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 | Title : The Nightmare Before Christmas: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Author : Elfman, Danny
Release Date : 19931012
Binding : Audio CD
Regular Price : $11.98
Amazon.com Price : $9.85
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Buyer Reviews :
'The Nightmare Before Christmas' lies at the top of Danny Elfman's superior film scores, because it allowed him to pour all of his creative talents into one phenomenal work. This isn't just underscore, it's the feature--this time Elfman scores a MUSICAL, with music that accentuates Tim Burton's brilliant story. The mood is deliciously dark and yet devilishly fun; it's moody and evokes fear, but like a roller coaster, you know it's all in good fun.
The vocal songs are well-orchestrated, and the lyrics range from clever fun to poetry at its most beautiful. The 'Overture' builds and builds, pulling you in until you can't resist listening further. The 'Opening' is handled perfectly by Patrick Stewart, with a very subtle bit of 'Sally's Song' playing underneath. His reading, like a creative father reading a bedtime story to his child, is dead-on and just what's needed to lull the listener/viewer into the realm where reality fades into imagination. The unabashed fun of 'This is Halloween' makes you crave the holiday all over again. The sometimes terrifying descriptions pass right by without affecting you, because you're too busy having fun--the general effect of the whole film.
Elfman himself voices Jack, and his scary, longing reading and dramatic, over-pronounced phrasing gives Jack a wonderfully distinct voice. 'In the Forest' is a great piece that tremors with excitement and a foreshadow of the coming adventure, shown best with the drumming, twinkling segue into 'What's This?' at the end which lasts only a few seconds and fades with quiet chimes playing the song's opening notes. The actual performance of 'What's This?' soars, with sweet, delightful lyrics and Elfman projecting Jack's wide-eyed glee so well that one can see the skeleton's grinning face without even watching the movie--he sounds as if he might burst with joy! The 'Town Meeting Song' has sometimes scary lyrics, especially with Jack's introduction of 'Sandy Claws,' 'like a lobster huge and red' who 'sets out to slay with his reindeer on,' but the melody is so cute and the feeling so fun that it's impossible to mind. 'Making Christmas,' a full-cast effort, has a bombastic, side-splitting feel reminiscent of a Broadway production number. Listen for when Jack tells a citizen who's proud of his 'dead-rat hat' 'That's all wrong...It's been dead for much too long; Try something fresher, something pleasant!'
The highly disturbing 'Kidnap the Sandy Claws,' performed superbly by Paul 'Pee-Wee Herman' Reubens, Catherine O'Hara, and Elfman as Lock, Shock, and Barrel, is one of the soundtrack's high points. The battling siblings go on and on at length about their devious deed of nabbing the Christmas icon and torturing him to distraction--the lyrics are cruel, horrible, and downright sadistic. The first time around, in fact, it may shock and revolt you--it did me. But a really excellent marriage of orchestration, lyrics, and performers outmatched only by 'Oogie Boogie's Song.' The malevolence heightens with each verse, the brass blaring and the sailing flute turning up the fun. The singers sound like they're getting a real kick out of it--O'Hara sounds positively giddy when she squeals, 'Kidnap the Sandy Claws/Beat 'im with a stick...' It will surely frighten most children, and even older listeners who enjoy it may feel guilty for doing so, but just let yourself go and laugh out loud--that's the intention. O'Hara, also the voice of Sally, does a lovely understated job on the beautiful, heartbreaking 'Sally's Song.'
Showstopping 'Oogie Boogie's Song,' belted emphatically by the great Ken Page, is a wonderful take on the classic jazz-injected show tune, with stong piano comping and a hot, stomping blues arrangement tinged with a sexy, pumping stripper beat. The song benefits extraordinarily from the soulful voice of Broadway musical veteran Page (though this is a far cry from his Old Deuteronomy in 'Cats'), who wails, growls, and cackles his way through the lyrics. His robback
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