Good music, but mostly uninspired songs.
Armando N. Roman | Hillsboro, OR | 06/27/2010
(3 out of 5 stars)
"No reviews for this thing 3 months after it came out, huh? Well, for anyone who doesn't see it on the cover, these are songs -INSPIRED- by The Princess and the Frog. You aren't getting any songs that were in the movie on this cd. None. So what you're getting here is a whole new cd, sung by the original character voice actors, which is a real treat. Most companies wouldn't bother bringing back the original actors/singers for something that isn't official music from the movie. The music that accompanies most of the tracks here sounds like it came straight out of the movie, and definitely captures the New Orleans vibe.
The songs though...eh, they sound like songs that didn't make the final cut for the movie, and for good reason- it's hard to get into any of them for the most part. I feel bad for saying that, especially considering the original actors came back to sing, but you can only hear Louis say he was born to blow his horn so many times in one verse before you skip to the next track. Mama Odie's Kitchen Song is one that I absolutely couldn't stand, and a lot of the others are the kind of songs you'd expect in a direct to dvd sequel...HEY WAIT A MINUTE! THAT'S what all the songs on here sound like they should be from!
I don't know if kids will get much out of it either. The only tracks on this cd that I liked enough to mention in this review are Shadow Man, Everyday Princess and Love is a Magical Mystery. I can't praise Keith David's work on here enough, and Michael-Leon Wooley's work as Louis deserves mention, as his voice is great but his goofy lyrics make it a little hard to see that. The song writers definitely dropped the ball with this album, though I suspect they rushed this one out to go along with the dvd/blu-ray release of the movie.
So sample the songs on here and then see if you want to pay for everything. Keep this in mind though- the album has 13 songs but only runs for 34:44. 'not very long."