Search - Irving Berlin :: Easter Parade: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Sonja M. from COTATI, CA
Reviewed on 2/5/2012...

Satisfying soundtrack takes you back to the movie and all of the great talent!

The great American musical

pspa | Boston, MA USA | 01/31/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Reservations about the recording quality are inevitable, and of course when Astaire was involved the songs are always better when you can watch him dance and hear his tapping, but that said, there is no greater American musical in my opinion than this one. The title song, simple as it is, is so evocative of New York and the 40s and the hope of a new season that I almost cry every time I hear it. To me, it is the best song Berlin ever wrote and one of the very few best American songs ever written. The rest of the disc is one great number after another, with Judy Garland in top form and Fred Astaire constantly revealing that it is phrasing and timing more than a great voice that make a great singer, which he undoubtedly is. Indispensible music."

Perfect for any season

Bluebird | USA | 12/12/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of the first MGM films to receive the full soundtrack treatment from Turner/Rhino. All of the songs and underscoring are included, plus two outtakes and an extended version of one track. The results are wonderful and with the exception of a couple of tracks the sound is very good. Unfortunately the original multi-miked recordings did not survive, resulting in the inablility to mix the music to true stereo as has been done with so many of the subsequent MGM soundtrack releases. The only surviving recordings are the monaural mix down tracks of the orchestral parts and a separate vocal track. Fortunately these tracks do not include the dialogue, tapping, and foley of the final film soundtrack elements. There is a noticable lack of fidelity on "A Couple of Swells" due to the fact that a recording disc was all that survived. No version of "I Want to Go Back to Michigan" could be found, so the version heard here is straight from the film soundtrack and includes the applause at the end of the song. No dialogue or other distractions were used in the sequence, thank goodness, so the result is fine. "Mr. Monotony" and the extended "Better Luck Next Time" will thrill the Garland fans out there."