Toon Talk: Holiday CD Round-Up
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Album Title: Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Album Type: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
What’s Good About It: Randy Thornton, the patron saint of Disney music fans, has done it again with this wonderful restoration of the classic Sherman Brothers score, often over-looked in the shadow of their triumphant Mary Poppins. Herein, the joys are abundant: in addition to all the film’s songs, including the Oscar-nominated “The Age of Not Believing”, available together for the first time on CD, Thornton includes rare demo tracks of deleted songs, including Angela Lansbury’s haunting 11th hour number, “Nobody’s Problems”.
What’s Not So Good About It: The animated denizens of the Isle of Naboombu are front and center in the dumbed-down cover art … even though they sing nary a note in the actual score.
Toon Talk Rating: A
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Album Title: The Country Bears
Album Type: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
What’s Good About It: Down home ditties such as John Hiatt’s “Where Nobody Knows My Name”, Don Henley and Bonnie Raitt’s soulful love ballad “Can Love Stand the Test” and Brian Setzer’s rockabilly, “Devil Went Down to Georgia”-like “I’m Only In It For the Honey” (with Stephen Root) play surprisingly well absent the big-furry-headed visuals of the source film.
What’s Not So Good About It: Girl pop from Jennifer Paige and Krystal stick out like sore thumbs amidst the folksy album rock. And the soundtrack, like the movie, well … since when did kids (the target audience for both) listen to this kind of music?
Toon Talk Rating: B
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Album Title: DisneyMania!
Album Type: Disneyfied Pop Album
What’s Good About It: While some entries, such as N’sync’s a cappella take on “When You Wish Upon A Star” and Ronan Keating’s “Circle of Life”, (plus the umpteenth inclusion of Christina Aguilera’s “Reflection”) offer some listenability …
What’s Not So Good About It: … such over-produced, hyper-emoting tracks as Usher’s “You’ll Be In My Heart”, Jump 5’s “Beauty and the Beast” and Smash Mouth’s “I Wanna Be Like You” are alternatingly shrill, uninspired or just plain wrong. The cover touts “Superstar artists sing Disney … their way!” … yeah, but why let them?
Toon Talk Rating: D
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