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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.)
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