URBAN OUTFITTERS 2xLP BONE & AQUA VINYL

Danny Elfman, who has scored many of Tim Burton's imaginative films (Edward Scissorhands, his two Batman films, etc.), is a perfect musical partner for the somewhat macabre director, and never more so than here, where, in fact, Elfman gets not only to write the music but to play the part of the main character. The Nightmare Before Christmas is an animated movie musical about the abduction of Christmas by the denizens of Halloween land, and Elfman sings the part of Jack, the Pumpkin King. The score is in his usual lush but threatening style (Kurt Weill is his biggest influence), but the highlight is Elfman's singing. Even in his rock band Oingo Boingo (now merely Boingo), Elfman doesn't get to sing like this. Granted, the soundtrack album inevitably lacks the film's outlandish visuals, but it tells the story on its own, and one is better able to appreciate Elfman's outstanding performance.

A1        Overture
A2        Opening
A3        This Is Halloween
A4        Jack's Lament
A5        Doctor Finklestein/In The Forest
A6        What's This?
A7        Town Meeting Song
B1        Jack And Sally Montage
B2        Jack's Obsession
B3        Kidnap The Sandy Claws
B4        Making Christmas
C1        Nabbed
C2        Oogie Boogie's Song
C3        Sally's Song
C4        Christmas Eve Montage
C5        Poor Jack
D1        To The Rescue
D2        Finale/Reprise
D3        Closing
D4        End Title