I’m not entirely sure what the marketing strategy is behind how the music for Trolls has been released in advance of the film’s November 4 premiere. The apparent lead single, Can’t Stop the Feeling!, was released way back on May 6, and now the soundtrack has been released near the end of September. If it’s an effort to build interest and awareness in the film, I don’t think they’re doing a good job in succeeding. Certainly not when the soundtrack is not all that impressive.

Now I will admit that Can’t Stop the Feeling! is an infectious song in a good way. It did reach the top of the Billboard Top 100 and continues to be played regularly on the airwaves, both radio and streaming. But the vast majority of folks probably don’t know that it is a song from Trolls. I think because it was released so early and with so little additional promotional material to accompany it, most assume it’s intended to lead to a new Justin Timberlake album that has yet to come out.

One could technically say that the Trolls soundtrack might qualify as a new Timberlake album as he serves as a producer. And his touch is all over the place, and I don’t mean that he sings every song. He actually sings in just over half the songs, though two of them are broken up into film versions and radio versions. What I mean by his touch being all over the place is how the music is arranged, and how it sounds definitely has his signature. The use of the tempos, when to shift the tone, how the rhythm flows from start to finish. At times this is a good thing because at least he has great understanding of what will stir interest in listeners.

Only the Trolls soundtrack seems to have an identity crisis. It doesn’t seem to know if it should be a film soundtrack or a collection of songs Timberlake likes that are covered by some friends of his. In addition to Can’t Stop the Feeling!, I counted four other songs that I believe were made specifically for the film. So that’s five original songs in an album with thirteen tracks. This wouldn’t necessarily be an issue since most soundtracks for animated films only have about five or six songs in them anyway. But the other tracks on those albums were the film’s score. The score is nowhere to be found on the Trolls soundtrack, which means the additional songs make the film come off sounding like a jukebox musical.

When utilized well, jukebox musicals can be a lot of fun. But more often then not, they’re merely a collection of songs thrown togethr without really being beneficial to the storytelling. Sometimes they don’t even flow together all that well, kind of like what happened in Strange Magic. And this only further creates bewilderment regarding the album’s early release.

With no context as to why these songs are thrown in and how they fit with the storytelling, it comes off merely as a selection of songs mixed together. Granted it sounds like a couple of them have had their lyrics tweaked to better fit the film, which is certainly the case for a mash up that includes Move Your Feet and changes it to Move Your Hair. But because the music is essentially by itself for now, it doesn’t make it all that interesting to want to listen to.

Take the use of True Colors. If you’ve seen one of the more recent trailers, you can get a pretty good idea of how the song seems to be utilized in the storytelling. But if you haven’t seen the trailer, it may not click as to why it’s on the soundtrack. I haven’t really figured out where the Earth, Fire and Wind song September fits into the narrative and I only have a vague idea of how the Lionel Richie song Hello might be used. By themselves, they’re nice songs, don’t get me wrong, and Timberlake does mix them in a way that I nod my head to the beat at times. But this is supposed to be the soundtrack of a musical film and, like Strange Magic, they just seem to be added in there because they would sound good for a scene or two, not helping in the actual storytelling.

I personally think this odd mix of songs is going to end up creating a problem with the film’s enjoyment if you listen to the album now before seeing the film sometime later. I think it would’ve been a lot more interesting if Timberlake was able to develop a full slate of original songs for the film that added to the narrative. Most of the original songs don’t feel like they have any relation to Trolls, as a matter of fact.

I liked the song Get Back Up Again as it was the closest to really play up any form of storytelling, showcasing the unwavering optimism of Princess Poppy as well as the singing talents of Anna Kendrick. The other songs lacked context, particularly Hair Up, which is just Timberlake, Gwen Stefani and Ron Funches saying the same couple of lines over and over again to a specific tempo. Just because some of these songs talk about hair doesn’t necessarily mean it’s about Trolls without knowing where and how it fits into the storytelling.

It’s tough to properly rate the album given that it’s supposed to be a soundtrack, but doesn’t really reveal enough of how it fits in with the storytelling. This is certainly so when listening to the soundtrack about a month before the actual film comes out. The original songs are not enough and the covered songs come off more like a mix of favorites. Timberlake tries to piece together an album that would be attractive to listen to, but aside from Can’t Stop the Feeling! it’s just not interesting enough on its own to warrant checking out. It adds to the strange marketing strategy DreamWorks is using in trying to promote Trolls by releasing the music early. I would imagine the soundtrack might come off better in context when the film is released, but until then you’re better served skipping this one for now.

Trolls Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is available
to order now from Amazon.com

20 years ago, Disney released an animated adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. It was a bold choice by the House of Mouse given that the dark Victor Hugo classic was far from a family-friendly story. The film nevertheless managed to receive positive critical praise and was a decent box office hit. In 1999, Disney took another chance and adapted their version of the story into a stage musical in Germany. Being closer to the original source material in tone, it had a successful three-year run. In the years that followed, Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz had been trying to bring the show to North America before running successful pre-Broadway tryouts in San Diego, California in the fall of 2014 and then in Millburn, New Jersey in the spring of 2015. Disney does not have plans to bring the show to Broadway at the time of this writing. Nonetheless, they have allowed Menken and Schwartz to proceed with making a cast recording through Ghostlight Records.

I was fortunate enough to have seen the show during the San Diego run. While it could have used some tweaks here and there, it was an absolutely fantastic production. Perhaps the best way for me to describe the show is that it utilized the animated feature as a template. The structure of the story was as it was presented in the film along with the songs and visual look. From there, Menken, Schwartz, and book writer Peter Parnell incorporated as much from the original novel when they could be used in their telling of the story, more so than the Germany production. Examples of this include Frollo being Archdeacon and having a carefree brother named Jehan, Quasimodo being deaf as a result of being the bell ringer, and restoring the somber ending. Furthermore, the comedic sidekick characters were eliminated, in their place being the Congregation, or rather the Ensemble, portraying omniscient narrators, minor characters, and the statues and gargoyles, who were more of Quasimodo’s hallucinations than living beings.

Cast recordings are always interesting albums to listen to. Given that the most a disc can run is under 80 minutes, much of the play’s two and a half hours of storytelling is sacrificed in favor of getting in nearly all of the sections of each song onto the disc. For a cast recording to have two discs, the production would usually need to have been a sung-through musical, or complete singing from start to finish, which The Hunchback of Notre Dame is not. The synopsis in the booklet has enough writing to cover the main story points, but, as is generally the case, it’s not quite the same as experiencing the story being acted out. Then again, we’re fortunate we’re getting a cast recording at all. And it succeeds in capturing the spectacle from the stage, creating a dramatic, yet pleasant listen. Menken’s music shines wonderfully here as it did in the film and Schwartz comes up with some fine new lyrics to be sung. It’s clear that they had great satisfaction in being able to finally go further creatively with the subject.

Recognizing the differences is key when comparing the cast recording to the film soundtrack. Virtually all of the songs from the film are carried over, but there are obvious changes to the lyrics. A good example is “Topsy Turvy,” which is expanded to include an introduction for Phoebus, along with songs written for the play, “Rest and Recreation” and “Rhythm of the Tambourine.” With the loss of the comedic gargoyles, “A Guy Like You” is replaced with “Flight Into Egypt,” where instead of Quasimodo being told that he can be loved despite his deformity, he is encouraged to believe he has the strength to protect Esmeralda by conveying the story of Saint Aphrodisius. The new songs, by in large, work with the original songs and the structure of the storytelling. The stand-outs are “Top of the World,” where Esmeralda expresses her admiration of the view of the city from Notre Dame, and “Made of Stone,” where Quasimodo vents his frustrations over the pain and suffering he believes his actions cause. Some might not be sure about the rhythm of “Esmeralda,” which closes the first act, as it doesn’t match the Gothic tone of the other songs, but I think it’s fine.

Part of the pleasure in listening to the music is hearing the great cast. Patrick Page excels as Frollo, just having the right tone that respects the late Tony Jay while developing his own voice. Ciara Renée is angelic as Esmeralda compared to the partially-raspy Heidi Mollenhauer (who was the singing voice of the character in the animated movie), and Erik Liberman exudes the same mischievous glee Paul Kandel had as Clopin. While Andrew Samonsky doesn’t have the same heroic tone Kevin Kline had as Phoebus, he has the right singing voice for how the character is written in the show. And then there’s Michael Arden, who shapes Quasimodo differently than Tom Hulce by playing with the character’s deafness. While not quite as noticeable in the cast recording as it is watching on stage, he develops a great voice where it is restrained when speaking to others, but soars when singing to himself. The Congregation do a fine job, though it is the choir that is worth hearing. Their “Entr’acte,” which opens the second act, is more than good enough to leave listeners in awe.

The cast recording for The Hunchback of Notre Dame is not perfect, as is usually the case with such albums. It nonetheless captures the majestic music of the production that should be a pleasure to listen to for fans old and new. Alan Menken, Stephen Schwartz, and the cast have shaped their telling of the story musically that not only stands out positively compared with the animated feature, but against any other show. More importantly, it instills the hope that Disney will eventually bring the production to Broadway, where it belongs.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Studio Cast Recording is available
to order now from Amazon.com

Although this series has grown to at least four volumes (and, by all accounts, counting, not including a live-DVD and spin-offs) of varying degrees of success, this first edition is still one of the best new-fangled Disney compilations on the market.

The CD’s concept is to gather today’s “hot new stars” to perform various Disney hits, in their own contemporary style. The concept is similar to the video/CD experiment of the early 1990s, Simply Mad About The Mouse, which was an attempt to revitalise the Disney songbook with artists such as Michael Bolton, LL Cool J (singing Who’s Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf – in rap!), Soul II Soul (Kiss The Girl) and En Vogue (a Someday My Prince Will Come/One Song medley).

DisneyMania fares a lot better, with the production values as good as any of the singles that feature on the end credits of the new generation of Disney pictures, and an impressive roster of artists, featuring the likes of Anastacia, A*Teens, *NSync, Smash Mouth, Jessica Simpson, Baha Men, Hilary Duff, Christina Aguilera and Ronan Keating.

Of the 15 tracks, a fair few stand up to the rigours of replay, especially Aguilera’s Reflection (a slight cheat, as it’s actually a lift from the Mulan original soundtrack), Smash Mouth’s I Wanna Be Like You, and Simpson’s Part Of Your World (a tough one to do wrong). Surprisingly faithful to the originals are three songs from The Lion King: Aaron Carter’s Just Can’t Wait To Be King, S Club’s Can You Feel The Love Tonight and Keating’s Circle Of Life, while Baha Men’s Hakuna Matata has a fun jungle-rhythm that plays around with the track. Jump 5’s pumped-up version of Beauty And The Beast and Duff’s Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room are also fun and demonstrate inoffensively how a classic standard and a bouncy original can be reconfigured into the pure bubblegum pop popular today.

Of the rest, The Little Mermaid’s Under The Sea (from A*Teens) and Kiss The Girl (by No Secrets) fare well enough. Some of the multi-layered vocals can sound a little too thick and hackneyed (*NSync’s When You Wish Upon A Star seems harmonised to death), and it has to be said that Ashanti’s Colors Of The Wind isn’t even a poor patch on Vanessa Williams’ original. However, the actual music compositions shine through, the recordings are great, and it’s an entertaining enough little album; the kind of thing that even Disney die-hards could enjoy in the car. In fact if you do end up liking this collection, it might be worth trying to dig up a copy of Mad About The Mouse for even more modern-day Disney!