Buffy
The Vampire Slayer Once More
With Feeling: The Soundtrack
release date: 09/24/02
Several
years ago, I was surprised to learn that my original CD soundtrack
to "The Witches of Eastwick" was worth over $250 on E-Bay.
Why? The simple answer was supply and demand.
But underlying
the economics was the fact that it is a really good CD. Some
of John William's finest work, and the kind of score that
turns listeners into "air" conductors and delivers a much
better time than the mediocre movie itself.
Along
those lines, it would not be surprising if people now would
pay $250 for the newly available original cast recording CD
of Once More With Feeling, last year's phenomenal musical
episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer. It's that good.
Even
if you have a bootleg copy of the soundtrack, you'll want
to upgrade to this beautifully mastered disc. Included are
all the songs from the musical plus memorable orchestral suites
from classic episodes like "Hush" and others.
The variety
of the music is wonderful. Each song pleases in a different
way, from the softly beautiful "Under Your Spell" to the fun
"I'll Never Tell" or the moving ensemble numbers like "Walk
Through The Fire" and "Where Do We Go From Here." An overall
sense of playfulness permeates the collection. There are delightfully
and clever lines that reference past episodes or even mock
the vocal limitations of some of the performers. And unlike
other musical episodes of television shows, Once More With
Feeling actually does a lot to move along several plot
lines.
One small
flaw is the lack of key dialogue at the beginning and end
of certain numbers. For example, one misses the demon Sweet's
perfectly delivered "Now that was a show stopping number"
after Buffy's climactic "Something To Sing About."
That
aside, Once More With Feeling is a must have for any
Buffy fan and an otherwise worthy addition to any collection
whether you're a fan of musicals or you just like good, fun
music.
