Soundtrack Review: Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Beauty and the Beast soundtrack review: This is a review of the film score Beauty and the Beast by Alan Menken.

"It is truly just pure brilliance, providing exciting and emotional music until the very end."

Today, I'm going to review a rather different type of score to the usual stuff found here. Beauty And The Beast by Alan Menken, will be the first Disney musical score on this site, and for very good reason. Back when I was a young, young boy, my sister owned the film on VHS and after having to watch it about a hundred times in a week, I neglected to watch it again until only a few weeks ago. It was only then that I realized how unique it is compared to other Disney works, maintaining a surprisingly dark atmosphere for the majority of the film. This is reflected flawlessly in the score, and Menken's magical musical flavor and Howard Ashman's wordplay in the songs will be often repeated, but never bettered, in a literal (ok, so it's actually metaphorical) flood of Disney musicals to follow.

Comparing Disney musicals of the early 90's to those of the late 90's is almost exactly the same as comparing the original Star Wars trilogy to the prequels. In both scenarios, the films entirely lose their magic through selling out the integrity of the stories (and songs in Disney's case) by replacing genuinely funny lines with silly pantomime-like antics designed to appeal only to children. In fact, the Beauty and the Beast film and score can quite easily be compared to Empire Strikes Back, due to it being the middle film of a grand trilogy (betwixt Little Mermaid and Aladdin) that is not only the darkest, but also the funniest, of the three.

The songs on this release are the undoubted highlight. Disney obviously also believes this to be the case, piling all of the songs at the front of the disc, rather than leaving them interspersed with the rest of the score. This is not to say that the score isn't very good, as it's actually one of Menken's best, but the songs are of such a high quality that they overshadow everything else.

For those looking for a timeless and classic Disney score though, this is certainly the first place to look. Whilst only a measly 20 minutes of the actual instrumental score is provided on this release, each track is pure, pure gold. Beginning with 'To The Fair', we are given a number of light-hearted variations on Belle's theme that just exemplifies how inventive Alan Menken can be when he puts his mind to it. We are then thrown into the epic 'West Wing' which at first gives us a number of mouth-watering variations to the 'Be Our Guest' theme, then followed by the intertwining of Belle's theme with the Beast's, as well as a hint of what's to come in the Beauty and the Beast main theme sneaking its way in and out of the other themes in this track. The genius of Alan Menken's themes really shines in these tracks, and carries on through the rest of the score, culminating in the electrifying 'Battle On The Tower' followed by the absolutely gorgeous 'Transformation', which concludes the score.

It's almost impossible to pick highlights, whether from the songs or score, due to the constant quality on show throughout. However, for me anyway, not much can beat the musical and lyrical genius of Belle and Gaston and their respective reprises. The two greatest character pieces in Disney's canon, these tracks introduce the story and style of the film staggeringly well, showing brilliant lyrical detail and hilarity, as well as giving a sublime showcase for Menken's talents.

Conclusion

I don't believe much more can be said about this score, as it is truly just pure brilliance, providing exciting and emotional music until the very end. Beauty and the Beast makes some of the best use of theme and lyrics in Disney's history and is a worthy addition to anyone's collection, even those who are generally turned off by anything even remotely Disney-related.

And for those just interested in the score, I could quite easily recommend paying the full-price of the release just for the 20 minutes of score alone as it is not to be missed.

Although, the less said about the awful Single version of the title-song (performed by Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson) the better.

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Listen to the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack by Alan Menken below: