The other day I went out and bought the Brother Bear soundtrack CD on the day it was released. I don't remember how long it has been since I bought a soundtrack before seeing the movie, but it has been a while. My expectations were high.

On my first listen of the soundtrack, I was a little disappointed because it didn't sound exactly like the Tarzan soundtrack. But then I determined that Brother Bear shouldn't be judged based on Tarzan, because they are separate works from separate movies. So no more Tarzan comparisons. To borrow from Spot Helperman/Scott Leadready II in the "Tallulahpalooza" episode of Teacher's Pet, "We shall speak of it no more."

The soundtrack starts off with Phil Collins singing "Look Through My Eyes." The title seems to be the theme of the movie, as lyrics along those lines turn up later. This track is followed by Tina Turner singing "Great Spirits." I know Tina Turner is a big star, and several of the television ads mention her, but I really never have cared for her. And this track matches up with my opinions of her other works. At first I thought it was the song itself, but more on that later.

The other songs sound pretty good. "Welcome" grows on me more and more each time I hear it. And I already knew that "On My Way" would be one of those catchy songs to stick in your head from hearing bits of it in the different trailers. The entire song is just as catchy as those snippets are, as this is the first song that comes to my mind every time I think about the CD.

"Transformation" is an interesting song with vocals in the Inuit language performed by the Bulgarian Women's Choir. A beautiful sounding song, although I don't have any idea what they are saying. But then this CD is put together much like the soundtrack from Tarzan (We shall speak of it no more). Several of the songs appear in two different versions. And "Transformation" is one of those, appearing later as performed by Phil Collins, this time around in English. And the words have the previously mentioned theme of looking through another's eyes.

Other songs show up in two different versions as well. "No Way Out," listed as the "Theme from Brother Bear," has a regular version and a "Single Version." The single version is longer and has different instrumentation, along with background vocals by a choir.

"Welcome," as mentioned above, is probably my second favorite song after "On My Way," and it also appears in two versions, one by Phil and the other by The Blind Boys of Alabama along with Phil and Oren Waters. My personal preference is the Phil version, although both are enjoyable.

I only have one complaint about the CD. Like Tarzan (no more ...), it only has a few minutes of score. What we do hear by Mark Mancina and Phil Collins sounds better and leaves me wanting to hear more, if only that were an option.

And if you purchase the CD from Best Buy, it comes with a bonus track, which happens to be Phil Collins singing "Great Spirits," heard elsewhere on the CD by Tina Turner, as mentioned before. After hearing this version, I decided that I did like the song after all, I just didn't care for the other performance. Nothing personal against Tina, just personal preference. So for once, it was a bonus worth having.

Although I may have had unreal expectations in the beginning, I really enjoy listening to the CD. Hearing it makes me look forward to seeing the movie all the more. And I know that after I see the movie, listening to the CD will bring back great memories of the movie as well.

- Story by Steve Burns; Artwork ©Disney
Posted

Steve is a three-time Disney Store National Trivia finalist and webmaster of BurnsLand, home of Steve's Disney Railroad Adventures.

E-mail Steve at steve@startedbyamouse.com, discuss this article in the StartedByAMouse.com Disney Discussion Forums or use the Talkback feature below.

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