It was my admiration for Mandy Moore that led me to the soundtrack for Tangled, so much so that without the film even being realised to the UK yet, the soundtrack was already a must have of mine. On top of that, the songwriting and score expectations couldn't be higher coming from the man seen as the Andrew Lloyd Webber of Disney animated scores, Alan Menken.
And I was happy to know my hopes wouldn't be dashed. The songs are strong, the score is beautiful, and it's always interesting to hear what actors who aren't particularly famed for their singing (Zachary Levi and Brad Garrett mainly) sound like in song. The duet between Levi and Moore "I See The Light" has now been nominated for a Golden Globe.
It was a plesant surprise to see the soundtrack available (through Amazon) to the UK upon it's official release, and over two months before we are getting the film (January 28).
With Tangled being the most expensive-made animated film of all time, second most expensive after Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, it was surprising that they didn't recruit a top artist to sing a theme song that would do any Disney film before it, or even James Bond movie justice. Maybe they felt enough had been done with signing both Mandy Moore and Alan Menken to the same project, so chose a lesser known artist in Grace Potter for what I'm guessing was the theme. Who knows - what with Celine Dion doing the theme for another one of Alan's scores in "Beauty and the Beast" in the early stages of her career, maybe Grace could be heading in the same direction.
All in all a great music list for what looks to be a beautifully produced movie!