Tracklist

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http://www.warnerbrosrecords.com/corpsebride/

Danny Elfman's music for The Nightmare Before Christmas, from 1993, is one of the composer's most popular scores ever, and one of the most read reviews here at scorereviews.com. So it's understandable that expectations on Tim Burton's Corpse Bride, and the accompanying score and songs by Elfman, have been unusually high.

And comparisons to The Nightmare Before Christmas are unavoidable, of course - two stop motion films by Tim Burton, with music provided by Elfman. However, the two scores are not that similar, with Corpse Bride being much more gentle and fairy tale sounding than the Jack Skellington score. Still, they share a common jazz element at times, with lots of swing and big band influences, as well as certain similarities orchestration wise.

Like the recent Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride is Danny Elfman in fairy tale mode. Sweet woodwinds, pizzicato strings, choir and glockenspiel dominate the orchestral palette, with harpsichord and dark brass giving the music a quirky and effective gothic twist at times. The main theme is a bitter-sweet, lyrical melody, which is bound to get stuck in your mind. But don't fret - it's a beautiful theme, which permeates the entire score, cropping up in a large number of cues. Its appearances in tracks like "Moon Dance", "Victor's Deception" and the magical "The Finale" are simply wonderful. This theme also forms the basis of the two lovely piano pieces - "Victor's Piano Solo" and "The Piano Duet" - included on the album.

The jazzy swing elements evoke Peter McConnell's excellent score for LucasArts' computer game Grim Fandango. It's film noir music at its best. The far too short "New Arrival" is a terrific swing piece and four bonus tracks, from Bonejangles and his Bone Boys, end the soundtrack album, with a jazzy, instrumental lounge version of "Remains of the Day" and other lounge music.

"Remains of the Day" is the title of one of the four songs Elfman penned for the film and it is easily the best. Performed by hep cat - and skeleton - Bonejangles (voice provided by Danny Elfman himself - in Jack Skellington style) and his Bone Boys, this is a great swing tune, which oozes with 1930's jazz, packed with sultry trumpet, saxophone and xylophone - the latter providing the necessary, and effective, bone sound, of course. "According to Plan" is similar to the big ensemble number "Making Christmas" from The Nightmare Before Christmas, in that its purpose is to bring the story forward as a "preparation montage." "Tears to Shed" is the weakest of the four songs (except for Enn Reitel, as Maggot, whose voice is slightly bizarre and therefore quite entertaining), reminiscent of Sally's songs from The Nightmare Before Christmas, while "The Wedding Song" is a large, upbeat ensemble piece in the style of Gilbert and Sullivan.