If one should anticipate Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” original soundtrack to be full of whimsy gothic orchestral music, he or she would be . absolutely right. The soundtrack used in the movie was composed by Danny Elfman, who has collaborated with Burton on 13 of his films.
However, another CD was released for “Alice in Wonderland,” titled “Almost Alice.”
“Almost Alice” is a collection of songs by famous artists who were inspired by the movie.
It was released on March 2, three days prior to the movie release. Eager fans were able to stream 30-second snippets of the soundtrack’s songs from Disney’s official Web site on Feb 4.
No songs were featured in the movie, with the exception of Avril Lavigne’s “Alice,” which only played during the credits.
These tracks are each artist’s individual take on the movie. The title of the songs were either meant to capture “Alice in Wonderland” as a whole or named after a significant moment in the book or movie.
One would be pleasantly surprised with the eclectic mix of songs on the “Almost Alice” soundtrack.
Owl City fans will be able to quickly recognize the band for their well-known relaxing synthpop sounds in “Technicolor Phase.”
Dance and pop fans will favor the fast-paced electronica of Metro Station’s “Where’s My Angel,” 3OH!3’s “Follow Me Down” featuring Neon Hitch and Kerli’s “Tea Party.”
Many of the rock and punk songs were heavy on piano consisting of an intriguing melancholy melody or an acoustic guitar with a strange, whimsical feel. These songs truly capture Burton’s portrayal of “Alice in Wonderland.”
There is a feeling of darkness and mystery, either in the beginning or throughout the whole song, such as “Alice” by Avril Lavigne, “The Poison” by the All-American Rejects, “Her Name is Alice” by the Shinedown, “Painting Flowers” by All Time Low, “Strange” by Tokio Hotel featuring Kerli, “In Transit” by Mark Hoppus of Blink 182 and Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy and “Welcome to Mystery” by the Plain White T’s.
Robert Smith, lead singer of The Cure, remakes a song from Disney’s original 1951 “Alice in Wonderland,” called “Very Good Advice.” This song, along with Grace Potter and the Nocturnals’ rendition of “White Rabbit,” can be categorized as psychedelic rock.
Franz Ferdinand’s take on C.S. Lewis’ poem “The Lobster Quadrille” is sung with a deep voice, slow guitar chords and low piano octaves.
These three songs may strike listeners as odd at first, but reminded that “Alice in Wonderland” itself is about nonsensical whimsy and not only from Burton’s darker perspective. One can find it reasonable that these songs are part of the CD.
A version sold exclusively at Hot Topic included three bonus tracks, “Sea What We Seas” by Never Shout Never, “Topsy Turvy” by Family Force 5 and “Extreme” by Valora.
This soundtrack is full of all-star musicians and compilations of various music styles make it likely to please everyone with at least one song.
“Almost Alice” is out now and available wherever music is sold.
