The Music Behind the Magic Boxed Set with Book

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: If you adore the music of "The Little Mermaid", "Beauty and the Beast", and "Aladdin", you will love this set. Besides final versions of most songs, it also contains work tapes and demos perfromed by the song writing team of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken. The music and the book that comes with it are gems. As a special treat, the origional score for "Aladdin" by Ashman and Menken is included. They paint a whole different feel for the film

Rating:
Summary: A Must Buy For Any Serious Composer...
Review: The Music Behind The Magic is simply just that...magic! It doesn't matter whether you enjoy 'Disney' music or not; this collection is a must buy for any serious musical composer. By experiencing these tapes, you actually go behind the scenes to the creation of some of the most famous and magical songs ever written. Want to hear 'A Friend Like Me' in its demo version? How about 8 time Academy Award(R) winner Alan Menken playing around the piano trying to think of 'Arabian Nights'? This set not only includes the entire scores and songs to The Little Mermaid, B&B, and Aladdin (although some minor score cues are left out), but it also includes priceless work and demo versions of these beautiful and moving songs. Imagine hearing Alan on the piano humming the theme to a Whole New World before the song even had lyrics! Or what about Howard Ashman singing Poor Unfortunate Souls with lyrics that were cut from the movie. The book is a great addition, providing photos, great behind the scenes info, and the entire lyrics to all the songs in this collection. You'll not only enjoy the superior brillance of Mr. Menken, and the late Mr. Ashman, but you'll also learn some stuff about composing and writing worthy musical material. It took me months to get a hold of this set. Thank God for amazon.com...take advantage of it and purchase a piece of pure sophistication!

Rating:
Summary: A Must Buy For Any Serious Composer...
Review: The Music Behind The Magic is simply just that...magic! It doesn't matter whether you enjoy 'Disney' music or not; this collection is a must buy for any serious musical composer. By experiencing these tapes, you actually go behind the scenes to the creation of some of the most famous and magical songs ever written. Want to hear 'A Friend Like Me' in its demo version? How about 8 time Academy Award(R) winner Alan Menken playing around the piano trying to think of 'Arabian Nights'? This set not only includes the entire scores and songs to The Little Mermaid, B&B, and Aladdin (although some minor score cues are left out), but it also includes priceless work and demo versions of these beautiful and moving songs. Imagine hearing Alan on the piano humming the theme to a Whole New World before the song even had lyrics! Or what about Howard Ashman singing Poor Unfortunate Souls with lyrics that were cut from the movie. The book is a great addition, providing photos, great behind the scenes info, and the entire lyrics to all the songs in this collection. You'll not only enjoy the superior brillance of Mr. Menken, and the late Mr. Ashman, but you'll also learn some stuff about composing and writing worthy musical material. It took me months to get a hold of this set. Thank God for amazon.com...take advantage of it and purchase a piece of pure sophistication!

Rating:
Summary: Don't miss out!
Review: Work tapes, demos...don't be deceived, Alan Menken and Howard Ashman produce nothing but pure magic. Marvel at the quality of their 'rough' stuff, and the music that never made it. I had been trying to obtain a copy of this set (CD apparently discontinued) for ages; I was not disappointed. Obviously if you are reading this then you like/love Disney music, and this will only increase your appreciation of the beautiful, timeless lyrics and melodies . The accompanying book is excellent, through it you are given an idea of how work on the music for these three films proceeded. The inclusion of the original score to Aladdin is a real gem, and if you didn't already consider these three men geniuses....