A highlight of the Frozen II soundtrack is "Show Yourself," though one could argue that this song would have been better enunciated if it had been a straight reprise of "Into the Unknown." Its own melody is somewhat overwhelmed by both the four-note siren call of "Into the Unknown" and an interpolation of "All is Found" in its final minute. The Lopezes' technique of delaying crashing bass chords under Menzel's melodic line is extremely obnoxious and unnecessary, inhibiting the otherwise fluid contributions by the Aurora motif and the orchestra. Still, the last minute of the song is really gorgeous conceptually and in the other performance elements. The final song seems tacked on to the story as means of getting Kristen Bell one solo performance as Anna, and while she cries her way through the first half of "The Next Right Thing," the latter half offers her some vocal resonance against the orchestra in a melody that isn't particularly memorable but pretty nonetheless. The songs together are a decent lot, and fans will be thrilled to hear Bell and especially Menzel reprising their royal crooning and belting, but the latter's songs are really inhibited by the forced Broadway rock sensibilities of their recordings. The "Vuelie" song from the previous song doesn't have its own, self-contained performance in Frozen II but Beck does bookend the film with the full vocalized version of it in his score cues "Introduction" and "Epilogue," along with a reference in the pivotal cue, "Iduna's Scarf." Its style also informs "Reindeer Circle." Beck's score for the preceding film wasn't particularly noteworthy, his contribution strong enough to support the songs but not establishing its own foothold musically. In Frozen II, this equation is far different, the composer taking a much more prominent role in shaping the narrative of the film due to the greater quantity of action and fantasy scenes requiring a robust orchestral and/or choral presence. In general, Beck improves across the board in this sequel, his action sequences really solid and his secondary themes numerous and developed well. That said, while there are a few poignant connections between the song melodies and the score, Beck completely loses the vital four-note siren call in his score. In fact, the melody of neither Elsa song is interpolated into the score as needed, leaving a gaping hole where Beck was seemingly content to write all-new themes for concepts without reason. Likewise, the composer drops some of his own secondary themes from Frozen and replaces them with other identities. So while his rendering of beefier material is highly enjoyable, nagging continuity issues remain.

To continue addressing the Scandinavian location in Frozen II, Beck returned to his collaborators on the prior score, Norwegian composer Frode Fjellheim and the choral group Cantus, who helped craft "Vuelie." He also applies a gemshorn to the score, which is technically a horn but offers a soft woodwind-like effect. Listeners will be more impressed by Beck's handling of the robust action portions, though, with his brass writing particularly improved here. Thematically, he reprises his main theme from the prior film (heard first there in "Elsa and Anna") that is confirmed as a representation of Elsa's powers in this score. You hear the theme in action mode at 0:30 into "Wind," on piano at 2:23 into "Iduna's Scarf," sprinkled into the battle of "Fire and Ice," in tenuous mystery at the end of "River Slide," in brass heroics at 1:39 into "The Flood," and wrapped with a dramatic string conclusion at 2:01 into "Reunion," where it takes on hints of James Horner depth. A separate theme for Elsa and Anna is developed throughout Frozen II, occupying most of "Sisters" and continuing at 0:57 into "Earth Giants," 3:06 into "The Ship," and the first 90 seconds of "Reunion." In most performances, expect solo elements take the theme; only in "Reunion" is the idea allowed some volume. An important new theme in the score represents the Northuldra and enchanted forest, heard almost continuously in "Northuldra," book-ending "The Mist," and receiving an ominous statement closing "Wind." The eerie ethnic tones of "The Mist" return early in "The Ship," and the theme disappears until a massive statement for the full ensemble at 1:55 into "The Flood." As vital to the score is a hopeful theme for Elsa's destiny, introduced by choir at 0:52 into "Wind" and closing "Iduna's Scarf" with delicate harp. This theme really establishes itself in "Dark Sea," its performance at 0:39 into that cue monumental in its force on brass. A redemptive spirit takes hold of the idea in the first minute of "Ghosts of Arendelle Past" before "The Flood" climaxes with the theme once again at full throttle. This theme in particular doesn't make a whole lot of sense in the score, because while it is effective, it isn't directly connected sufficiently with either of the Elsa songs' melodies. It has vague resemblances to something the Lopezes would write, which made it all the more unnecessary to invent a new identity. Beck said that only some of the songs' melodies spoke to him, so those were the ones he used. Unfortunately, the lack of "Into the Unknown" in these passages, and especially the four-note siren call associated with it, is baffling, and it's hard to imagine why this material didn't catch Beck's interest when lesser songs did so.

The secondary themes on the score for Frozen II include identities for some but not all of the nature-related characters. The Earth Giants and associated mystery are afforded a descending motif at 0:42 and 1:27 into "The Mist" that continues at the outset and at 0:32 into "Earth Giants," this time with pronounced exoticism. After a brief reference at 1:12 into "River Slide," the motif resolves in "Rude Awakening," where it opens and closes the cue with harsher, brassy renditions. Two of the elemental spirits in the story receive motifs, the one for the wind spirit, Gale, the best applied. Beck's use of rambling piano and Predator-like action suspense in "Exodus" reminds of the most unlikely of Alan Silvestri modes. (It would be extremely humorous if Predator was actually the temp track inspiration for a scene in a Disney princess flick.) The motif takes a more animation-friendly personality early, at about 2:00 into "Wind," and it is joined by chimes at 0:39 into "Iduna's Scarf" for a magical moment. This motif opens the first few seconds of "The Ship" and returns slightly at 1:48 into "Reunion" and 1:47 into "Epilogue," by which point the idea is completely benevolent. The fire spirit has a generally more agitated motif, though its first hint comes at 1:40 into "The Mist" on gentle flute. The theme builds to a frenzy in "Fire and Ice" before extending itself into a second, more playful phrase that continues into the first 30 seconds of "Earth Giants." Together, all these themes and motifs make for a highly nuanced score, but more references to the songs would have been preferred to all these new identities from Beck. He does use the "All is Found" melody at the outset of "Iduna's Scarf" and twice in the middle of "The Ship," the idea exerting some power at the end of "Ghosts of Arendelle Past." The "Introduction" cue closes with a nice allusion to "Do You Want to Build a Snowman" from the previous film, "Gone Too Far" offers a somber passage at 0:39 from "The Next Right Thing," and Beck joyously references "Some Things Never Change" at the forefront of "Epilogue" to such an extent that a vocalized reprise worked into this cue would have served Disney tradition well. In the end, the score for Frozen II is a definite improvement over its predecessor but still fails to totally bridge the gap between itself and the songs. A lack of prominence for the siren call in the score is inexcusable. Separated from the film, the score plays very well, its narrative commendable and highlights worth revisiting. The songs suffer from a poor, dry mix that forces the vocals too far in front of the instrumental backing. You can only receive both the songs and score together on a "deluxe" edition product, but skip the atrocious covers of the songs. Maybe they're meant for people who actually think that princesses all have huge eyes.  ****   @Amazon.com: CD or Download