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The problem with tribute albums is that you get a group of people who want to play things faithful, and another group who want to spin it out into weird new territories. Nothing is wrong with either group, but sometimes the former sounds a bit like glorified karaoke. We Love Disney features both modes, but mostly allows its various artists to re-imagine the songs free from cultural burdens.
It’s the ones that play it close to their original formulas that suffer. Ariana Grande’s voice was not meant for the gospel intonations and scales of Hercules’ “Zero to Hero.” She’d be better suited to “I Won’t Say (I’m in Love)” from the same film. Jason Derulo’s take on “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from The Lion King doesn’t do much with the song. The gangs-all-here rendition of “It’s a Small World” is good intentioned, but the collision of disparate vocal ranges and styles leave it as a bit of a non-starter. Frozen’s “Let It Go” is still so new, and overplayed, that it didn’t need a new version. Rascal Flatts and Lucy Hale sound discordant, and the song is muddled as a result. Charles Perry tackles The Aristocats’ “Ev’rybody Wants to Be a Cat,” and it takes forever to get to the more enjoyable rave-up it transforms into in the last minute or so. Jessie Ware has a beautiful and soulful voice, but her version of Cinderella’s “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes” is too damn slow. The original, at least, had a sense of playfulness at its center.
Much better are the versions that shake up the songs into new variations. Jhené Aiko’s mash-up of songs from Alice in Wonderland is the real highlight. Delirious and weird, Aiko takes the songs into cerebral, slow-jam territory that’s both spacey and nothing but good vibrations. Fall Out Boy brings a rockabilly swagger to The Jungle Book’s “I Wan’na Be Like You.” Ne-Yo transform’s Aladdin’s “Friend Like Me” into his patented brand of swinging R&B. Jessie J may not sonically re-invent The Little Mermaid’s “Part of Your World,” but her vocals perfectly capture the yearning of that song. And Gwen Stefani’s warm, vibrato-filled take on The Muppet Movie’s “The Rainbow Connection” captures the wistful and slightly melancholic tones of the song beautifully. Tori Kelly salvages Pocahontas’ “Colors of the Wind,” a song which can tend towards bombast in the wrong hands, with a delicacy that’s refreshing. Kacey Musgraves take on Mary Poppins’ “A Spoonful of Sugar” is zany honky-tonk, and, by god, it somehow works.
In the end, We Love Disney splits between the two camps, but even the more warmed-over versions have some merits. David Foster, the producer and cultivator of the various artists, is a master at his craft. Each of the songs is beautifully produced, every vocal is lively and committed, and the arrangements can’t be held against them. It needed more livening up, or a few better song choices by the artists to make it something really special.
DOWNLOAD: Jhené Aiko’s “In a World of My Own/Very Good Advice”
