VA - Aladdin - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1992)

The soundtrack to Disney's Aladdin features another first-rate score by composer Alan Menken and lyricists Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, who helped Menken complete the score when Ashman died before it was finished. "A Whole New World" (the film's hit single) and Robin Williams' bravura performance as the magic lamp on songs such as "Friend Like Me" and "Prince Ali" are justifiably credited as the album's highlights. Aladdin's score is consistently good, rivaling the best of Disney's other animated musicals from the '90s. The manic "One Jump" and "Arabian Nights" are cut from the cloth of classic Broadway show tunes, while Menken's instrumental cues range from the sweetly cartoonish "To Be Free" to the romantic "Kiss" to the ominous "Jafar's Hour" and "On a Dark Night." While it's not quite as brilliant as the music from The Little Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin is still a fine soundtrack and an auspicious debut for Menken and Rice's collaboration. This "special edition" of the soundtrack, released to coincide with the appearance of the film as a two-disc DVD, contains two intriguing bonus tracks, Menken and Ashman's demos of songs that didn't make it into the final version. "Proud of Your Boy," which Menken sings effectively, is an earnest ballad in the style of "A Whole New World" in which Aladdin addresses his mother, promising to mend his errant ways. "High Adventure" is a quick-tempo production number sung by Menken and Ashman (also in good voice) in which the genie encourages Aladdin to act heroically. Either song could have served well in the score if the episodes they musicalize had been included in the final film.~Review by Heather Phares