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| Menken |
Aladdin: (Alan Menken) There have been both
successes and failures in Disney's quest to translate its classic
animated tales to live action in the 2010's, and after the reasonably
encouraging success of 2017's remake of
Beauty and the Beast,
there was hope that its original successor, 1992's
Aladdin, would
enjoy the same transition. Undoubtedly, though, the whole concept of
Aladdin was culturally problematic for a live action adaptation,
the studio long in hot water from the original animation over its
depictions of Arabs. Their solution was to hire Guy Ritchie as
screenwriter and director for 2019's
Aladdin and give the remake
a more modern sensibility, in many ways diminishing the charm of the
original. A highly promising teaser trailer for the adaptation yielded a
movie that failed to emulate key features of the inspiration and ignore
facets of the proven formula, making this musical less effective.
Critics were not thrilled by the results but audiences nostalgic for the
Disney renaissance of the early 1990's flocked to the picture to extent
of over a billion dollars of grosses. As with the equivalent for
Beauty and the Beast, there are multitudes of reasons why the
remake of
Aladdin will both impress and disappoint. The basic
story and musical numbers remain the same, the street urchin of Agrabah
still destined to win the heart of a princess despite interference of an
evil sorcerer and a benevolent genie. In expanding elements of the story
and shooting them with cheesy slow-motion effects, Ritchie cheapens the
whole affair, and his influence unfortunately taints the accomplished
music for the film by Alan Menken. The composer's continued involvement
with Disney is an incredible bonus for fans of his 1990's achievements
nevertheless, and for many listeners, his work for 2019's
Aladdin
will merit affection by his mere presence. Whereas
Beauty and the
Beast experienced fairly significant evolution through its journey
from film to stage and then back to film,
Aladdin's equivalent
path has been less striking. Aspects of the musical were indeed expanded
upon for the stage, and those changes do inform the 2019 live action
version on screen, but those who skipped the Broadway step of
Aladdin won't feel as out of the loop here.
Menken's guiding role in
Aladdin is familiar to the
tact he took with
Beauty and the Beast, updating the classic
songs, adding some new material, and beefing up the score with robust
orchestrations. In concept, that's great, but there are problems in
casting, style, and spotting that harm this version of
Aladdin
significantly, so the end result is a frustratingly but not surprisingly
mixed bag. The casting was the major problem with
Beauty and the
Beast, and with
Aladdin, the same applies to a lesser extent.
The early hiring of Will Smith as the Genie proved to be a love or hate
prospect, and the entire situation with the villainous Jafar in this
movie is a travesty worth a thousand words that won't come from this
review. The shift from Robin Williams to Smith in the Genie role meant
that the soundtrack's big band personality for his performances adopts a
hip hop and rap influence that may jive with the director's
sensibilities but is jarring in context. After much animosity between
Williams and Disney over his salary for the 1992 film, the two sides
finally made up a decade later, and it would have been interesting to
see if the two could collaborate again on the character for the
live-action version had Williams still been alive. After all, CGI can
make anything happen. (Though that's part of the problem with this
movie.) Meanwhile, the loss of Jonathan Freeman as Jafar is immense, as
the villain's only song from the original is completely dropped from
this recording. Freeman's growling voice is so enticing that he alone
carried the otherwise forgettable
The Return of Jafar sequel from
1994, and he portrayed the character all the way through the stage
version of
Aladdin. In full makeup, he still conveys a convincing
Jafar, and he has aged well for the role. The two leads are sufficient,
and although Naomi Scott will never compete with Lea Salonga for Jasmine
or any other singing role, Mena Massoud as the titular character
actually sounds quite similar to Brad Kane's original. No other
character has a significant impact on the songs, but with the original
narrator performing "Arabian Nights," Bruce Adler, having passed away,
the remake opted to use Smith for the expansion of that song, with
highly unfortunate results. The only returning voice is the incredible
Frank Welker, who returns as Abu, Rajah, and the Cave of Wonders, the
last one vaguely sounding here as if Megatron himself is lecturing us
about the diamond in the rough.
The style of 2019's
Aladdin is a really tough
aspect of the soundtrack to analyze, because there is a diametrically
opposed shift away from the original musical in both positive and
negative directions simultaneously. On the upside, Menken has treated
his orchestrations to the same fantastic reimagining that he brought to
Beauty and the Beast, adding incredible depth and, in this case,
ethnicity to the equation. The score is resounding, aided by a plethora
of (albeit stereotypical) regional sounds in lending another dimension
to the music. The use of oud, duduk, ney, and other instruments in
tasteful applications throughout the score is a major plus, and the
percussive layers are far more mature here as well. The ensemble's depth
alone is a massive improvement. On the other hand, the songs'
instrumental accompaniment has shifted brazenly towards the pop realm, a
reflection, perhaps, of the kind of shifts you see in the small
performing groups of live stage performances. Each of the major songs
now has pop percussion backing it, a technique previously reserved by
Menken for only the end credits variations on his main song per picture.
Here, the infusion of thumping snare and the Smith-inspired genre
bending of his major numbers may make the songs suitable for a Richie
film, but they lack all the innocence and heartfelt character of their
original genre. Even the humor is less refined. Some enthusiasts of the
original 1992 recording will find the songs unpalatable because of these
changes alone. The spotting of 2019's
Aladdin also raises some
curiosities. The melody of the new song, "Speechless," the usual
yearning ballad for the heroine, is pretty and alluring, but it doesn't
really fit with the personality of the other songs. Whereas "Evermore"
was a natural extension of the songs in
Beauty and the Beast,
"Speechless" has the personality better akin to
Frozen than
Aladdin, mainly because of the divergent, ultra-modern
progressions of its melody. When the "Speechless" theme transfers into
the score, this distinction becomes clearer. Menken dropped the reprise
of "Prince Ali" in favor of another "One Jump Ahead" reprise, and while
the latter is very welcomed, the loss of the villain's retort to "Prince
Ali" is unacceptable. It's extremely rare for a Disney villain to throw
a hero's own song back at him (not to mention that Jafar bitch slaps
Aladdin at this point in the original movie), and "Prince Ali (Reprise)"
was the best orchestrated and among the most impactful songs in the
first film. How can there be a Disney musical with no villain's song?
Its loss is extremely disappointing.
With those general observations about the
Aladdin
remake established, a quick dive into individual songs and score tracks
is merited. The most altered song on the soundtrack is "Arabian Nights,"
which is expanded nicely in structure but ruined by Smith's vocal
performance and a mix that places him far too front in the soundscape.
(The same issue happens with most of the songs; the 1992 recording
ironically featured a wetter mix of the vocals, which helped the fantasy
aspect of the whole story.) Smith's chuckles and other performance
embellishments tend to get in the way of the enhanced orchestrations
underneath. The actual expansion of the song is nicely done by Menken,
and its new lyrics are careful to avoid accusations of racism that were
prompted by the 1992 version. (It's not hard to remain partial to the
original, offensive lyrics, though: "Where they cut off your ear if they
don't like your face... It's barbaric, but hey, it's home.") The
transition from the song's vocals to the Welker contribution as the Cave
of Wonders at 2:15 is rushed and required a few more seconds of
breathing space. Intrusive pop percussion in "One Jump Ahead" is
extremely obnoxious. The most loyal song adaptation in this score,
ironically, is "One Jump Ahead (Reprise)," which retains Menken's
original sensitivity on woodwinds. The acoustic guitar accompaniment of
"Speechless (Part 1)" is totally out of place in this context; couldn't
a Middle Eastern alternative been utilized? This isn't some modern urban
chick singing... or a John Rambo film. The performance by Scott is
overwrought, too, the primary verse at 0:43 sounding as though she's
auditioning for a James Bond song. In "Friend Like Me," Smith actually
hits fewer notes than Williams, the recording far less polished. The
expanded opening of "Prince Ali" is impressive, though Smith again lags
behind Williams, especially by the time he yells repeatedly at the
audience near the end. The bass accents at the Broadway line dancing
portion at 2:50 are insufferable. What was formerly the pop rendition of
"A Whole New World" has become the film version, the modern
orchestrations cheap and out of place. The same applies to "Speechless
(Part 2)," with Scott again losing all finesse in the performance and
descending bass accents out of place. These aren't children's songs,
folks. They're aimed at the people who were kids in the early 1990's and
now expect everything to be overwrought for coolness. It's a shame,
really, that there's more elegance in the ZAYN & Zhavia Ward cover of "A
Whole New World" over the end credits. The DJ Khaled remix of "Friend
Like Me" with Will Smith doesn't belong in this film, period.
While Jasmine's song, "Speechless," is meant as the awards
bait from
Aladdin this time around (recall that "A Whole New
World," "Friend Like Me," and "Prince Ali" were all nominated for major
awards), it lacks many of the mannerisms that distinguish Menken's work
despite its very pleasant demeanor. Not surprisingly, the radio version,
"Speechless (Full)," differs only very slightly stylistically from
what's heard in the film. On the whole, the songs in this version of the
tale struggle mightily to convey the right personality. The same cannot
be said of the score, which succeeds in many of the places where the
songs fail. Unlike
Beauty and the Beast, which had score tracks
very closely matching their prior arrangements, Menken opts to
substantially rearrange many of the cues in this entry, and many of the
choices are strong. As expected, the score is still largely built upon
the melodies of the songs, with two themes historically existing for
concepts that don't occupy song melodies. Those two exceptions are the
robust theme for Agrabah in early scenes and Jafar later on, though the
latter is almost completely (and inexplicably) stripped from this work.
The "Arabian Nights" melody is afforded a much greater role in the 2019
score, which allows its freshly expanded progressions to really shine.
In "The Big Ship," you hear these additions in their full glory. By "The
Dunes," the theme is given broad treatment suspiciously similar to the
"Coronation" cue from Marco Beltrami's
Gods of Egypt. An alluring
rendition of "Arabian Nights" is explored in "Simple Oil Lamp." A
similar but superior recording of this theme was featured beautifully in
the film's initial teaser, but that music is not part of the official
score. Later in the film, as Jafar gains strength, Menken offers the
"Arabian Nights" melody as a representation of the sorcerer's mystical
capabilities. In "Agrabah Marketplace," this theme transitions into the
Agrabah-specific theme, and this idea meanders through the remainder of
the score as well, including a very robust performance late in "Breaking
In." One of the really nice spotting choices made by Menken in the score
is the recurring role for the "One Jump Ahead" melody, which is heard in
"Aladdin's Hideout" and frequently when Aladdin himself needs a
reflective moment later in the work. Also in this track is a preview of
the "A Whole New World" melody, which itself is featured far more often
(and intriguingly early) in the score, including "Returning the
Bracelet" and "The Cave of Wonders." The "Aladdin's Hideout" cue segues
into "Jasmine Meets Prince Anders," Menken's first, tender instrumental
foray into the "Speechless" melody.
By "The Basics," Menken is applying the "Friend Like
Me" melody to
Aladdin's score, and he continues to do so in
rather odd ways thereafter. In this initial placement, a touch of
Mission: Impossible personality is exhibited in how the theme is
conveyed. The "Arabian Nights" melody is twisted into an action motif in
"Escape From the Cave," a highly percussive and modern chase cue that
prefaces some of the John Powell-inspired,
Jason Bourne-like
action in "Carpet Chase." The instrumental adaptations of the "Prince
Ali" melody make for the score's most comical moments, including the
airy "Prince Ali's Outfit" that also includes expected references back
to "Friend Like Me." The interplay between the "Prince Ali" theme and
the "A Whole New World" theme in "Until Tomorrow" makes for one of the
score's quiet but triumphant moments. The "Friend Like Me" melody
receives thoughtful tailoring in "Aladdin's Second Wish" and "Never
Called a Master Friend," humanizing the Genie character. The
"Speechless" theme informs the rather distracting source piece, "Harvest
Dance." From "Jafar Becomes Sultan" onward, Menken's spotting choices
become suspect. Immediately, the "Friend Like Me" theme is turned into a
massive expression of suspense and fantasy, mingling at times with the
"Arabian Nights" theme. These passages take the place of Jafar's proper
theme from the original
Aladdin. In that film, "Jafar's Hour"
(leading directly into the opening of "Prince Ali (Reprise)") contained
a muscular descending phrase inspired loosely by the Agrabah theme, and
this idea is badly marginalized in the 2019 remake. On album, it is only
heard at 0:10 into "Hakim's Loyalty Tested," almost as a fleeting
tribute by the composer to recognize the original work. The replacement
of this theme with a menacing take on "Friend Like Me" in "Most Powerful
Sorcerer" is bizarre and senseless. Not only does the villain lose his
song, but his theme in the score as well? The duo of "Jafar Summons the
Storm" and "Jafar's Final Wish" contains some very strong action
material, but it's rudderless and forces other themes into uncomfortable
duties. They make for a really disappointing climax in the musical
narrative. In "Genie Set Free" and "The Wedding," Menken alternates
between the three melodies for Aladdin and Jasmine well, through the
fate of the Genie is handled rather tepidly in "Genie Set Free" given
everything that the "Friend Like Me" melody had just been through. One
has to wonder how the composer could lose so much cohesion in his
handling of themes at the end.
Understandably, the "A Whole New World" theme closes
out the score for
Aladdin with an orgasmically exuberant
performance in "The Wedding" that concludes with the composer's usual
choral and chime-banging crescendo at the end. The "Friend Like Me
(Finale)" cue closing out the score emulates the 1992 film's initial use
of an instrumental of that song over the outset of the closing credits
before launching into the obligatory pop song. (This recording was
removed from some later versions of the movie on video.) In this case,
the track functions more like a reprise of the actual song, maintaining
some of the genre-bending personality and ending with one final burst of
Smith vocals. Overall, the packaging of 2019's songs and score for
Aladdin in the film is decent but underwhelming, exhibiting
glimpses of the old magic at times while straying into obnoxious
contemporary styles at others. Some of the choices made prior to the
writing and recording of the music, including the pop dominance of
orchestrations in the songs and the removal of any distinct musical
representation of Jafar, are simply unacceptable on any level. The
maturation of the score's orchestrations allow the whole to be
marginally recommended, however, and these passages will serve as a nice
addendum to the 1992 recording. The album for the 2019 soundtrack is
maddening in that it segregates the songs and score, squeezes the score
to only 45 minutes in length, and bleeds the music between tracks to
force transitions. Some of the very short score cues should have been
combined into longer tracks. As for the songs, the performances are
strikingly inferior to the preceding recordings (with or without
Jonathan Freeman), and mix of these vocals is far too forward and ruins
the improvement made in some of the orchestral accompaniment. Cut from
the film, likely for pacing issues, was a rather good new song by
Menken, "Desert Moon," that served as a duet of loneliness for the two
leads. This brief song is not included on the album. For all the
impressive depth of the soundtrack, it seems overproduced. The abrasive
electronic bass and other synthetic effects (what exactly is the
screeching metallic sound at the end of "The Dunes"?), the pop
percussion throughout the songs, and the extremely heavy-handed
percussion in the chase and late action cues make one want to go back to
the less glitzy but more effective combo of "Jafar's Hour/Prince Ali
(Reprise)" from 1992. The 2019 soundtrack strikes some powerfully
nostalgic chords but ultimately leaves you wandering aimlessly in the
hot desert winds.
@Amazon.com: CD or
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- Music as Written and/or Adapted for the Songs: **
- Music as Written and/or Adapted for the Score: ****
- Music as Heard on Album: ***
- Overall: ***
| Bias Check: |
For Alan Menken reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.6
(in 15 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.43
(in 58,278 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
The insert includes a lengthy note from the composer and lyrics to each song.
