The Lion King Boynton Beach FL

The Lion King

Original Broadway Cast Recording

Walt Disney Records, 1994

REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 02/05/1998

I guess reviewing a soundtrack to a Broadway show is made difficult when you haven't seen the show... understandable, seeing that I'm in the Midwest and The Lion King is presently on Broadway.

But reviewing this cast recording is more difficult for me because, believe it or not, I still have yet to see the movie on which it's based. (I will now pause for my contacts at Disney to break out the smelling salts.) Seeing that my daughter isn't at the age yet where she'll watch a video for more than five minutes (much less wear out a tape from repeated viewings), I haven't sat down to watch the film.

So, I guess that gives me a completely unbiased opinion as I approached this disc. And, for the most part, this disc is incredible - though I would have liked to hear more of the African music which shapes the disc.

Besides the obvious influences of Elton John and Tim Rice, The Lion King is greatly influenced by the work of South African musician Lebo M, who won a Grammy for his work on the animated film's music. His contributions to this soundtrack are quite evident in rhythm and emotion, and he also proves himself to be a talented vocalist... though I would really have liked to hear the whole song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". Ah, well. (also adding a strong vocal performance is Tsidii Le Loka, the voice of Rafiki.)