Audio CD review:
Danny Elfman - Charlie & The Chocolate Factory

Danny Elfman - Charlie & The Chocolate Factory

Band: Danny Elfman Title: Charlie & The Chocolate Factory Rating: Release Date: 12 July, 2005 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Wonka's Welcome Song 2: Augustus Gloop 3: Violet Beauregarde 4: Veruca Salt 5: Mike Teavee 6: Main Titles 7: Wonka's First Shop 8: The Indian Palace 9: Wheels in Motion 10: Charlie's Birthday Bar 11: The Golden Ticket/Factory 12: Chocolate Explorers 13: Loompa Land 14: The Boat Arrives 15: The River Cruise 16: First Candy 17: Up and Out 18: The River Cruise - Part 2 19: Charlie Declines 20: Finale 21: End Credit Suite

Editoral Review For the occasion, Elfman has come up with five actual songs (and sings on them), which reminds one of the 1980s heyday of his old band, Oingo Boingo. It's as if composer Danny Elfman's fertile relationship with director Tim Burton had been building up to this, their 11th collaboration and perhaps the one that best encapsulates their shared aesthetics: It's hard to think of a subject better suited to the two men than an adaptation of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The first, "Wonka's Welcome Song" is a demented minute-long blast that evokes 1960s kiddie TV. Each of the other four (which use Dahl's own words) is dedicated to one of the children invited to visit Willy Wonka's factory, and each is done is a different musical style. All are fantastically fun. A personal favorite is the mock-operatic "Mike TeaVee," on which Elfman basically transposes "Bohemian Rhapsody" to a hyperactive cartoon universe. The lovely "Main Titles" acts as a transition into the instrumental part of the score and will be familiar to fans of Elfman's music for Edward Scissorhands, particularly its otherworldly, celestial choral sound. The rest of the tracks simply represent the work of Elfman and his longtime arranger, Steve Bartek, at their best, alternately flamboyant, dreamlike, and suggestive. --Elisabeth Vincentelli .. You can see a complete list of all Danny Elfman discography, or go back to the Danny Elfman tabs