Search - Various Artists :: Arthur And Friends: The First Almost Real Not Live CD

Looking for the Crazy Bus Song?

Mark Alvarado | Fresno, CA USA | 12/15/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For those of you who watch the Arthur TV series on PBS, I'm sure you have heard the "Crazy Bus" song in some of the episodes. Sometimes you might think, hmm, does the song "Crazy Bus" really, really exist? I had that kind of thought when I first discovered this CD two years ago. Before I even bought it, I thought I was going to like it right off the bat. And after listening to the audio samples off the Internet, I knew I was going to like it then. So I bought it, and I loved it - every single track! I even like the "Crazy Bus" song, which is D.W.'s favorite song. But Arthur says that song is "annoying," according to a letter written by him you will find on the back cover of the album. If you're wanting to find "Crazy Bus," this is the CD you're looking for!



This CD contains songs from the PBS hit animated Arthur series, and they are sung by the actual Arthur characters. Most of the songs were baced on episodes from the first 4 seasons of the program. That's right, you'll get to hear Arthur (voiced by Michael Yarmush), Buster, Francine, Binky, the Brain, Mr. Ratburn, and D.W. sing their songs on this fun CD. In the liner notes that come with the CD, not only can you sing along with the songs, you get to see the characters comment on some of the songs. You'll see the characters comment with speech bubbles for the songs. Also, near the back of the liner notes, you'll find a list of the voiceovers who provided the characters' voices for the show at the time the CD was produced. And further more, you'll hear familiar singers like Ziggy Marley and Art Garfunkel.



Theme Song: Arthur says it's his favorite song. Sung by Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers.



Library Card: This song is heard in the episode, "Arthur's Almost Live, Not Real, Music Festival." You hear a lot of the Arthur characters in this song.



Crazy Bus (No Way!): D.W. begins to play her favorite song, but Arthur says it's not going to be played on the CD.

It's the second shortest track.



Arthur VS. The Piano: As I heard this song, I imagined Arthur himself practicing the piano. The song had a little bit of classical bits like Beethoven. My favorite lyric was "I'm sorry, Mr. Bach." Near the end, Arthur thought he hit a wrong note, but he liked the sound and begins to get down while playing the finale.



The UFO Song: Those who watch the Arthur show know that Buster is crazy over aliens, outer space, and UFO's. I liked the harmonica music in that song.



Meek For A Week: Francine sings about the time when Muffy made a bet with her that she couldn't be nice for an entire week. Based on the episode of the same name.



Jekyll And Hyde: Another song from the "... Music Festival" episode, the Brain sings about a time when he read a book which made him dream he became that character. The electric guitar music heard in the song really revs it up!



My Dog Pal: This is really a series of short songs on one track. It begins with Arthur singing about his dog, Pal. Then D.W. says that it's boring and she tells Arthur to sing something else. And then Buster, Brain, and Francine make him change the song again and again. It all leads back to Arthur's first song - about Pal. It's a musical chain reaction!

Based on the book and TV episode, "Arthur Writes a Story."

This is the longest track on the CD.



Matalij Ja Mustii (The Binky Song): There are no lyrics for this song in the liner notes because it's sung in Finnish. Heard in the episodes, "Binky Rules" and "Meet Binky." The actual artist who sang the song is from Finland, Varrtina. This is one of my favorites off this CD. Even though I don't understand the song, I liked the melody and the music.



Crazy Bus (I Said No, D.W.!): Once again, D.W. wants to play her favorite song. Arthur stops her again. This is the shortest track of all - it lasted for about 12 seconds.



My Night Light: Binky sings about how his night light keeps him from having nightmares at night. I liked the lyric "I love my night light more than I love ice cream." I thought it was funny and cute at the same time, and it's my favorite lyric. Based on the Arthur episode, "Night Fright."



Go To Sleep: In this song, D.W. tries to put her baby sister Kate to sleep. She doesn't sing her a lullaby, she tries putting her to sleep with Rock and Roll music! Before I even heard the whole song - I heard the audio samples of course - I had a feeling that her mom would tell her to be quiet when the song was over. I was right on the dot! Try putting a baby to bed with THAT music.



Thinking Tune: There was no singing at all, in fact, there wasn't even any music. There was just the sound of a diggery-do, which almost makes you want to meditate. Brain says he likes to think, and I agree. No wonder they call him THE BRAIN!



Lucky Pencil: Arthur sings about a time when he found a pencil that gives him good luck. He soon finds he doesn't need such a charm like a pencil for luck, you just have to believe in yourself. I once had that kind of experience. The song is based on the TV episode, "Arthur's Lucky Pencil."



Homework: Mr. Ratburn, the teacher, loves to sing about his favorite subject, HOMEWORK! This is another song from the "... Music Festival" episode. Compared to the song heard in the episode, it's slightly longer on the CD.



Poetry Club: As heard in the episode, "I'm a Poet," we hear Francine, Buster, and Arthur recite poems that they wrote themselves. Again D.W. pops up to try to get a little bit of for "Crazy Bus" song on the album.



The Ballad Of Buster Baxter: Sung by Art Garfunkel of Simon and Garfunkel, it tells the story of when Buster went on a trip around the world with his dad. Based on the episode of the same name.



Leftovers Goulash: Sung to the tune of the Carmon opera and other classical melody bits, Arthur sings about his dad who is a cook. Unlike other cooks, Arthur and D.W.'s dad makes pretty disgusting concoctions for dinner. This is yet another song from the "... Music Festival" episode.



Crazy Bus (What's This Doing Here?): Finally, we get to hear the entire "Crazy Bus" song. I didn't mind it at all when I heard the whole thing for the first time. But when the song was over, Arthur wanted to call on Mom for D.W. playing that song. Unfortunately, the CD was over!



I loved the whole, entire CD! I could listen to it again and again and I'd never tire of it. It's one of my top 5 favorite albums I've collected over the years. Arthur and Friends is a recommendation to those who have read the Arthur books and watched the television series. I give the whole album - all the tracks - an overall perfect 10!



Marc Brown, YOU RULE!!!"

Entertaining and Educational.

tvtv3 | Sorento, IL United States | 09/15/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Taking a cue from the PBS animated show on which it is based, ARTHUR AND FRIENDS is an entertaining and educational album of music that both children and adults can enjoy. The only song that comes close to resembling a typical children's tune is "Crazy Bus" which is the last song on the album and "wasn't supposed" to be on the album (according to Arthur). Many of the tunes are quite catchy and most are filled with educational nuggets, e.g. "Library Card" is a song full of gold nuggets ranging from Ray Bradbury to Dr. Suess waiting to be mined.



A few of my favorite tunes include:



"Theme Song"



"Library Card"



"Jekyll and Hyde"



"MataliJ Ja Mustil"--a song sung in Finnish. This is my favorite song on the entire album (and I don't even know a word being sung).



"Homework"



This is a wonderful children's album great for fans of the series and anyone who enjoys entertaining & educational children's music."

Arthur and Friends: The First Almost Real Not Live CD

Auburn Niewiadomski | Anacortes, Washington | 08/27/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I can't really describe how special this show is to me, I grew up with Arthur and it's just absolutely fantastic. But I was still shocked to find out there was an Arthur CD! This is a MUST HAVE for big Arthur fans, it's not okay or good, it's terrific. But I should probably explain why I find this CD terrific, well this is what this review will be for.



There was an episode of Arthur entitled "Arthur's Almost Live Not Real Music Festival" which included three songs which are all included on this CD, Library Card, Jekyll and Hyde and Leftovers Goulash. I've always loved the songs included on that story and many of the songs included on this CD are just as clever and witty as the songs aired on television. This CD is "created" by Arthur and his friends and Arthur has promised us he won't let D.W. play the Crazy Bus song, but what's this last track? Sorry Arthur you lied. But in between a few songs there are a couple attempts by D.W. to play Crazy Bus during the CD and it really makes this CD feel like a story from the show. I especially loved the songs that were originally stories from the TV show, for an example there is a song called Meek for a Week, but this isn't the story from the television series, it's transformed into a clever song sung by Francine. Or the song Lucky Pencil, that song as well was a story from the show that got turned into a song for the CD. Each song has a unique tune and it definitely makes for an enjoyable listen. But can this CD be any better than it already is? You bet, the entire cast sings the songs, Arthur is still voiced by Michael Yarmush, and that goes for D.W., Arthur's parents and the rest. And while yet they're not incredible singers, they are surprisingly good and I doubt it will bother you. Well, if you are curious to see how many tracks there are, just look at the list below.



Theme Song (1:50)



Library Card (2:50)



Crazy Bus (No Way!) (0:14)



Arthur vs. the Piano (2:55)



The UFO Song (2:06)



Meek for a Week (3:16)



Jekyll and Hyde (3:23)



My Dog Pal (4:03)



Matalij Ja Mustii (The Binky Song) (2:44)



Crazy Bus (I said NO, D.W.!) (0:12)



My Night Light (2:24)



Go to Sleep (2:24)



Thinking Tune (0:41)



Lucky Pencil (3:23)



Homework (2:19)



Poetry Club (2:03)



The Ballad of Buster Baxter (2:14)



Leftovers Goulash (2:11)



Crazy Bus (What's this doing here?) (1:14)



That's not all, not only are the songs fantastic, the CD case, CD, and the pamphlet are creative as well. The lyrics are included for each song and it was such a nice addition, unfortunately for my family they'll have to plug their ears because now I can sing along. There are also nice illustrations of the characters to spruce up the CD case.



All this for a children's show? Yes, and Arthur deserves this 1st class treatment, and this CD deserves this flat out five star rating, if you or your child is a fan of Arthur buy this CD, you will not regret it.









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