Brother Bear - Various Artists > Reviews > Brother Bear Soundtrack

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	Mixed
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	Some good music
Disadvantages:	The total length of tracks isnt very long

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Brother Bear is the forty-third animated feature in the Disney animated features canon. A traditionally animated film, it was produced by the Walt Disney Feature Animation and released on November 1, 2003, by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution. In the film, an Inuit boy pursues a bear in revenge for a battle that he provoked in which his oldest brother is killed. He tracks down the bear and kills it, but the Spirits, angered by this needless death, change the boy into a bear himself as punishment. The soundtrack to this movie contains a lot of songs by Phil Collins and includes one song by Tina Turner.

Tracks on this CD include:
1. Look Through My Eyes - This track is in my opinion one of the two best songs on the whole CD. It is sung by Phil Collins and has become one of the best known songs from the film. I love the meldoy and the words arent too bad, but the whole musical acompaniment is amazing and makes the piece.
2. Great Spirits - This track is sung by Tina Turner and is quite good. It has a bit of a strange sound to it in some places but generally it isnt too bad.
3. Welcome - This song is also sung by Phil Collins and is also quite good. The start and the verses arent wonderful and I dont really like them very much but the chorus itself is really good - it has good lyrics as well as a great tune.
4. No Way Out (Theme from Brother Bear) (Single Version) - This again is sung by Phil Collins and would appear to be the main theme from the movie - but Im not sure about that as I have never seen the film itself, I just like the music. This definitely is another of the best on the CD and is another of my favourites. The tune is amazing, and the accompaniment is just as good which makes an excellent track.
5. Transformation - This is sung by the Bulgarian Women's Choir and isnt the best track. It has a nice enough tune, but I dont think it is one of the best tracks on the CD, especially when most of the others are sung by the amazing voice of Phil Collins and compared to those songs this track just isnt as good.
6. On My Way - This, once again is sung by Phil Collins, and is the second of my two favourites on the CD. I love the introduction to this track and then basically everything that follows that. This, especially the chorus, is truly amazing.
7. Welcome - This track is sung by the Blind Boys of Alabama and Phil Collins with Oren Waters. This slightly shorter version of the earlier track, is in my opinion, slightly better than the earlier version. There seems to be harmony used in the singing that isnt in the first version where Phil Collins sings on his own. This track is very good.
8. No Way Out (Theme from Brother Bear) - This version is only about half the length of the previous version which makes me think it could be sort of a reprise, and it seems to be a lot quiet and calmer than the first version. Its more peaceful and nice enough.
9. Transformation - This is sung by Phil Collins this time and is different from the previous version but isnt really any better. It just has a different sound which is good enough - it just isnt anything special.
10. Three Brothers (Score) - This is the first of three tracks without lyrics. After a mysterious sounding start there is a lovely 'romantic' sounding, relaxing/calming theme which then gets faster into another great tune. This track is very good - but there are some problems when I try to play it, I think there must be a scrape on the CD or something because it doesnt always play very well.
11. Awakes as a Bear (Score) - This is another good score and is as good as the previous one. Again there is nothing very exciting or special about these tracks - they are just average really.
12. Wilderness of Danger and Beauty (Score) - This has a peaceful start but then goes into music that sounds like it could be from a hunt or chase scene in the film (but I dont know - I havent seen the film) and then about half way through changes to more nicer peaceful music and then ends with music similar to the chorus of Transformation. Once again it is a good track but there isnt really anything special about it.

Generally this CD is a good CD. It has three amazing songs, On My Way, Look Through My Eyes and No Way Out and then a few not so good songs, but songs that are still of a very good standard and then, like all CDs, it has those tracks which arent as good - these generally are the Score tracks at the end, but there are also one or two in the middle as well. I would recommend this CD to anyone, especially those who like Disney music, orhe music of Phil Collins. This generally is a good CD and is worth listening to. The only problem with it is that the thirteen tracks only last about 50 minutes in total and in some ways it isnt worth paying about £12 just for this amount of music - but its up to how much you like this sort of music.

This CD can be purchased from amazon.co.uk at £11.99 with Used & New copies from £6.99. It can also be bought at 101cd.com for £12.99 with free postage to UK, and can also be bought in other shops as well.