1 |
Real
Wild Child - Everlife |
2 |
Good
Enough - Lifehouse |
3 |
Big
Time Boppin' (Go Man Go) - Big Bad Voodoo Daddy |
4 |
Really
Nice Day - Eric Idle and John de Prez |
5 |
Tales
from the Wild |
6 |
You
Can't Roar |
7 |
Lost
in the City |
8 |
To
the Wild |
9 |
Alien
Shores |
10 |
The
Legend in Action |
11 |
The
Mythology of Nigel |
12 |
The
Ritual |
13 |
Found
Our Roar |
14 |
Really
Nice Day (Finale) - Eric Idle and John de Prez |
REVIEW
Soundtrack
collectors would remember those good old days when The House
of Mouse produced movie soundtracks containing a nice balance
of songs and music score from their animated hits. Classic
examples would be The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the
Beast (1991) and The Lion King (1994). Gone
are those days, and what we have now are soundtrack albums
littered with radio-friendly but forgettable pop songs. It
doesn’t help that Disney’s recent independent
animated flicks are not getting critical acclaim these days.
Produced
in Canada, this movie was not a big hit when released in theatres.
Similarly, there wasn’t much to shout about when its
soundtrack album appeared in stores.
But fans
of old-school Disney soundtracks would adore this album –
and that’s our guarantee to you. Alan Silvestri, who
also scored Disney’s Lilo and Stitch (2002), recreates
the thrills and spills of the classic adventure music genre
for animated movies. One can almost picture the animated animals
running wild without having seen the movie (which is probably
true for many out there).
The 30-odd
minutes of score material on this 47-minute album is satisfying
to listen to, if not formulaic to trained ears. A grand brassy
introduction in “Tales of the Wild” kicks off
the score section of the album, before launching into several
themes ranging from lighthearted playful ones in “You
Can’t Roar” and exhilarating exciting ones like
“To the Wild”.
Unfortunately,
in this day and age, soundtrack albums like this will not
go down well with the mainstream listeners, no thanks to the
lukewarm response of the movie. In all attempts to attract
the crowd, a few pop songs are thrown into the mix. They may
be pleasant to listen to, but would probably not make much
impact.
Interestingly,
there are two tracks performed by Monty Python alumni John
Du Prez and Eric Idle. As featured in the movie and sung by
the wildebeests, “Really Nice Day” is a brief
and fun track you’d want to play over and over again.
Now, if only Disney could make us play the soundtrack over
and over again, like those good old days.
SOUNDTRACK
RATING:
Review
by John Li
|