Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... the 'special edition' only if you are a Disney completist and wish to hear a few rough demos of rejected songs by Alan Menken. Avoid it... the 'special edition' if you wish to hear the lyrics of the original theatrical release and/or were expecting to hear more new score material. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
Aladdin: (Alan Menken) Flying on its own magic carpet ride in the early 1990's, the collaboration between Disney and Alan Menken soared from The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast to Aladdin in 1992 without even the slightest hiccup. Despite the failing health of Menken's lyricist, Howard Ashman, who would pass away before the final cut of the film, Aladdin maintained the outrageously profitable Disney musical craze with viewers and listeners of all ages. Following Beauty and the Beast was no small task, however, with the Aladdin predecessor rivaling live action films at both the box office and awards ceremonies (the latter of which is even more rare today than ever). Still, audiences were ready to soak up nearly anything from Disney in 1992, and Aladdin was yet another enormous box office and music chart success story. None of Menken's songs for this final entry in the "Great Disney Musical Trilogy" would achieve the same lasting greatness as those in the other two, though, with Aladdin suffering the most significant neglect of the three from listeners and viewers in future generations (despite the several substandard straight-to-video knock-off sequels). A television cartoon spin-off of the film failed miserably with its musical adaptations, and the original soundtrack album representing the story fell badly out of print until a moderately remastered reprint was issued with a different cover in 2001. Finally, in 2004, Aladdin would be released on DVD, and in similar fashion to the special edition of Beauty and the Beast, an expanded album of the Aladdin soundtrack was released concurrently. The original Aladdin soundtrack pressing was among the most common used-cd bin finds ever in the history of CDs, which is further evidence of the film and score's poorer long-time performance. Unlike many of the Disney musicals from the 1990's (which often had comparably popular songs and score), Aladdin was a curious case in which the songs so heavily overshadowed the score in quality that Menken's non-song work for the film had good reason to fade away. Menken's pseudo-Arabian writing shines through in many creative ways in the songs whereas the score seems to return to cliched cartoon methodology more often than not. The vocal performances in Aladdin are top-notch, led by Robin Williams, of course, whose talents in this project are extraordinary at the least. His comedy talents aside, his musical talents really steal the show in two of Aladdin's songs. The Oscar-nominated "Prince Ali" song is among Menken's most ambitious, with the reprise performance by Jonathan Freeman (as Jafar) serving alongside Tony Jay's performance in The Hunchback of Notre Dame as one of Disney's more memorable. Menken's strong sense of when to appropriately reprise a song is applied masterfully in Aladdin; the reprise of "One Jump Ahead" provides an arguably more compelling moment on both the album and in the film than its main performance. The opening "Arabian Nights" song is a sentimental favorite, leading into Robin Williams' comedic rant which introduces the film. The title song, "A Whole New World" is perhaps tainted by the now-famous interpretation "A Whole Nude World" that features filthy lyrics, but the integrity of the original song remains intact for those who haven't been exposed to the adult adaptation. As usual, some of the stronger score cues exist among the songs in the album format. The score cues contained in the latter half of the album (and film) offer more "scary" action material from Menken than in his other efforts, holding the slapstick comedy material to a thankfully minimal level. The finale cue is well structured with a single bar of song from "A Whole New World" before building to the standard choral ending. There remain a couple of nagging issues regarding Aladdin that should be addressed. First, the alteration of the lyrics of "Arabian Nights" is a bothersome topic. The original film and album featured the lyrics "...where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face" just before "it's barbaric, but hey, it's home." The film came under protest from Arab-American communities for its stereotypical portrayal of a primitive Muslim culture, and the Tom Cruise look-alike as the primary character (opposite a big angry Arab with a huge nose personifying the villain) was a central issue. That lyric in "Arabian Nights" was changed on the VHS to a comment about the weather in the desert, and the resulting flow of lyrics doesn't make sense. What does the heat have to do with barbarism? Additionally, the voice on the VHS, and this new CD (and 2001 album as well) and DVD, simply does not match the original performer. Boo! Hiss! There comes a time when a piece of art should stand separate from politics. This is reason alone to hold on to the original 1992 CD. A second problem with Aladdin is congruency problems between the speaking and singing voices of Aladdin and Jasmine. The best performances in Disney musical history have come when the speaking and singing voices are performed by the same actors, and it is no wonder, therefore, that Williams' and Freeman's songs are highlights. Finally, a third complaint exists with the expanded CD released in 2004. Two demos of rejected songs (performed by Menken & Ashman) appear at the end of the album, and while these are interesting to a degree, there is extra orchestral score material that needed to be included on this album. Those two demos were previously available on a Menken compilation album, so they can't even be considered a significant addition. The film always contained an enjoyable orchestral outburst of "Friend Like Me" at the start of the end credits (in all of its forms: in theatres, on VHS, and now on DVD), and this is absent from the album. Tech-saavy folks can luckily burn it right off the DVD on to their own Aladdin CD. Likewise, snippets of score heard in menus on the DVD (always suspected to exist before the DVD was released) are not on the album. Additional pop versions of the songs are also missing. Despite popular demand, two notable, more recent performances of two of Aladdin's songs are not included on the expanded 2004 album. The Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson pop version of "A Whole New World" is absent, as is Clay Aiken's performance of "Proud of Your Boy." All of this material is included on the DVD, making its absence from the CD a bit puzzling. Some of the album's advertising has indicated a karaoke version of "Proud of Your Boy" instead of "High Adventure" as the 23rd track. A separate karaoke-only album of Aladdin songs is a cheap rip-off for people hoping to hear the orchestral backing of the songs without the dialogue (also hinted at on the DVD menus), but Disney obviously decided not to pay the original musicians any further royalties and substituted the orchestra with corny synthetic variants. Due to all of these factors, there has been an understandable, general backlash from fans during the first month of the 2004 album's release. All things considered, the "special edition" soundtrack is simply not all that it is hyped up to be, and it failed to rectify any of the omissions from the original album. In the end, no truly satisfactory album for Aladdin exists, and Disney's inability to produce a proper album treatment of this material is unacceptable. It's a work best left enjoyed in the film itself.
Music as Heard on 1992 Album: *** Music as Heard on 2001 Album: ** Music as Heard on 2004 Album: ** Overall: *** Track Listings (1992 and 2001 Albums):
Total Time: 50:12
(Only the 1992 album contains the original, unedited lyrics) Track Listings (2004 Album):
Total Time: 57:01
All artwork and sound clips from Aladdin are Copyright © 2004, Walt Disney Records, Walt Disney Records, Walt Disney Records. The reviews and notes contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Filmtracks Publications. Audio clips can be heard using RealPlayer but cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 9/24/96, updated 10/25/04. Review Version 4.1 - PHP (Filmtracks Publications). Copyright © 1996-2005, Christian Clemmensen. All rights reserved. |
1992 Album
