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Product details
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Track Listings
| 1. The Bells Of Notre Dame |
| 2. Out There |
| 3. Topsy Turvy |
| 4. Humiliation |
| 5. God Help The Outcasts |
| 6. The Bell Tower |
| 7. Heaven's Light/Hellfire |
| 8. A Guy Like You |
| 9. Paris Burning |
| 10. The Court Of Miracles |
| 11. Sanctuary! |
| 12. And He Shall Smite The Wicked |
| 13. Into The Sunlight |
| 14. The Bells Of Notre Dame (Reprise) |
| 15. Someday |
| 16. God Help The Outcasts (Bette) |
Product Description
Review
Two hundred tormented priests raise their voices in an agony of penitence, timpani pounding and strings ablaze. And always the tolling of the bells, the bells. It sounds more like the Day of Judgement than a Disney soundtrack.
But then The Hunchback of Notre Dame, first released in 1996, was always a difficult concept. The material couldn't quite lose the unhappiness of Hugo's original, despite its modern messages about body image and equality.
The music created even more of a fuss. Scored by Disney veteran Alan Menken (Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid) with lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, the soundtrack had a gothic edge which allegedly terrified kids the first time round. Remastered, it is now re-released to coincide with the launch of Menken's latest Disney score, Home on the Range.
It's worth it. Hunchback is a fully-formed musical, a soundtrack which works without the film. The narrative is strong and characterisation clear.
The music's pretty sophisticated. Opening track "The Bells of Notre Dame" sets the tone: an unholy marriage of the Tridentine Mass and Les Mis. Driven by hysterical choirs and crashing percussion, the Latin liturgy is indeed rather scary. It's most effective in "Hellfire", a histrionic setting for the fantasies of monstrous monk Frollo, sung in deliciously desiccated tones by Broadway veteran Tony Jay.
Alongside the demonic is some nicely hammy comedy. "Topsy Turvy" is a big showtime number with a slapstick MC and a swelling chorus. "A Guy Like You", a song of encouragement by Quasimodo's friends, has some charming lyrics. "You're a surprise / From every angle", they reassure him.
Less likeable are the straight numbers. The sentiments of "God Help The Outcasts", Esmeralda's plea for society's rejected, are spoiled by syrupy production and an overwrought performance from Bette Midler. Ditto Eternal's charmless "Someday."
Still, Hunchback ranks among Disney's best soundtracks, certainly of recent years. Chocka with chutzpah, it has a decent libretto, big numbers and a playful imagination. Just think twice before playing it at your six-year-old's bedtime. --Jack Smith
Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 5 star album displaying once again Menken's talents. The music can be enjoyed by child fans of the movie and adult music lovers, although I feel some messages in the songs are too heavy for young children. The music has a catholic choral style (as some is in latin) as well as a gypsy bohemian theme contrasting. 'Hell fire' is a passionate song of lust with a heavy theme on the morals surrounding gypsys, witchcraft, church and the law. But the right message is sent out in the ballad 'God help the outcasts'. The music brilliantly describes the time and feel of Victor Hugo's epic novel with a touch of comedy in the talking gargoyles. This c.d is fabulous!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
What can I say...a gorgeous movie with a gorgeous soundtrack! I saw The Hunchback of Notre Dame when I was a child and the music always haunted me, raising goosebumps on my arm. At twenty years old I rewatched the movie and was so wowed by the music I finally hunted down the OST on Amazon, and I'm so glad I did. Its barely been out of my player since the day it came! Beautiful lyrics and surprisingly very deep for a Disney film with its undertones of lust, judgement and death (especially my personal favourite track Hellfire, a wonderfully profound song of faith conflicting with desire that leaks hypocrisy from every word-it's amazingly written and perfectly performed by Tony Jay as Frollo) so please don't mistake this for a 'kiddy' album to silence the little uns for an hour or two (though even at my age it's very tempting to sing along to the quirky fun numbers like 'the court of miracles'). The choral score is immensely stirring and the booklet that comes with the CD gives a latin-english translation of the words, which is a nice touch. All in all this is highly recommended if you appreciated the music of the movie; this has got everything you could possibly want and it stands head and shoulders above most other Disney OSTs. My only negative comment has to go to Bette Midler's God Help The Outcasts-the lady is a fine singer but it isn't a patch on the movie version (which is on there too, don't worry). This soundtrack should be recognised up there with The Phantom of the Opera and other classics, it is simply that memorable and that good. I never tire of it.
Also recommended if you like this are the Trinity Blood OST and Noein OSTs; both have some beautifully rousing choral music.
Also recommended if you like this are the Trinity Blood OST and Noein OSTs; both have some beautifully rousing choral music.
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
The entire soundtrack is directed by Alan Menkin,who also composed the soundtrack for "Beauty and the Beast". The hunchback of Notre Dam is however, utterly brilliant and I recommend that any lover of Disney music (such as myself) should buy this album without any Hesitation, and that anyone who finds the instrumentals of the album interesting should look into the work of Alan Menkin, if I were selling this I'd sell it for well over £5 (in my own personal opinion its worth £15, BUY IT WHILST YOU STILL CAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!).
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