Anyone Listening to the SHREK Cast Recording? — Page 6

oh yay, closing itunes and reopening the store worked!

i mainly wanted to download it from itunes since you get a bonus song

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paa_sf just joined yesterday, in order to trash the Shrek CD. Huh, that's not suspicious at all. LOL.

I too downloaded it, and think it's pretty great. I do miss some of the stuff from Seattle though - the old Dragon number with Kecia, More to the Story (which I'm so glad they recorded!), and the Fairy Tale Characters Line-Up (though I do like their new number too.)

Who I'd Be is still the best song in the show - just glorious and beautiful. Also really like the new finale, which I never saw in Seattle. It's catchy. I wish they had included the dance break in Morning Person, and the puppet break in Travel Song. I understand why they didn't but I had such vivid memories of them, that it feels like a big hiccup when I'm listening to the CD. All in all though, a great listen.

Listening to it all the way through, I think I've finally come to a conclusion on my thoughts: it's cute. Nothing more, nothing less. There's a few pretty damn good songs in there, "I Know It's Today", "Freak Flag" and "Who I'd Be" have very high re-listen potential. And "Travel Song" and "Morning Person" are two little earworms that won't keep bugging me.

But I'm still disappointed Dreamworks elected to go the "safe" route with Shrek. This could have been the anti-Disney musical, but instead it's nearly exactly like it, cute and fluffy. Just because you make fun of Disney a couple times doesn't get you off the hook. The faux-pop songs like "I Think I Got You Beat" just makes it more nauseating because you can see them going "well that's what kids are into these days, right?" It needs more of an edge, and straight pop just doesn't do that. It's safe, it's cute. Be satirical! Be witty! Be edgy! Stop being so damn cute! You're SHREK, for god's sake!

I think the nicest thing I can say about it is that I didn't hate it. It isn't bad (it's a better score than Millie for what it's worth), and like I said, I like some of the songs. But they could have done better, and played it way less safe. The edgier, the better.

Oh, and chorus as the dragon? God, what a terrible idea...

I bought it today (haven't listened to it yet), but is anyone else very disappointed in the actual packaging of the CD? It reminds me of the LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS revival and SWEET CHARITY revival packaging...very cheaply done.

What?! Noo! I was looking forward to the usual big colorful booklet! And I'm surprised! This is one of the bigger names!

That's really a surprise. Decca isn't exactly a small label, either. I guess anything to cut costs.

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Sounds like they went the environmentalist route. Makes sense that this, of all show, would go green. I like plastic CD cases myself, but my planet doesn't. Ah well.

I don't think cardboard cases are necessarily the cheap route. I bet FMills is correct, and they decided to go for the 'greener' option. (All the cheap CDs that are sold at Walmart etc. are always in plastic cases.) Does the packaging feel flimsy?

*double post*

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Updated On: 3/25/09 at 12:08 PM

Oh, thanks Lull!

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I just bought the cast recording, having never seen the show before, and I'm really impressed. The songs are very catchy, and some of them are really beautiful-- I don't understand the complaint about the score being 'unmemorable,' since so many songs are stuck in my head after only one listen. It was also definitely worth the money-- only ten dollars? I paid almost three times that for "Aspects of Love," and it only has about three actual songs.

Now, I do have to say, I cringed at several of the more awkward or gross lyrics, but at least all of the lyrics were effective and fit the spirit of the show. I mean, "Side Show" probably has the worst lyrics I've ever heard, but I still enjoy it, and Shrek's lyrics are Sondheim compared to those. My only other major complaint is that a lot of the ensemble actors doing 'character voices' are all doing the same character voice-- high-pitched, nasal, and shrill-- and it kind of grates after awhile, hearing so many of the same type of voice.

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