High School Musical
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Free Music Notes for High School Musical
Free Music Review: To Sing or Not To Sing: The ability is not mandatory for an actor cast as a musical lead...
Hit: 5 Stars
I know that sounds crazy, but just hear me out. What does High School Musical, My Fair Lady, Singing In The Rain, and Disney's Aladdin - besides the fact that they're all musicals of a sort - have in common? It's that the actors cast as the leads don't all necessarily sing for themselves.
My Fair Lady -
Actress for Eliza Doolittle: Audrey Hepburn
Vocals for Eliza Doolittle: Marni Nixon
Note: I'm not a real Audrey Hepburn fan to begin with but I admit I do like her in the role of Eliza Doolittle. However, on the DVD you can hear a cut version of her singing one of the songs and believe me, it was a good idea to get someone to dubb for her.
Singing In The Rain-
This one get's a little more complicated. Debbie Reynolds plays Kathy Selden. Jean Hagen plays Lina Lamont. In the movie Kathy is suppose to be Lina's voice double when they go to movies with sound because Lina has this annoying nasal voice that grates on the nerves. Originally they really were going to have Debbie dubb those vocals for the movie but decided her voice wasn't smooth sounding enough for the "Lina" part of it. So who did they get to dubb for Lina in the Dancing Cavalier with sound? Jean Hagen herself. So technically Jean dubbed Debbie dubbing Lina. Confused? Watch the DVD. It's a great movie and I think they explain it better than I can.
Finally, Disney's Aladdin:
Actor for the character Aladdin: Scott Weinger (of the Full House variety for those who liked that show as I did once upon a time)
Vocals for the character Aladdin: Brad Kane
So the point of all this rambling? There's more to filling a character role than just seeing if they can sing. The director and producers have a certain vision when it comes to the movie, from the smallest detail - like what picture should hang on the back wall - to what exactly the character that's written should look and sound like. Sometimes the look and sound can't be found in just one person. And sometimes it has nothing to do with whether or not someone can sing but contract obligations. Andrew Seeley wrote one of the songs for High School Musical. Maybe he had it in his contract to sing it as well as they others. Or maybe he was orginally cast for the part but ended up not fitting the character visually (I'm less inclined to believe this one because he's a bit old to play the part of a 16 year old and neither does he look the part in my opinion). Or any other of a hundred different reasons. It really doesn't matter. Zac Efron looked the part, played it well and danced amazingly. And if that really is Andrew's voice well they had me fooled because it sounded close enough to fit Zac's speaking voice to me.
And it's not that Zac can't sing. According to his biography at IMDB.com: "Zac Efron took his first step toward acting at the age of 11 when his parents took note of his *singing ability.* Singing lessons soon led to an appearance in the production of "Gypsy" which ran 90 performances, and he was hooked. After appearing on stage in "Peter Pan," "Mame," "Little Shop of Horrors" and "The Music Man,"."
As I said, there are hundreds of reasons why they would have someone else sing for him in this part. So the question "why cast a person who doesn't sing as a lead in a musical?" is really a moot point.
I think they all did wonderfully both in front of and behind the camera. "Getcha Head in the Game" has actually become one of my favorite songs from the movie though it had to grow on my at first. Give credit where credit is due but the fact is I love the movie, I love the music, and when I hear those songs it's not Andrew Seeley's face that comes to mind. I'm not in a position to offer anyone a job for their amazing efforts so in my little world Troy Bolton is all Zac Efron.
Free Music Review: Musical Movies ARE BACK! (with a vengence)
Hit: 5 Stars
Every few months, the disney channel realeases a halfway decent kids movie. Most of these releases are an asault on screenplay. But then while most of America's kids are still on Christmas break, they go and release this appealing Movie. Pretty soon, that movie was the most talked about thing in mainstream american youth.
The thought of a possible CD soundtrack, was talked about more wildly than the film it's self.
The opening song,"Start of Something New", takes place at a Kareoke party.Outgoing hotshot Troy, and beatiful nose-in-a-book Gabriella are awkwardly,(because neither of them would ever do it voluntarily),put up to performing a duet. But as the song progresses, they realize tht the something new is their friendship. It's your typical, poorly prodeuced kareoke song, with solid vocals.
As a basketball practice transforms into "Get'cha Head In the Game" Troy, the Basketball captain for East High, tries to remain focused; despite the fact that his passion for music, and his new flame Gabriella, have followed him home. This song is composed of shoes squeaking, Whistles blowing, balls boncing, and synthetic claps.
Ryan and Sharpay Evans, brother and sister, are the wicked, good looking, king and queen of the drama club, with a disturbing romantic chemistry and general 'Better than you all!' state of mind. Their audition for the Winter Musical, "What I've Been looking for", is an early 90's, piano/drum kit dance number.
"What I've Been Looking for [Reprise]", is a lower tempo, piano version. This is Troy and Gabriella's Unintentional auditon, sang the way the Play's timid composer, Kelsey, could not make the previous couple sing. The performance lands them a callback, and deep social trouble.
By lunch time, the whole school is in mayhem! Jocks are baking, mathletes are hip hoppin',and skaters are playing thee Cello! So their piers tell them to "Stick to Th Status Quo". All of the confusion is pinned on Troy & Gabriella in this old school sounding, social revolution. In response, the scholastic club and the basketball team collaberate to tear the two apart.
Gabriella is now totally depressed at the thought that her only real friend would say she meant nothing to him (he was tricked into saying it). She roams the empty halls of East High, belting out the self pitying power ballad that is,"When there was me and You".
In a vicious attempt to seal the audition for themselves, Ryan and Sharpay get to the Drama teacher. Convincing her to change the date to the same night as the scholastic decathalon, and the championship game! "Bop to the top", is a latin pop declaration of The couple's... uh, I mean sibling's! state of mind.
After the teams confessed to their friends what they had done, Troy & Gabriella are ready to auditon, and their broken relationship mended. Their auditon in front of the entire school, with everyone supporting them,"Breaking Free" lands them the lead roles in the winter musical!
The Wildcats win both events, and are now all at peace with eachother and themselves. "We're All in This Together" Is an upbeat, addictive, marching band dance number! A perfect finale for such an amazing film.
The bonus track, B5's version of "Get'cha Head In The Game", is a well harmonized, electronic beat heavy, rap/R&B Finale to this album.
The album actually spent eight weeks at number one on Billboard. Several of the songs were on iTunes top 10 for multiple weeks.This is a wonderful soundtrack to accompany the hit movie. I think any kid would love it, and older musical fans would appreciate it as well!
Free Music Review: Nice. No, Better Than That.
Hit: 5 Stars
I have to admit that, upon seeing the preview for "High School Musical" for the first time, I had very little faith in it going anywhere. I hadn't seen much progress from the last few DCOMs that I wasn't expecting this one to do really well. Unfortunately, the night it premiered, I missed it. But the very next day in school, I heard in the halls exclamations such as "High School Musical was awesome!" and "I looooove that movie!" Also unfortunately, it wasn't until about two months later that I actually saw the film in its entirety. It's a cute little story about two people, Gabriella Montez and Troy Bolton (played by Vanessa Anne Hudgens and Zac Efron), hailing from the math club and basketball team, discovering that they have a passion for musical theater. The whole movie is chock-full of super-catchy showtune-slash-pop songs and ballads. That's when I got the soundtrack.
They're all really fun, and they'll always cheer you up: they're the songs on this CD.
Starting with "Start of Something New", a sweet little pop-rock power ballad performed by Troy and Gabriella. It's the only true song in my opinion that really showcases Vanessa & Zac's singing talent. Then there's "Get'cha Head In the Game", a hip-hoppish song with the sounds of basketball practice blending in perfectly to the beat. I particularly enjoyed that song. "What I've Been Looking For", sung by Ryan and Sharpay, is a fun little ditty that makes you feel happy. The second version of that track, sung by Troy and Gabriella, is less cute though much more meaningful-sounding, and I'm sad to say that I like the Ryan and Sharpay version better. Moving on, there's my absolute FAVORITE song on the CD, "Stick To the Status Quo". It's basically about never disturbing the fragile balance of certain groups sticking to what they've always done. It's got a really fun chorus that'll make you want to belt along. "When There Was Me And You" is nice, showtune-sounding power ballad of dismay, with predictable lines such as "I thought you were my fairy tale". It's a track that I could do without.
In continuation, "Bop To the Top" is like a combination of salsa and showtune. If you're like me, you'll laugh and think "What?" at Sharpay's shouts of "Aye aye aye!! Arrrrrrriba!!" But in all seriousness, it's a great song to play at a party to get people on their feet. "Breaking Free" serves as the climax of the movie, a really nice power ballad with pretty decent lyrics, ending on an unexpected note with "You know the world can see us in a way that's different than who we are." Next there's "We're All In This Together", featuring a solo of all the main characters. It's really cool if you like "Hollaback Girl"-reminiscent instrumentals and halfway-there vocals. But still, I know you'll like it as much as I did. The only song I truly did not like was "I Can't Take My Eyes Off of You". It just didn't agree with me. B5's version of "Get'cha Head In the Game" is just as great as the original, with some real hip-hop essence. From there, there are the karaoke versions of "Start of Something New" and "Breaking Free", which are nice.
So in closing, even though most singers on this soundtrack have moderate singing talent, they really give mature effort to the juvenile high school musical plot. They definitely earned this album's #1 spot on the charts. I say, they deserve a standing ovation!
Free Music Review: The movie and the soundtrack were very catchy!!!
Hit: 5 Stars
To all of the High School Musical fans out there, if you don't already have the cd, go get it right now. There are additional songs, including a very sickening song by B5. Here are the ratings and comments about each song...
1. Start of Something New ^^^Great harmony with the both of them.^^^ 9.0/10
2. Get'cha head in the game^^^In the movie, a great song to get you dancing and start playing basketball. The song itself just makes you want to sing along and dance with them. Pretty talented.^^^ 9.2/10
3. What I've Been Looking For^^^Maybe not for everybody, but this is tied with one of my favorite songs. This song is for me, but I know that it might sound odd for a few people.^^^ 9.8/10
4. What I've Been Looking For (Reprise)^^^Also, a song that is worth listening to! This song actually sounds like they are singing. Ryan and Sharpay sound liked they had it fixed up with a computer. 9.6/10
5. Stick to the Status Quo^^^Okay...not the best song to me on the soundtrack. The people that are "confessing" are not the same people in the movie. Doesn't matter, it is still alright.^^^ 8.6/10
6. When There Was Me and You^^^I am not a big fan of slow songs like this, but this is okay. This is not the song that you would listen to first. I've listened to it a few times, not many times.^^^ 8.4/10
7. Bop to the Top^^^Very catchy. Makes you want to dance!!! You can also notice that is not really them singing live. You can hear that it has been fixed on the computer. They are my favorite with the songs somehow. This song is more Spanish like, which can make you want to party!!!^^^ 9.7/10 (Not perfect)
8. Breaking Free^^^You can "almost" hear that they are completely singing. It is a great harmony song, and a great song to sing along with. It shows that they have some skills in this movie. Great job with this song!!!^^^ 9.6/10
9. We're All in This Together^^^ The second best song to start dancing to. (#1 is Bop to the Top) Amazingly catchy! It keeps you wanting to listen to it over and over again. It was one of the first songs that I listened to on the album!!!^^^9.7/10
10. I Can't Take My Eyes Off of You^^^Easily "my" favorite song on the album. It might not be to some people. This song is new on the soundtrack and was not in the movie. Basically, it is when all of the main characters (Troy, Gabriella, Ryan, and Sharpay) sing in one song together. That is what makes it cool. Not the dancing type song, just so you know. It is also not so catchy at first. You have to get used to it easily.^^^10/10
11. Get'cha Head in the Game (Preformed by B5)^^^After the first time, I never ever wanted to listen to that again. It is sickening. It almost brought this soundtrack down to a 4 star. This group just copies songs from Disney Channel because they have nothing else to do. Terrible!^^^1.0/10
The last to songs are Karaoke versions, which means that there are no singing, but just the music, and they let you sing along with it. It is probably just a way to put a few more tracks on anyway. I know that the computer fix-ups are noticeable, but they did a very good job. It is my #1 album right now at the time. This is the album for any age to look for!!!
Free Music Review: High School Musical,The Best Disney Channel Movie Soundtrack EVER!
Hit: 5 Stars
This cd totally ROCKS THE HOUSE!When I saw "High School Musical" for the first time on Disney Channel,I thought it was the BEST Disney Channel Movie EVER made!And so there went little old me with my Wal-mart gift card to buy the soundtrack.After I heard "Breaking Free" and "We`re All In This Together",I was like "mom,we`re going to Wal-mart tomorrow!I absolutely HAVE to have this cd",and of course she spoils me,and so I bought the soundtrack at WM the next day."Start Of Something New" is a great karaoke song,just like it was in the movie!I actually sand the karaoke verson of this song at a party with my GF!*lol* "Get`cha Head In The Game" is my second favorite of the whole soundtrack!The song is totally awesome for any time pretty much!I even learned some of the dance moves to it while I was watching the "High School Musical Dance-Along" when it came on Disney! The regular and the reprise versions of "What I`ve Been Looking For" are sweet!I think Troy and Gabriella sing it a little better than Ryan and Sharpay,but that might just be because the one they sing is slower,and you might can hear their awesome notes more! "Stick To The Status Quo" is another good one!At first I didn`t know what it really meant,but now I do!Sharpay and Ryan sound REALLY good in this one! "When There Was Me And You" definately shows that Vanessa Anne Hudgens is the next female Disney Channel/Radio Disney MAJOR star!This is totally a touching song and is also one that might even make you cry and you might have it stuck in your head all day like I did one time! "Bop To The Top" is just majorly fun!Fun to sing to,definately fun to dance to,everything is good about it! Hands down,"Breaking Free" is the best song on the soundtrack.Also being one of the most popular,it is the.....Well,I don`t know what to say about it!It is just somehow the best song on the disk,and is just a big highlight! "We`re All In This Together".....now this is a song that is fun to do at a school dance!I think anyone can catch on to this song about friendship and following your dreams to be whatever you think is right for you! "Can`t Take My Eyes Off You" is a song that wasn`t featured in the movie,but I really wish it was!It`s really neat....I`ve heard that when the dvd realeases of "High School Musical" that it will have an exclusive never-before-seen music video of this song,so I am like dying here for it to come out! The B5 version of "Get`cha Head In The Game" hands down is the worst song....yuck!They totally ruined it!I have no idea how Radio Disney could have picked this version to play on the radio over the original Troy version!Blech.....
And of course there are the ending special two karaoke tracks of "Start Of Something New" and "Breaking Free"....FUN FUN FUN!!!
I definately reccomend this album for anyone!! You have to check it out!