Undoubtedly inspired by
Elton John
and
Hans Zimmer
's
soundtrack
for
The Lion King
, the
Tarzan
,
Disney
's summer 1999 blockbuster, has little of the freshness that makes the film a visual treat. It follows the same formula that's informed every
since
-- take two sweeping
ballads
and one up-tempo dance number, and surround them with reprises and re-recordings for radio, as well as excerpts of the score. It's an exercise in recycling, essentially. As recently as
Aladdin
's animated films had rich
soundtracks
filled with robust songs and surging, dramatic scores.
is symptomatic of this decline. The core elements, however reminiscent of
they may be, aren't bad in and of themselves (apart from
"Trashin' the Camp,"
a jive lyric-less
doo wop
parody). The excerpts from
Mark Mancina
's score may push the melodrama buttons a little hard, but they are effective blends of African and movie music. Meanwhile,
Phil Collins
' songs are surprisingly strong, much more melodic and appealing than anything he's done since
But Seriously
. The main theme,
"Two Worlds,"
is a particular standout, eerily echoing his former colleague
Peter Gabriel
worldbeat
explorations at times, but all of the songs (exception:
"Trashin' the Camp"
) are quite strong. The only problem is, they're repeated and repeated and repeated.
"Two Worlds"
is included no less than four times,
"You'll Be in My Heart"
comprises two tracks, and
is here twice, once as a duet between
Collins
*NSync
. All the different versions are designed to appeal to different markets, but it makes listening to the album a chore -- especially since there is no marked difference between the film version of the song and the radio version, apart from
' vocals. Of course, this is hardly a new situation for
; it's just that the repetition and recycling have never been so blatant or tiresome. It would have been better to include a main version of each song, then surround it with more of
Mancina
's score -- it probably would have resulted in a stronger listen -- but as it stands,
is a
with potential, yet is undone by its formula. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine