Hercules soundtrack: dissapointed
F G Weissglas
I live in the Netherlands, which means we are always half a year behind
with the release of tne new animated features of Walt Disney. Hercules will
be showing here in November.
The soundtrack is already here and I have listened to it. And I am
dissapointed in it. After two incredible soundtracks, Pocahontas and the
Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules is so 'empty'.
Pocahontas's music is wonderful. I love every track on the soundtrack,
especially Just around the riverbend, Steady as the beating drum, Colors of
the Wind, Ship at Sea, Pocahontas, River's Egde, Execution, Farewell, If I
never knew you.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame - I love every track on the soundtrack, except
A Guy Like You, it is not as good as all the others. The Bells of Notre
Dame, God Help The Outcasts, Topsy Turvy, Out There, Sanctuary, The Bell
Tower and so on - great all of them. In the UK and the Netherlands, Someday
is not performed by All-4-One, as in the US, but by Eternal. And that song
(by Eternal) is the best end title I have ever heard. The All-4-One version
is awful, I agree, but the Eternal version is amazing. It has different
music too. The soundtrack of THoND is absolutely the best score from the
new movies - the latin choirs - everything is brilliant.
Taking Hercules, I have listened to it a few times, it is a few steps back.
I think Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin are better. I miss the A Whole New
World - style songs in Hercules, I hope you know what I mean. It is
supposed to be Go the Distance, but I don't like Go the Distance very much.
And the score is not as good as the previous movies. The opening is awful,
and so is the finale.
Now, I haven't seen the movie yet. For me, music is very important. I went
8 times to THoND in the theatres, and 3 times to Pocahontas. I am not
looking forward to the Hercules release here, I don't think I will like it
very much. I know many people don't like THoND, my advice, watch it again -
objective now. Don't watch it with the mood 'it is not good for children',
just watch it. The animation is brilliant, the characters are and so is the
music.
Please let me know what you guys all think of this. By the way, my top 3:
1. Sleeping Beauty, 2. Pocahontas, 3. The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
F G WEISSGLAS
MBStork
Hi! I was thrilled to read your commentary as I also LOVED both Pocahontas
and Hunchback and sometimes when reading these boards I feel that I am the
only one....
Anyway a word of advice....No, Hercules is NOT anything like those two
beloved movies of ours.....but try to watch it and enjoy it for
itself....DON'T do any comparisons....the animation of Herc is NOWHERE as
sophisticated as other recent Disney films...but try to watch it for what
it is and try to listen again to the soundtrack (I really enjoy it and
find I can't get the songs out of my head!) and DON'T make
comparisons....see it that way and I think you may ENJOY!
Adarsh Daswani
On Wed, 23 Jul 1997 12:56:26 +0200, "F G Weissglas" <f...@xs4all.nl>
wrote:
>
>
>I live in the Netherlands, which means we are always half a year behind
>with the release of tne new animated features of Walt Disney.
<snip>
>In the UK and the Netherlands, Someday
>is not performed by All-4-One, as in the US, but by Eternal. And that song
>(by Eternal) is the best end title I have ever heard. The All-4-One version
>is awful, I agree, but the Eternal version is amazing. It has different
>music too.
<snip>
Wow, I guess I'm going to have to buy the soundtrack next time I'm in
England. I HATE All-4-One, but I did love everything I heard from
Eternal when I visited my cousin in Spain last year. It's a shame
they haven't caught on here in the U.S.
-A.
Adarsh Daswani <ada...@ntr.net>
http://jasmine.tierranet.com/
UCSD - Class of 1997
bobcat
In article <5r4o95$70l$1...@news2.xs4all.nl>, "F G Weissglas" <f...@xs4all.nl>
wrote:
> I live in the Netherlands, which means we are always half a year behind
> with the release of tne new animated features of Walt Disney. Hercules will
> be showing here in November.
So far, Disney animated features always arrive around August here in Singapore.
But strangely, the toys and books are not here yet. They're usually in the
stores by now.
> The soundtrack is already here and I have listened to it. And I am
> dissapointed in it. After two incredible soundtracks, Pocahontas and the
> Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules is so 'empty'.
My one gripe about the 'Hercules' soundtrack is that it is short. Thats all.
> Pocahontas's music is wonderful.
'Colours of the Wind', IMO, is the most satisfying Menken/Disney song ever!
> And that song
> (by Eternal) is the best end title I have ever heard. The All-4-One version
> is awful, I agree, but the Eternal version is amazing.
I agree. Eternal did an excellent job with 'Someday'.
> supposed to be Go the Distance, but I don't like Go the Distance very much.
> And the score is not as good as the previous movies. The opening is awful,
> and so is the finale.
What's wrong with the opening? I like that fact that it is different (much
needed) and fun. I love the finale because it ends with 'A Star is Born',
which I think is the best song in the soundtrack.
> Please let me know what you guys all think of this. By the way, my top 3:
> 1. Sleeping Beauty, 2. Pocahontas, 3. The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
'Sleeping Beauty' is the best. Ever!
_________________________________________
B O B C A T
_________________________________________
The more of the moment you are,
the faster of the past you become.
Richard Carlson
F G Weissglas (f...@xs4all.nl) wrote:
> Taking Hercules, I have listened to it a few times, it is a few steps back.
> I think Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin are better. I miss the A Whole New
> World - style songs in Hercules, I hope you know what I mean. It is
> supposed to be Go the Distance, but I don't like Go the Distance very much.
> And the score is not as good as the previous movies. The opening is awful,
> and so is the finale.
Well, especially since you mention how much you liked Hunchback, I would
suggest that you not write off Hercules just yet. In each of these movies,
Alan Menken demonstrates a markedly different musical style from anything
he has written before. And so, it may take more than a few listens to
fully appreciate its style. I can't guarantee you'll end up *loving*
the music, but I do think it will grow on you.
When I first listened to the score, I wasn't very impressed by the
background music. After seeing the movie, I'm a lot more impressed. The
score doesn't steal the show, but I think it does a great job of setting
the mood, and enhancing and embellishing the on-screen action. I think
you'll be surprised by the power the music has in the title sequence.
And I absolutely love what I consider the "big 4" songs in Hercules:
Go The Distance, I Won't Say, Zero To Hero, and A Star Is Born. It
didn't seem likely on first listen, but these are all now songs that I
can't get out of my head. In particular, A Star Is Born is one of the
most "joyful" piece of music I've heard, and probably my favorite finale
of any musical I've seen -- or at least it would have been if Disney had
used the whole song instead of chopping it in two, and animating only the
first half of it. That may well be my biggest disappointment with the
whole movie.
Keep looking forward until November.
-- Richard
Esme Longoria
I enjoy the hercules soundtrack, but do agree with you that the music in
the other movies is better. It is nice to see someone like hunchback a
lot. Most people didn't like pocohontas or hunchback. I, personally,
think the music in both of those movies is excellent. The music is
brilliant.
I do like the songs in hercules. My friends said they liked all the songs
but "go the distance." I thought most people would not like "I won't say."
I like the non-michael bolton go the distance. I like "I won't say" -it
reminds me of a grease style song (the movie grease).
Esme Longoria (es...@flash.net)
FDC Esmeralda, CSG #1, and RP Esmeralda
http://www.swt.edu/~EL32845
If anyone wants some scans I just made from the movie hercules, email me.
Also, if anyone is interested in joining role playing (RP) (hunchback, that
is..), please email me. We have quite a few people as different hunchback
characters and new made up characters.
F G Weissglas <f...@xs4all.nl> wrote in article
<5r4o95$70l$1...@news2.xs4all.nl>...
>
>
> I live in the Netherlands, which means we are always half a year behind
> with the release of tne new animated features of Walt Disney. Hercules
will
> be showing here in November.
>
> The soundtrack is already here and I have listened to it. And I am
> dissapointed in it. After two incredible soundtracks, Pocahontas and the
> Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules is so 'empty'.
>
> Pocahontas's music is wonderful. I love every track on the soundtrack,
> especially Just around the riverbend, Steady as the beating drum, Colors
of
> the Wind, Ship at Sea, Pocahontas, River's Egde, Execution, Farewell, If
I
> never knew you.
>
> The Hunchback of Notre Dame - I love every track on the soundtrack,
except
> A Guy Like You, it is not as good as all the others. The Bells of Notre
> Dame, God Help The Outcasts, Topsy Turvy, Out There, Sanctuary, The Bell
> Tower and so on - great all of them. In the UK and the Netherlands,
Someday
> is not performed by All-4-One, as in the US, but by Eternal. And that
song
> (by Eternal) is the best end title I have ever heard. The All-4-One
version
> is awful, I agree, but the Eternal version is amazing. It has different
> music too. The soundtrack of THoND is absolutely the best score from the
> new movies - the latin choirs - everything is brilliant.
>
> Taking Hercules, I have listened to it a few times, it is a few steps
back.
> I think Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin are better. I miss the A Whole
New
> World - style songs in Hercules, I hope you know what I mean. It is
> supposed to be Go the Distance, but I don't like Go the Distance very
much.
> And the score is not as good as the previous movies. The opening is
awful,
> and so is the finale.
>
> Now, I haven't seen the movie yet. For me, music is very important. I
went
> 8 times to THoND in the theatres, and 3 times to Pocahontas. I am not
> looking forward to the Hercules release here, I don't think I will like
it
> very much. I know many people don't like THoND, my advice, watch it again
-
> objective now. Don't watch it with the mood 'it is not good for
children',
> just watch it. The animation is brilliant, the characters are and so is
the
> music.
>
> Please let me know what you guys all think of this. By the way, my top 3:
> 1. Sleeping Beauty, 2. Pocahontas, 3. The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
>
> F G WEISSGLAS
>
>
>
Robert Cook
mbs...@aol.com (MBStork) wrote:
>
> Hi! I was thrilled to read your commentary as I also LOVED both Pocahontas
> and Hunchback and sometimes when reading these boards I feel that I am the
> only one....
You're not.
> Anyway a word of advice....No, Hercules is NOT anything like those two
> beloved movies of ours.....but try to watch it and enjoy it for
> itself....DON'T do any comparisons....
I agree with you up to this point.
> the animation of Herc is NOWHERE as
> sophisticated as other recent Disney films...
What do you mean by "animation" and "sophisticated?" The
character animation in Hercules is just as good as any of
the other recent films. And the styles they used are very
cool, IMHO. The character designs are also good, especially
Meg--I thought Pokey and Ezzy looked a bit too realistic.
These are just opinions, but could you elaborate?
- Robert Cook
Heidi Bakke
Hi guys, I've got some things on my mind:
1. The problem in the Herc ST is Micheal Bolton, and the placement of his
song on the soundtrack. Remember when the Celeb songs were at the very
end of the CD? (TLK) for example. It's dissapointing to get interupted
while your enjoying the songs directly from the movie and then go into
the instrumentals.
2. What's with the stylized Rock cliff that appears in every new disney
feature? Even Herc has one in Go the distance. Believe me, it worked
as a style element in TLK, but disney has streched it too far
(Pocahontas rescues JS on the same kind of jagged rock)
3. Phil's nose. I mean,c'mon. well, there's one in every family (two in
mine,actually ;-) Christoph
Please write back too hmi...@pop.iquest.net
Pamela Parker
I was pleased to read your comments on the Hercules soundtrack. My
favorite soundtracks are TLK, HoND, BatB, Pocahantas. All these scores
suited the films' plots, themes, characters, the atmosphere, etc.
Now while I like some of the songs of Hercules, it is not something I
would listen to again and again. I was plased with the infusion of
classic black gospel and 60ish girl group pop. Meg's solo reminded me
of some old Ronettes/Crystals material...Phil Spector probably would
have done a better job at producing just that one track in his
inimitable(sp?) style. DeVito's song smacks of old 50's movie musicals.
But where's the villian's song?? "Hellfire" really blew me away. That's
the one song from HoND that really got the conversation started on the
way home --and this was after the 7th time we saw it!
I bought Hercules soundtrack but it will be sitting along with my
Aladdin CD...not played often.
BTW, I was highly disappointed that HoND did garner any song nominations
from the motion picture academy. I'm still mad it wasn't even
considered for a best picture nomination. Of all the "modern classics
(LM and on)", HoND has to be the most underrated and underappreciated
animated film IMHO
MetMil1
Have to agree with you totally on Hunchback. I saw the movie 4 times at
the theatre and now endless times on video. At first I put it beside BATB
as my favorite, now it's tops. Hunchback is my favorite soundtrack too.
Mark Johnson
"F G Weissglas" <f...@xs4all.nl> wrote:
>The Hunchback of Notre Dame - I love every track on the soundtrack, except
>A Guy Like You, it is not as good as all the others.
I haven't posted in a while, but I just wanted to say something about
this. When I was challenged to go see HB, I saw the film in a
metroplex with a fairly good sized crowd, including a lot of kids. As
others have remarked, HB was _not_ a kid's movie, and if they liked
the goat, and some of the f/x, that was about it, from what I could
see. Myself, me, I did not care for the music or lyrics, at all. But I
did point out that what you dislike of the bunch, was in my opinion
the best of the bunch, even just musically.
>The Bells of Notre
>Dame, God Help The Outcasts, Topsy Turvy,
This latter was, in my opinion, awful, and the lyrics were worse.
>music too. The soundtrack of THoND is absolutely the best score from the
>new movies - the latin choirs - everything is brilliant.
There's no question but that the consistently best music, again in my
opinion, from the recent Disney animated features starting with TLM,
is from Beauty and the Beast. It is the best of the new films. It has
the best story. Arguably the best animation. And the characters,
often, make sense in a way they just never did in the sort of confused
treatment that HB received. That's what I think can get lost in an
'animation' ng, where animation is sometimes discussed. You can have
the technic, and HB _certainly_ did, you can have the backgrounds,
which HB had a plenty, and have flat and confused characters, and flat
and uninteresting score reduce the film from what it might have been.
And while the music was Menken's responsibility, and the lyrics that
other guy's, the characterization and plot were the real weakness of
the story. BatB was the perfect contrast to HB, a film that worked
because it was carefully done, because however changed from the fairy
tale the Disney version preserved a sort of honesty and heart that
were typical of the great early Disney features. Perhaps even this,
honesty and heart, are considered passe by both the new Disney and the
new Disney fans. But if so, if it is, then of course I'm not a fan of
the new Disney.
>And the score is not as good as the previous movies. The opening is awful,
>and so is the finale.
[Obv - But, of course, there will be fans of Hercules who will utterly
disagree, just as there are fans of HB who utterly disagree with me
about my criticism of the music in _that_ film.]
>very much. I know many people don't like THoND, my advice, watch it again -
>objective now. Don't watch it with the mood 'it is not good for children',
>just watch it. The animation is brilliant, the characters are and so is the
>music.
But the characters are awful. What they do doesn't follow. And the
dialog is often either a forced quip or something else that just seems
forced into the story because the writers forgot where they were in
the story, or something. The script may still be on-line. If you'd
like me to post my introductory criticism of HB, based on the script,
which I posted after in came out, let me know.
>Please let me know what you guys all think of this.
Are you sure? Well . . . . . . there it is.
>By the way, my top 3:
>1. Sleeping Beauty, 2. Pocahontas, 3. The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
My top five:
1) Snow White
2) Fantasia (I know, not appreciated when first released)
3) BatB
4) Peter Pan
5) Bambi
6-) the handful of other classics (y'know, the 'Disney' movie; those
that _some_ 'Disney fans' on this ng seem to hold in some contempt,
from what I can see).
Peace.
Sharon Parker
BatB was the BEST Disney film of the modern classics!
Disney did a GREAT job on the story, the animation was breathtaking, the
score was beautiful and the songs did what they were suppose to:they
kept the story movng!
HB was great too,but not as enchanting as BatB. HB left me like Aladdin,
entertained but not fulfilled. I know this sounds strong but, when I see
a Disney film I not only want to be entertained but I also want to leave
with a sense that the Disney did the best they could. Lately I feel like
they haven't been.
I felt that way with Aladdin, Pocahontas, HB and now Hercules. Not that
these movies weren't good, I just feel that Disney can do better. Maybe
I am making too much of this or maybe I am expecting too much from
Disney. Is that possible?
SharonD
Your companions are like buttons on an elevator. They will either take
you up or they will take you down.
st...@rosie.uh.edu
kdki...@aol.com (KD KINNEY) writes:
>I especially loved Megs solo, but I didn't like the statue muses in the song
>that well, it would have been a lot better if the muses were really there
>instead of statues.
See, I personally thought that was *perfect* for what the Muses are supposed to
be: deities of arts, who, *because* they are deities, aren't allowed to
interfere directly in the lives of mortals. They can't sit Meg down and tell
her directly, "Look, babe, you need to get it straight, you love Herc," but
they *can* inspire her into artistry, through which she *realises* just that.
That was one of the better tricks on the writers' part, IMNSHO.
Regards,
Meredith L. Patterson
"Men go crazy in congregations, but they only get better one by one." -- Sting
Robert Cook
st...@Rosie.UH.EDU wrote:
>
> kdki...@aol.com (KD KINNEY) writes:
> >I especially loved Megs solo, but I didn't like the statue muses in the song
> >that well, it would have been a lot better if the muses were really there
> >instead of statues.
I thought they were really there, whatever form they took.
Maybe Meg couldn't hear them, but she almost spotted them.
Then again, maybe she could hear them since she apparently
told them to get off her case. They also gave her the
flower at the end (if we take the scene literally).
This reminds me of the discussion about the gargoyles in
Hunchback.
> See, I personally thought that was *perfect* for what the Muses are supposed to
> be: deities of arts, who, *because* they are deities, aren't allowed to
> interfere directly in the lives of mortals.
It wasn't so in mythology, but Disney's Greek gods
generally seem to stay clear of humanity. However, I
don't think that there's a rule about it.
> They can't sit Meg down and tell
> her directly, "Look, babe, you need to get it straight, you love Herc,"
That would probably hurt the cause.
> but
> they *can* inspire her into artistry, through which she *realises* just that.
> That was one of the better tricks on the writers' part, IMNSHO.
She probably still felt the sting from bumping into that
sculpture of Cupid, too. :-)
- Robert Cook
KD KINNEY
I have to say that I liked the Hercules soundtrack very much, one of the
main reasons I liked it was that it was different from the others, I
especially loved Megs solo, but I didn't like the statue muses in the song
that well, it would have been a lot better if the muses were really there
Hercules was also one of my favorites.