Alice in Wonderland

I have never had a problem with audio quality on Amazon. BUT this download made the speakers shake, rattle and roll on 3 different devices. There are intense choruses , for example in the opening Track "Alice", that are so badly distorted I have to turn the album off. It appears that when the MP3 was created, the peaking in the frequencies was not trimmed, and is way out of range. I'm going to look at the actual audio tracks in Sony SoundForge software, and analyze the frequency range, but I believe it is the peaking that is the issue. I'll try and resolve with Amazon, but not sure what they will do. Stay away from buying this until the distortion is resolved.

With Tim Burton directing, it was always a given that Danny Elfman would be scoring the film, and he seizes the opportunity to write a large-scale and surprisingly classical fantasy adventure score. In many ways, the music is a culmination of everything Elfman has done over the past decades: the intricate rhythms of Charlie, the percussive force of Apes, the gothic grandeur of Batman, choral work similar to Edward and lyrics that recall Serenade Schizophrana.

Elfman is able to weave these elements together into a cohesive and extremely enjoyable whole, anchored by a terrific theme. "Alice's Theme" is far and away the highlight of the album, woven deeply into every track and reprised in multiple variations, many of which went modified or unused in the final cut. As such, the album is almost like a concert suite, expertly arranged to be cohesive and listenable. Any Elfman fan, film score fan, or enthusiast of bold orchestral music owes it to themselves to give this a spin.

Be warned, though: the film's frantic post-production schedule means that the album doesn't include the Avril Lavigne song from the credits or the Hatter's dance. Lots of idiots are going to give this album one star because of their own inability to read the back of the case.

Alice comes back and like Peter Pan's amnesia in "Hook" she starts on a journey to find who she is and save the magical world or stop a dragon or something like that. The plot is a little fuzzy but the visuals are pretty to look at, plus I love how we get to see weird stuff you will never see in real life. Going hand in hand with the strange and sometimes beautiful images is the score by Danny Elfman. The album is vintage Elfman at it's finest. The boys choir, the celesta, and the occasional weird music is all present and accounted for.

The album starts off with "Alice's Theme" which is a track that sounds like a sequel to "I Forget". It sets up the movie's main theme which is fairly simple but thankfully gets a lot of mileage in the movie. We hear several variations of her theme weaved in and out of several tracks. The track "Bandersnatched" contains a very dramatic version of the theme at the 1:24 mark which is probably my favorite variation of the theme. I look forward to people claiming there's no theme in this Elfman score.

Another great theme that took some time to pick out was the theme *or motif if you want* for "Absolem" which is essentially what I think is the male choir weaving in and out and sliding up and down of this very odd beautiful melody that Elfman wrote for the blue caterpillar with the English Accent. The theme can be heard prominently on "Finding Absolem" and "The Dungeon". It's very beautiful and yet very creepy

The boys choir that we hear singing on the first track is not during the movie, but rather just them doing wordless singing which I don't mind. The lyrics are nice and all but they get tired fast. When the theme is played with just the chords it does sound a bit familiar to that little chord progression from the 2nd and 3rd Pirates movie, but I believe that's what wise men refer to as a coincidence. Although Elfman haters will use that a reason to hate him even more. They don't have much else to do apparently.

There is a lot of beauty in the score which whiles being cute at times isn't so schmaltzy that you throw up. "Finding Absolem" is a track that has become probably my favorite cue all year. There's a little moment around the 40 second mark that just kills me everytime. Some of Elfman's most endearing and magical writing this side of "A Choice" from "Hellboy 2". "Blood Of The Jabberwocky", "Into the Garden", "The Dungeon" and the final moments of "The Final Confrontation" contains some great beauty too.

The weirdness on the album is also typical Elfman weirdness although not as much quirkiness as the trailer might lead you to believe. It's not quite "Breakfast Machine" or "Quadruped Patrol" weird but the score has it's quirky moments that make you picture Elfman as the Mad Hatter when he was composing them. "Cheshire Cat" is great example of that. One scene in the movie that I would have loved to have on the album would be the music for the incredibly idiotic dance that the Mad Hatter does towards the end of the movie. It's brief but it was a hilarious piece of music.

There is action writing here but it's few and very far between. "Final Confrontation" despite the name is a gentle piece of music that should make fans of Elfman's "Hellboy 2" smile, especially that last couple of seconds. "Bandersnatched" has some brief moments of action which we get to hear a very proud brass section playing the theme. "Going to Battle" has the most action and I think it's for the fight with the Dragon. "Alice And Bayard's Journey" I think qualifies more as adventure music? but it is pretty exciting music.

Not sure if this started with "Spiderman 2" but there has being a real movement to hate all things Elfman. You know the bunch that claim his music has no themes and it's ALL the same, not just some but ALL his music have the same notes and chords. I imagine that bunch will find something to hate about this, but for those that live in this dimension and are actually capable of forming an opinion not based on "Family Guy" or because "everyone else things so" will be rewarded with a very pleasing score for a somewhat charming movie.

Recommended

Because of some odd coincidences two fantasy scores by Danny Elfman have come out within a couple of weeks of one another, the first, his music for Joe Johnston's version of "The Wolfman," the other, Elfman's take on Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland." While striking the right atmospheric and dramatic chords, his music for "The Wolfman" is a bit of a disappointment especially in light of his fabulous score for another, much earlier, film in this general vein: "Sleepy Hollow," and perhaps the initial and main theme bears too much of a resemblance to Wojciech Kilar's music for Francis Ford Coppola's "Bram Stoker's Dracula." Still, it works on the screen and is interesting on this soundtrack; it certainly does not lack bite. There were of course all kinds of production problems with Johnston's film, including issues with the music and sadly it shows. A fine production with adequate packaging by Varese. There is no argument that fantasy films have proven the natural tapestries for both Burton and Elfman, especially when they have worked together, and "Alice in Wonderland" is no exception (reviewers who have carped that the film does not make sense have missed the essential point). A visually stunning film augmented by a wonder of a score by Elfman. The main theme is simply one of the best pieces Elfman has written (fittingly in something of an English style) and it serves as the foundation of a fine overall effort, easily one of the best film scores of this year. Much of the presentation of that main theme takes choral form and is delightful. Make no mistake, Elfman also underscores the darker aspects of this interpretation of "Alice" and it all comes together wonderfully well, the first track gives evidence to both the beauty and the intensity of Elfman's score. Where "The Wolfman" might have failed some expectations, Elfman's score for "Alice in Wonderland" surpasses them. Solid production values with acceptable packaging by Disney.

It's well known that Danny Elfman didn't finish working on the Wolfman OST because he had to focus on this one, and after hearing it I'd say he made a good choice. While Wolfman disappointed in several areas, Alice in Wonderland more than makes up for it.

Elfman's 8-note motif for Alice is used much like Wagner's works in the Ring Cycle, but not so often that you'll get bored with it. I was surprised at the appearance of the children's choir- which is very reminiscent of the Xbox Fable soundtrack he worked on- but he incorporates it brilliantly, if a little too much. Elfman composed lyrics for the main theme and also uses them in the reprises as harmonies, which helps to maintain the atmosphere of a woman-child lost in a magical and dangerous place (The oft-repeated leitmotif 'Oh, how will you find your way?' also suggests a sub-plot of finding oneself emotionally). A stirring chorus makes several appearances in the reprises as both the choir and the orchestra blend into the four-noter "Alice... Alice... Ohhh, Alice!" to great effect. It's playful yet maintains the sense of forboding.

A few key tracks:
Alice's Theme: Typical Elfman strings start underneath and build quickly; the use of the children's choir, evocative lyrics and slightly off-kilter tempo actually made me want to see this movie- or at least the opening credits. Also the longest track at just over five minutes.

Proposal/Down The Hole: Horns take you to a nice quiet day out in the English country. Then the rabbit appears in a brief reprise of the Alice motif... and down we go.

Drink Me: Strings and chimes convey the need to decide on something, and soon.

Alice Reprise 2: My favorite of these; nicely done and a little mysterious!

Cheshire Cat: Sorry to say there wasn't much there; the nice eerie start doesn't quite engage you, leaving pretty much just a cat sitting a tree. Good use of the chorus at the end.

Alice & Bayard's Journey: The most action-oriented track. Fun & frenetic, yet it seems more like battle music than a harried trek through Wonderland.

Alice Reprise 5: Final track starts off minimally with strings and voices and rises into an extended motif invoking the main theme and includes partial lyrics.

This is definitely not your grandmother's AiW; while wondrous and magical, its denizens are also darkly dangerous and just this side of macabre- and fully realized in the musical cues like you'd expect from a Burton/Elfman collaboration. The entire album streams continuously as tracks often lead into one another seamlessly, maintaining the flow. My only real sticking point is the glaring lack of individual themes for the Red Queen, Tweedledum & Tweedledee and yes, the Mad Hatter! Other than that, this one's a lot of fun. It's a true Elfman opus, and I defy you not to start nodding your head to this one! A standout addition for your collection.