Beauty and the Beast - Special Edition Soundtrack
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Free Music Notes for Beauty and the Beast - Special Edition Soundtrack
Free Music Review: beauty and the beast... oh so magical
Hit: 4 Stars
this soundtrack is magnificent.! the excellent"prologue" the topping off "gaston" the dark "west wing" the mysterious "mob song" the sad and happy "transformation" and the finale "beauty and the beast-duet" and the touching dedication to the lyricist. may he rest in peace. Free Music Review: great soundtrack
Hit: 4 Stars
i really like this cd. If you loved Beauty and the Beast, you'll love this soundtrack. the best songs are:
Belle: i love the way the sing the conversation!
Something There: sweet song when Beauty and the Beast start to fall in love.
Beauty and the Beast: beautiful song!! i love it!
the scores on this CD are amazing.
Free Music Review: Among the Greatest Disney scores ever
Hit: 5 Stars
The Beauty and the Beast special edition soundtrack is very similar to the original release, with the addittion of a couple bonus tracks, there is no way to hide the great songs or the beautiful score. The score is what I'm primarily concerned with, and Alan Menkin's score for Beauty and the Beast is almost perfect. There are moments of high drama and danger, humor, romance and a breathtaking finale. Though some of Menken's later work could be considered redundant, Beauty and the Beast is above them all.Free Music Review: Classic Disney film's score, songs are a thing of beauty
Hit: 4 Stars
Although I tend to watch action/adventure and science fiction films more than I do kid-friendly family fare, I do on occasion like to tap into my more sentimental side and watch a Walt Disney film. Not that I have many in my home video library; I only own Fantasia (1940) and Beauty and the Beast (1991). Both are wonderfully rendered in visual and musical terms, but I was so taken by Alan Menken's music and the late Howard Ashman's lyrics for Beauty and the Beast that I bought the original soundtrack album a few days after watching the first animated film seriously considered for a Best Picture nomination.
Beauty and the Beast was the crowning achievement for the Menken and Ashman team, surpassing 1989's The Little Mermaid, and it would be their final collaboration, for Ashman died shortly after completing the lyrics. But the success of both film and the soundtrack album is proof of the timelessness and general appeal of Beauty and the Beast's songs.
Starting with Menken's darkly-tinged underscore for David Ogden Stiers' voiceover introduction in Prologue (Track 1), the music starts casting its magical spell on the listener, then with deftness worthy of a David Copperfield or David Blaine, the marvelous opening number Belle introduces us to the beautiful protagonist (voice of Paige O'Hara) and to the various inhabitants of the small French village where Belle, a young maiden who lives with her father Maurice, a widower who also likes to believe he's a great inventor. She's a typical Disney heroine -- a forward-thinking lass who yearns to venture in the great wide somewhere and be more than she is in her society -- but O'Hara's voice is so lovely and the role so wonderfully written that the stereotypes are transcended. The opening number also introduces us to the vain, handsome, yet slimy Gaston (voice of Richard White), the village heartthrob and super-macho hunter extraordinaire who is determined to make Belle his wife.
(His song, Gaston [track 4] is not only revelatory about his personality quirks as a egotist without equal, but is a fine showcase for White's wonderful baritone voice.)
In addition to the aforementioned tracks, Ashman and Menken's best songs -- if I had to choose just three -- are:
Be Our Guest, one of the big showstopper tunes and one of the best. Jerry Orbach of Law & Order fame joins forces with Angela Lansbury (Murder, She Wrote) in a rousing Busby Berkeley-inspired number that gives new meaning to the term Dinner Theater
Something There (track 7), heard when the Beast (voice of Robby Benson) and Belle realize that they are, despite their differences and circumstances, falling in love. It's a very appealing song simply because it's so universal; those of us who have had any experiences at relationships -- even the illusory Internet romances that seem to be in vogue as of late can easily relate to Something There's theme of realizing that, yes, I feel something surpringly and wonderful for someone else.
Beauty and the Beast (track 9), Angela Lansbury's beautiful rendition of the film's best known single sums up the themes of the movie (love conquers even vast differences, love is timeless) in a wonderful and understated way.
With the exception of The Mob Song (track 8) and a final choral rendition of Beauty and the Beast at the coda of Transformation (track 14), the balance of the movie's music is instrumental underscore for action scenes (The Beast Lets Belle Go [track 12]; Battle on the Tower [13]) as the film heads toward the resolution of the Belle-Beast-Gaston triangle.
For many Celine Dion fans, the highlight of this CD will be her duet with Peabo Bryson in the end credits reprise of the title song. It's a more 1990s contemporary version, but it fits nicely, and for Dion fans it's a must-hear, since it was one of her early English-language recordings.
I don't listen to this album very often, but when I do, the music carries me to a time and place where life was not as complicated, love triumphed over adversity, and everything was possible as long as you wished upon a star...and dared to dream boldly.
Free Music Review: Best of Disney!
Hit: 5 Stars
This is a wonderful album. With all the fun lyrics, and lovely instrumentals. Whenever I hear the song "Beauty and the Beast" sung by Angela Lansbury, it makes me feel great.The songs that are the most fun are "Be our Guest" and "Something There". The loveliest instrumental is "Transformation" and the most lively is "Battle on the tower". The only thing I don't like about this album is the pop version of "Beauty and the Beast" by Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson. It's really sappy (too many ooooo's and aaaaaa's). Buy this album and listen to all the songs except that one.