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| There are 528 Reviews Done |
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Howard Ashman Alan Menken, Alan Menken, Tim Rice Alan Menken - Aladdin
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| Good, But Forumulaic |
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There is something about this soundtrack that makes me sad. Not only is it the end of the Menken/Ashman collaborations but it also spells the end of the Voice Actors actually singing for themselves and the rise of the "big name star" actors taking on the lead roles. The only voice actors who actually sing their characters songs are Robin Williams for the Genie and Jonathan Freeman as Jafar. Both Aladdin and Jasmine have stunt singers - one of which is the amazing Lea Salonga.
But as for the music itself, it is okay. It isn't as groundbreaking as the Little Mermaid or as integral to the story Beauty and the Beast. But it isn't an afterthought like the music in Mulan or more recent Disney films.
The stand out tracks in my opinion are Prince Ali and Friend Like Me. They really were integral to the story but can stand on their own. The love song (A Whole New World) is obviously meant to be a breakaway pop hit, and it was at the time. And the "I Want" song of "One Jump Ahead" and its reprise do their job, but they don't have the impact that both of the "I Want" songs of "Part of Your World" and "Belle" had.
The instrumental tracks are kind of just there. I can't think of a single one that I would hum, unlike the "Transformation " from Beauty and the Beast or the "Jig/Storm" from the Little Mermaid. It was background music, nothing more.
In all, it is an okay soundtrack. But it isn't as strong as its predecessors.
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5 of 7 found this review helpful |
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Jim Dooley - Pushing Daisies: Season 2
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| Romantic, cute, and investigative music for a wonderful show |
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Awe, Pushing Daisies! The soundtrack to this second (and sadly, last) season of this charming show is, I believe, even better than the first!
Much like the first season, the music is played by a traditional symphony orchestra with a choir, an accordion, a harpsichord, a banjo, a piano, a synthesizer and oriental instruments. The main theme is a waltz that often plays under scenes featuring Ned and Chuck. If you like jazzy tunes (which I’m not the biggest fan), pretty much anything with Emerson Cod’s name in the title is a sure bet. I have put notes about songs in the Request list below. I do not have any “Skips” because I don’t think any songs are bad from this soundtrack. Request one and you will not regret it!!
Request:
Colonel Lickin’ – investigative music with colonial tunes
Betty’s Bees – includes a jingle for Betty’s Bees
Welcome Home – classic PD track
Magical Night – sounds like a video game
Clown Revival – circus music and the cutest song on list
Young Olive - cute music, waltz theme
Steamy Buns – Chinese theme
Dim Sum Meet – Chinese theme
Olive Darling! - tango tune
Desert Chicken Pox – whistling, Christmas sleigh bells, jewelry box tune
Cod & Olive Interview – has an “I’ve been working on the railroad” tune
Dicken’s – includes jingle for Dicken’s
Cod And Stingwell – classic PD, romantic and innocent
Last Wrap Up – romantic tune with accordion
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Frankie Valli, John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John, Olivia Newton-John (...) - Grease
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| Where the original remains, it’s done well |
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There is a school of thought which says that no matter how bad an adaptation of a story from one medium to another might be, it cannot damage the original. Usually I agree, except in the case of Grease. This 1978 film was adapted from an off-Broadway musical of the same name. The original musical was a raw little show about high-schoolers in 1950s America, complete with cussing and raunchy language. The songs were very much in the 1950s style, though the lyrics were often bitingly funny, poking fun at the mores and stereotypes of the time. The movie, on the other hand, is a bloated thing which tones down all the rawness of the original, casts people who look forty in the teen roles, adds a lot of unnecessary plot (something about drag racing), and drops some of the original numbers in favor of new ones that don’t work. Unfortunately, this is the version that everyone seems to have watched at slumber parties growing up, so whenever Grease is performed on stage, it frequently amps up the camp and even changes the script and songs to line up with the film. The adaptation has, in some real ways, destroyed the original. And on this album, the songs are out of order. For a musical, I think that’s unforgivable.
For all that, I will say that some of the casting of the movie is very good, and when it sticks to the songs that belong to the show, it succeeds. So it goes with the soundtrack album. Travolta makes a great Danny Zuko. “Summer Nights” is wonderful, as is “Greased Lightning,” two of the more popular tracks. “Beauty School Drop-out” is okay, sung by an icon, and at least the lyrics are intact. On the other hand, “Look at Me, I’m Sandra Dee” and “There are Worse Things I Could Do” are songs for the most developed character in the show, Betty Rizzo, and probably would come across better if Stockard Channing could really belt them. “Hopelessly Devoted to You” and “Sandy” are fine if you like the songs, but the latter replaced “Alone at the Drive-In.” On the album, this song is included as an instrumental, which is totally unfair, because the song is funny, and the replacement doesn’t do anything except remove the innuendo. (Well, what do you think Danny wanted to go to the drive-in for?) Likewise, “You’re the One that I Want” replaces “All Choked Up,” which was a better song.
Some numbers from the show are on the album, performed by Sha-Na-Na (“Those Magic Changes” and “Hand Jive”). The others are covers of period songs. This is a group I can only describe as a novelty act. Performing covers is about all they do. I think the worst offender is the title song. Sure, it’s sung by Frankie Valli, but it’s really a terrible song. The lyrics are awful, and the musical style has nothing to do with the 1950s setting for the story.
In the end, I know that people will request what they like from the movie, because for most people, that’s what they know best. Go ahead and have fun. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to find a copy of the original cast recording with Barry Bostwick and Adrienne Barbeau. If you do find it, take a listen and hear what you’re missing.
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1 of 1 found this review helpful |
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Niall Byrne - Cairo Time
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| The lyrical piano theme stays with you after the score has finished. |
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Written by Alan Rogers - Review of the download only release
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The music is firmly set (for the most part) in the Western idiom, featuring a strong presence of solo piano (perhaps played by the composer himself) with the support of a small string ensemble (possibly a quartet). Heard immediately in the first cue “Arrival”, the lyrical theme gets a full statement on piano and reminds me much of the work of Ludovico Einaudi. Throughout the subsequent cues we hear this theme being played with slight variations both in the piano lines as well as in the supporting strings. For example, fragments of the theme can be heard as part of a waltz in “Tareq Takes A Quiz”. We first hear any hint of place geographically in track 8, “Bus To Gaza” where what sounds like a zither-type instrument plays a hesitant secondary theme. This secondary theme and the ethnic influences are featured in several subsequent cues (“Stopped By Israelis”, “Mosque”, “Tareq and Juliette Drive”), sometimes being heard in conjunction with some threatening sustained synth underscore (e.g., “Stopped By Israelis”).
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Read the complete review on MainTitles.net
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Andrew Hewitt - Cuckoo
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| Hewitt has composed a top-notch score that has a chance to flourish away from the film. |
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Written by Alan Rogers - Review of the regular release
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“Cuckoo – Part 1” sets the composer's stall out from the start, highlighting a two-note motif played in the strings that appears time and time again throughout the score; a motif based on a cuckoo's call. This motif is manipulated in a variety of ways – in this first track alone the motif descends down the musical scale before being raised to a high register, screeching the motif out in a musical scream. The motif is slowed down in tracks such as “Scarlett Letter”, played pizzicato at such a low level that you wonder whether you are hearing it or not (“Her Master's Voice”) and played against a recurring string ostinato in cues such as “Cuckoo – Part 2” and “Tangible Truth”. Over the course of the 30-minute score there's not much variety in terms of motifs; the same motifs are repeated over and over again. Rather, the variety comes from how the two-note motif is changed and manipulated, or how the ostinato patterns are set out. Doing this, Hewitt delivers effective atmospheric as well as action-oriented music. To my mind, it's how Hewitt modifies these musical tools with such variety that makes the score “Herrmann-esque” just as much as the use of a strings-only ensemble.
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Read the complete review on MainTitles.net
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Edward Shearmur - Count Of Monte Cristo, The
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| another winner to remember and behold |
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Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the regular release
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The score is not one of full utter bombast like Reign of Fire, a score so complex and non thematic that made it a gigantic challenge but also a fantastic experience. No, The Count of Monte Cristo is a lot more thematic but still has that ballsy approach that lies in either the orchestration or simply the idea behind the music. And that's what I like so much about this score. For instance "Introduction" brings forth the stylistic voice of Shearmur, opening with bells and exotic percussion, leading way for a short choir and a fanfare to open this score well. But the greatness lies behind that. A track you have to enjoy for its complexity and orchestration is "Landing on Elba", because it uses flutes and trumpets so fascinating in its rhythm that you immediately think back at John Williams. It is literally that divvying.
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Excellent Tracks:
- Landing on Elba
- Training Montage
- Escape from the Island
- An Invitation to the Ball
- End Titles
Read the complete review on MainTitles.net
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Ulpio Minucci & Arlon Ober, Joanne Harris, Three Dog Night (...) - Robotech (20th Anniversary Edition)
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| sorry, here's my re-edited Review for Robotech 20th Anniversary |
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Even if you've never seen this epic anime series, it's still quite an enjoyable soundtrack. What was so groundbreaking about Robotech was that it was such a mature show for a Saturday morning cartoon. It had a HUGE part in introducing anime to those of us outside of Japan.
It had glorious space battles (track 29 – Rick Hunter’s Theme), fantastic looking robots (track 1 – Main Title), military plotlines (track 14 – Victory), and even a romantic love triangle (track 11 - Love Themes)! Now imagine having to score 85 episodes without getting too much repetition. This is where Robotech succeeds, there's such a great variation of themes.
Track 21-27 were not part of the original TV series run but were in fact for Robotech 2: The Sentinels. This was a continuation of the Macross story arc where Rick and crew search out the Robotech Masters in the SDF-3. It was only a 75 minute short series.
I give this collection 4/5 stars. It lost 1 star for not having 3 important song tracks by Reba West (singing voice of Minmei). They are: My Time To Be A Star, To Be In Love, and We Will Win. Just a minor blemish on an otherwise solid soundtrack with such consistently strong tracks.
Here is a quote by Tom Bateman, one of the persons responsible for the re-mastering of these tracks:
"Robotech's soundtrack score is one of those film scores that isn't forced to hide behind the characters or languish as mere background noise. Its bold and energetic notes draw the viewer into the spectacle of the series and are essential in setting the tone for the story being told."
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Christopher Gordon - Mao's Last Dancer
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| East meets West in this Ballet drama |
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Mao’s Last Dancer is a beautifully told true story about Li Cunxin, a Chinese dancer who found his way to the US and learned to fly. The score is broken up into six different parts, separating changes in Li’s life, his time in his small village in Qingdao province, learning ballet in Beijing, when westerners first visited the ballet school, his trip to Houston, defecting to the US and then his return home to China.
The first track is ahead of the first part of Li’s story. Out of the Well, showcases the primary Chinese instruments, the Chinese flue, ehru and pipa. It is a quick upbeat happy track as the listener is introduced to China. The first part of the story is Qingdao and the first track of that section is Village Life. This track follows the first, similar in sound with the Chinese instruments creating and developing the melody with added brass drums. Lullaby is a slower more solemn song with Story of the Frog played out mainly on the Chinese flute in a slow meandering way as Li’s father tells him this story of the from in the well. The last track of Li’s village life is Family and keeps the same melody as the Frog and Village life tracks only more slow and reflective. Showing Li’s difficulty in leaving his family at such a young age and not knowing what awaits him in far off Beijing.
The second section of Li’s journey is Beijing, this section has elements of the Chinese instruments but also has more traditional western music to show that ballet was a western art , modeled after western dances and musicians. The first track of the section, The Archer is another story for Li, that he must persevere and only by building up his muscles would he be able to be the best, as the archer is in the story. This has the ehru playing the main melody with somber violins in the background. Pas de Deux shows off the first dance number, soft gentle piano guiding the movements. Turning Points goes back to the Chinese ehru with more traditional Chinese music played to showcase the ballet’s attempt to make their dance more Chinese. Giselle is the first track of classical music on the score which was arranged by Gordon. The track is very European in its bombast brass and clashing cymbals. The original piece was done by Burgmuller. Exercises for Pianoforte is just a track of quick short piano pieces which the ballet dancers use to warm up by, in different progressing keys. Madame’s Model Ballet is another Chinese ballet piece, with a blend of both western and eastern instruments. Upbeat and happy in its telling of the successful Chinese peasants beating back the imperialists. Becoming a Dancer is the last of this sections pieces, illustrating Li’s efforts to be the best he can be. It touches the theme of his Village life played with the ehru while advancing that theme by making it more full and complex with added strings.
A Meeting of Cultures is the next section, when American ballet dancers come to tour in China. Free Dance is the first track, it is a wild, jazzy sort of ballet dance which is kept upbeat and fast. Dance of Longing then is the complete opposite sort of dance, sowing a slow, melancholy and dramatic side to the art. A violin carries the listener through the longing of the two dancers. Houston is the next step, when Li is able to make a trip to the US to dance for the Houston ballet company. The next four tracks are all traditional pieces that were just arranged for the film by Gordon. Don Quixote by Minkus, Sonata in D by Mozart and White & Black Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky.
Without a Country marks the next stage of Li’s life, with The Consulate being the first track. This piece is particularly sad, both western and eastern instruments are used, showing Li being torn between wanting to stay in the US and being forced to remain in China. Pas de Deux (Reprise) returns to the first Pas de Deux track melody, the soft gentle piano guiding Li’s dancing. Brush Dance goes back to the traditional Chinese instruments, the pipa and ehru play a slow meandering story. Break up and Reunion is the last track of this section, when Li breaks up with his first wife and is reunited with his parents. The Pas de Deux theme plays first in the track with the ehru bringing back the Chinese element, showing that Li will always be a part of both worlds. Return marks the end of the story of Li’s life, the last track of the score, Village Dance and Finale showcase this return to China, where he is given his citizenship back and is allowed to return home. An elegant melody plays out on the violin, bringing the story to its conclusion, including classical dance music allowing Li and his wife to dance for his parents and his village.
The music lends so much to the film, it is more integral in the telling as the ballet music is the core of what Li struggles with in defecting to the US and dealing with who he is as a dancer and a Chinese man. Overall Love the music and highly recommend seeing the film as well.
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4 of 4 found this review helpful |
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Michael Giacchino - Medal Of Honor: Frontline
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| One of Giacchino's finest performances. |
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Michael Giacchino is a genus when it come to the Medal of Honor series. MOH: Frontline is a prime example of his talent. He knew how give this game the right mood and tempo, giving the player a sort of emotional connection during gameplay. An example of this connection would be track 11: Arnhem, which give a saddened and depressed mood as you move throughout the bombed out ruins of the town of Arnhem. Alone, the Medal of Honor: Frontline soundtrack is a great piece to listen to anytime and is a album that can be place with Michael Giacchino's greatest works.
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1 of 1 found this review helpful |
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Jim Dooley - Pushing Daisies
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| A delightful score to match an equally imaginative show |
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In this unprecedented blend of romance, police-procedural and high-concept fantasy, director Barry Sonnenfeld (Men In Black, Get Shorty, The Addams Family) and writer-producer Bryan Fuller (Heroes, Wonderfalls, Dead Like Me) created a love story about a young man with a very special gift -- the ability to return a dead person back to life, briefly, with just a simple touch.
The score, by Jim Dooley, is often compared to Danny Elfman's music, a comparison that Dooley doesn't accept at all. Dooley actually compares his music with that of the film Amelie. The music is played by a traditional symphony orchestra with a choir, an accordion, a harpsichord, a banjo, a piano, a synthesizer and oriental instruments.
The main theme, a waltz that often plays under scenes featuring Ned and Chuck, and can be heard throughout the entire soundtrack. Several songs have unique instruments and sounds in them in relation to the current episode, such as Bittersweets (squeaking toy and a jewelry box tune), Happy Halloween (haunting tune), Institution Omnibus (Chinese theme), Victor Narrowmore (typewriter noises), and Change Of Heart (Christmas music). Overall, a one-of-a-kind, amazing score!
Request:
Homeopaths
Jeanine Pie
Plastic Kiss
Play-Doh Dreaming
Victor Narrowmore
Change Of Heart
Skip:
Chuck's News Flash
Where's My Briefcase?
Leftie Arrives
Poor Customer Service
Chucky Bees
Olive & Alfredo
Hands Against The Wall
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1 of 1 found this review helpful |
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