Posted on: December 10, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

The style of music is fairly docile in this musical, as a great number of these tracks act in forwarding the plot instead of trying to wow the viewers. Of course, some tracks do happen to impress listeners; this can first really be noticed during songs like “Shine”. The female vocals that take such a major part in the first half of this soundtrack should make individuals recall Beauty and the Beast; the vocals are in the same realm as Mrs. Potts.

What one will immediately notice about the backing music for “Billy Elliot the Musical” is that it is perhaps the most Spartan that one can get without being in the same boat as Philip Glass. With this Spartan sound, there comes a conservation of mass in the sense that every note single-handedly continues the composition. “Solidarity” has an eighties sheen to it, something that brings the style of this disc closer to Chess and Little Shop of Horrors than to anything more current. Something that seems interesting regarding “Billy Elliot the Musical” has to be the fact that a number of these tracks are long. Many of the other musicals buffet their listeners with a number of two and three minute tracks, but the average track on this disc is a smidgen over five minutes.

The general style of the disc changes based on the emotional design of each individual track; a song like “Expressing Yourself” is a song that feels pulled from “Annie”. The different emotional prods during each song of “Billy Elliot the Musical” can be compared only in the sense that everything is done with the same high quality. Even if this musical may not be as immediately catchy as something like Cannibal the Musical or The Color Purple, “Billy Elliot the Musical” will grow on listeners young and old. The songs might not be radio-worthy, but they are solid in a way that other music out on the market simply cannot compare with. “Billy Elliot the Musical” may actually even be more touching than the movie; the music present at all segments of this disc is full enough to leave individuals with a feeling that they have been approached in all ways. Nothing is left out with the fifteen cuts from the musical, and the diversity of these tracks will ensure that this album will be something continually in individuals’ CD players for months to come.

Top Tracks: Shine, Solidarity

Rating: 6.1/10

OST: Billy Elliot the Musical / 2006 Decca / 18 Tracks / http://www.billyelliotthemusical.com / http://www.deccaclassics.com / Reviewed 04 April 2006

[JMcQ]

Leave a Comment