OST-High School Musical 1 & 2 Soundtracks

High School Musical
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Disney has struck platinum with High School Musical, a made-for-cable movie that was mega-popular on the Disney Channel before spawning a mega-popular soundtrack. Echoing Grease, the plot involves two students (Zac Efron and Vanessa Anne Hutchinson) who fall for eath other while on vacation, only to realize theygo to the same high school—though they belong to different cliques. Fortunately they both love singing! The songs are typical Disney pop: on the bland side but also very well-crafted, they stick to your head like strawberry-flavored gum. Among the standouts are "Get'cha Head in the Game," which incorporates noises from a basketball game (squeaking sneakers, bouncing balls, whistles) to great effect; the fab tribute to 1970s piano-pop "What I've Been Looking For"; and the old-school show-tuney "Stick to the Status Quo." The music falters when it tries to go "caliente suave" (a la Gloria Estefan's substandard "Bop to the Top") but overall this CD could get kids to bounce and sing along nicely. Bonus tracks include a reprise of "Get'cha Head in the Game" by R&B group B5 and, fittingly, karaoke versions of the hits "Start of Something" and "Breaking Free." --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Product Description
While on a family New Year's vacation, shy brainiac Gabriella meets high-school basketball star Troy. During a karaoke contest at the teen party, they discover their love for singing... and an interest in each other. But will they be able to break out of their "expected" cliques and discover new interests and talents within themselves? Find out... in High School Musical! Starring Ashley Tisdale from Disney Channel's original TV series The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and Zac Efron from the WB's Summerland. Soundtrack features all-new music performed by the cast of the movie plus a bonus track by one of today's hottest teen R&B music groups, B5! CD also includes two instrumental tracks for karaoke fun!
High School Musical 2
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Fans of High School Musical can breathe easy: Based on this soundtrack, the sequel is just as good, and perhaps even better. Though its trailer asked "Are you ready for the start of something new?" HSM2 isn't turning the franchise into The Wire, and really is more of the same--which is, of course, totally fine by us. One of the most energetic tracks is Chad and Ryan's musical/baseball number "I Don't Dance," propelled by a cool big-band swing motif (fans of director Kenny Ortega's choreographic work for Xanadu will be reminded of that movie's mash-up of disco and swing in the "Dancin'" number). Once again Troy and Gabriella get the ballads, but "You Are the Music in Me" is a fine one and doesn't get bogged down in syrup. It also gets reprised by Troy and Sharpay in a rockier and arguably better version. This is typical of the fact that, overall, the bouncier tracks fare best: "All for One" (with its handclaps and surfy guitar licks), the single "What Time Is It" (the time of our lives, of course!), "Work This Out" (complete with percussive, well, workout). Of course everybody's favorite brother-sister team, Ryan and Sharpay, gets a couple of great vehicles: "Fabulous" and the zany, Hawaiian-flavored "Humuhumunukunukuapua'a," which more than anything else sounds like a tribute to the Disney princess of the 1960s: Annette Funicello. --Elisabeth Vincentelli
High School Musical 2
High School Musical 1

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