All-singing, all-dancing librarian at your service!
All-singing, all-dancing librarian at your service!
Member since:28.03.2001
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The score for The Prince of Egypt is, for me, the best for any animated film since The Lion King. Dreamworks' first major animation outshone anything produced by Disney at the same time, and the CD goes some way to showing why that was.
The orchestral cues are all written by Hans Zimmer and are of his usual excellent standard. The pieces written for the sequences where Moses meets God in the burning bush and for the crossing of the Red Sea are awe-inpsiring even when divorced from the on-screen action, and real emotion is conveyed in such tracks as 'Goodbye Brother' where the essentially wordless vocals are provided by Ofra Haza.
But the big treat of the score is the sextet of songs written by Stephhen Schwartz. His musical style has evolved considerably since the days when he wrote the bpuncy scores for such Broadway shows as Godspell, and he provides songs which are perfectly right for both character and situation.
'Deliver Us' is the opening montage of the film, showing the plight (and the faith) of the Hebrew slaves and the desperation of the mothers whose children were being slaughtered. This and 'The Plagues', which is again more of a montage than a straight song, are small masterpieces, combining disparate choric elements alongside solo voices to great effect. They move with unstoppable energy, yet serve their narrative purpose and more, creating mood and feeling effortlessly. The choir pronouncing the wrath of God in 'The Plagues' is truly chilling, leading perfectly into the understated horror of 'The Death of the First Born', one of Zimmer's orchestral cues.
'When You Believe' won the Best Song Oscar and deservedly so - it speaks simply yet eloquently of faith both old and newly discovered, leading into a joyous Hebrew chorus first from the children and then from the massed Israelites. On this track, Michelle Pfieffer demonstates a wonderful singing voice which is utilised far too little. She isn't the only voice principal to double on the singing, either, as Ralph Fiennes, Steve Martin and Martin Short also show off their (less considerable) vocal talents.
The only disappointment of the CD is the poor set of 'extra' tracks not from the actual soundtrack of the film - either from the credits or coming seemingly from nowhere. The commercially released version of 'When You Believe' is truly abysmal: Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston strip the song of all emotional honesty; it seems throughout that they are trying to outdo each other with their vocal performances, making the track far too 'busy'. The other cover versions, plus 'Humanity' are also disappointing, though Boyz II Men's track 'I Will Get There' is pleasant enough.
In all, this is a CD with many positives: a wonderful orchestral score from Hans Zimmer and solid songs from Stephen Schwartz add up to a great whole. From the joyous 'Through Heaven's Eyes' to the sinister yet comic 'Playing With The Big Boys' and the breathtaking 'Red Sea', the recording is an ever-more-interesting delight. For best results, use a player which can be programmed to skip over the first track and several of the final ones, leaving just the 'soundtrack proper'.
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It should be little surprise that of the three Prince of Egypt CDs, this one, which ... more
contains music actually used in the picture, is the best. The disc features songs written by Academy Award winners Stephen Schwartz and Hans Zimmer. It also showcases t...
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When You Believe (Mariah Carey & Whitney Houston) Deliver Us (Ofra Haza & Eden ... more
Riegel) The Reprimand (Various Artists) Following Tzipporah (Various Artists) All I Ever Wanted (Amick Byram & Linda Dee Shayne) Goodbye Brother (Ofra Haza) Thro...
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