phase” performed by Owl City
4. “Her Name Is Alice” performed by Shinedown
5. “Painting Flowers” performed by All Time Low
6. “Where’s My Angel” performed by Metro Station
7. “Strange” performed by Tokio Hotel and Kerli
8. “Follow Me Down” performed by 3OH!3 featuring Neon Hitch
9. “Very Good Advice” performed by Robert Smith
10. “In Transit” performed by Mark Hoppus with Pete Wentz
11. “Welcome to Mystery” performed by Plain White T’s
12. “Tea Party” performed by Kerli
13. “The Lobster Quadrille” performed by Franz Ferdinand
14. “Running Out of Time” performed by Motion City Soundtrack
15. “Fell Down a Hole” performed by Wolfmother
16. White Rabbit” performed by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

We know what you’re thinking. You are hoping the amazing visuals in the film will be able to fill that gash in your heart where the mention of Avril slashed it. It’s been such a great year for soundtracks, so we’re quite dumbfounded as well! Karen O and the Kids for Where The Wild Things Are! Grizzly Bear, Death Cab For Cutie, and Editors for New Moon! What happened here?

We’re sure Mr. Burton must have had a say in which artists would be representing his glorious film. There’s no doubt it’ll be magical just like any of his other films, but may we say we think Disney had something to do this this? Many of these artists with the exception of Franz Ferdinand,Wolfmother and Robert Smith target the emo-pop punk teen audience and it wouldn’t be a surprise to find out Disney was just delighted for this track list! (They’re hip now!)

It’s a bit odd to us because with Danny Elfman (who we also remember for his rad Oingo Boingo days) always making gorgeous music that highlight the strange but beautiful in Burton films, it doesn’t seem like they are targeting the right audience. As our sister site ScreenCrave mentioned, many teens have had negative reactions to the Burton look of Alice because it looks “weird.” So why, we wonder, is this soundtrack not targeted at the people who are bit more mature and appreciate the art of Tim Burton?

We understand they may need some artists who will give a “rock” vibe to some of the scenes in the film and we’re not saying all great soundtracks only include indie artists such as Bon Iver, but we don’t think Plain White T’s will cut it. Let’s just hope we hear more of Danny Elfman’s score rather than any of these songs listed here. Are we far off?

Almost Alice is due out in stores on March 2, 2010.

What do you think of this track list for Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland?