Search - James Horner :: How the Grinch Stole Christmas: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2000 Film)

"Some one has to love this CD,

Daniel A. Fincke | Bronx, NY United States | 01/07/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"SO then," I thought, "let it be me." I bought this album looking for the James Horner score and dreading the unwelcome intrusion of songs not even in the movie. I was also uncomfortable about the format of dialogue interspersed with those foreign songs taking up space on the disc. Busta Rhymes, Faith Hill, 'N Sync also weren't looking good. HOWEVER, by the second listen through, I was extremely pleased with my decision to purchase. This is pretty well tied for the quirkiest Christmas CD I own (actually---they're the only two I own!). The more I listen to this, the more I appreciate the fun spirit. The Busta Rhymes track is a lot of fun, Faith Hill is doing James Horner's beautiful song, so even she is worth hearing out! The Eels and Barenaked Ladies are much more fun than I imagined after hearing them briefly in the movie and credits. Jim Carrey's "You're A Mean One" does grow on you. I don't understand purists who can't handle a remake. No one is abolishing the original TV version or its soundtrack... they're still out there and they're still very good. New interpretations can be good things too once in a while! I must admit though that I still find Sixpence None The Richer's "You're A Mean One" to be vastly superior a reinterpretation than Mr. Carrey's. I wish it had been tracked down and included here so that it could get a wider audience. It is quite marvelous. The only other omission, and it is one more noticable than this private peeve of mine, is of any extended version of "Welcome Christmas." The only version on the disc is from its brief appearance in the movie with the Grinch butchering it playfully. It could have gotten more attention somewhere on this full CD. Maybe 'N Sync could have been axed to make some room for a potential holiday classic oddly not heard enough---even on a Grinch soundtrack such as this. Oh well, I guess that's what the original soundtrack is for (I hope). I have yet to check that one out. I also love the movie dialogue for it captures 5 of my absolute favorite scenes from one of my new absolute favorite Christmas movie. The 4 dialogue bits intermixed with the songs in the first half of the disc nicely set the tones for the songs that follow them and link them even closer thematically to the movie. That is one thing about these songs that seems so overlooked by the other reviewers on here... these songs, in their own quirky and fun ways, retell the story of the Grinch in a valuable way. Mixed in with Jim Carrey's brilliant performances, they are delightful. The one waste of time, however, is the 'N Sync song. What an idiotic departure from the theme of the movie! The whole "you don't have to be alone on Chrismas" theme with such a specific meaning in the movie gets reduced to a putrid run of the boyband love song. However, unlike other reviewers disappointed with an entire CD over a poor track or two, I will note that this CD is almost 77 minutes long... no one is getting ripped off by having to live with a bad track or two! That's the best part of this CD, after all the movie clips and zaniness, comes close to 40 minutes of TERRIFIC score by James Horner (the reason I bought the disc) which is itself worth the price of the disc and makes this almost like 2 CDs in one, a value I'm grateful for. Finally, the best treat of this soundtrack is the track, "Stealing Christmas" in which a most beautiful and poignant scene in the movie is reproduced in narration, dialogue and music to my delight. The effect of the music and the words becomes emphasized here, separated from the pictures. Alone, it is reason enough to pick up this CD. It gives itself to a very storybook effect that makes one wonder indeed what a storybook on disc extrapolation from the movie could've sound like. I imagine it could've been done quite well. Finally, I must admit that Taylor Momsen's touching version of "Christmas, Why Can't I Find You?" from the film, does sound a bit weak on the disc. But it still is moving, nonetheless, and the CD would have suffered greatly without this adorable little girl embodying so sweetly our grown up emotions. How small a heart must one have not to be moved by her?! So, in sum and in pun, don't listen to the grinches, this disc is a steal."

Overall Pretty Good!!

slinky119 | Wisconsin | 11/10/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"When I got this CD, I was excited because it had the song, "You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch". All I have to say is that Jim Carrey did a terrible job doing the song. They really should had the orginal version. If they would have done that I would've given it 5 stars. The rest of the CD is good like Green Christmas by Barenaked Ladies, You don't have to be alone by *N Sync, and my favorite song on the entire album, "Where are you Christmas by Faith Hill. Faith did a great job on the song.Also the CD had some voice clips from the movie, which was cool. This CD will gets you in the Christmas mood."

A Fun Album

S. Jannise | Texas | 11/12/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This album is a very nice one, filled with famous artists and funny dialogue. There are 10 songs on the cd, 4 movie dialogues, and the score from the movie. The dialogues, especially grinch schedule are funny and add to the anticipation of the movie. There are some very good and entertaining christmas songs. Where are you Christmas by Faith Hill, the first single off the album, is a great, emotional song. Other good tracks were done by the Barenaked Ladies, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and the team of Busta Rhymes and Jim Carrey. Some disappointing ones were done by Nsync and Smashmouth, although they do wear on you and can be enjoyable. The score is excellent and makes me even more excited about going to see this movie. The reason i gave this album only 4 stars is one song, the remake of one of the most catchy songs ever, You're a Mean One, which is done now by Jim Carrey. In trying to make to make this sound a bit more humorous than the orignal, he actually loses the humor and makes the song uninteresting. They didn't even let him sing the entire song. I know it would be hard to beat the original, but they definitely could have done better. Aside from that, if you are looking for some great new christmas songs and can look past this horrible remake, the entire family can enjoy this cd. It will put you in the mood for not only the movie, but for Christmas as well."