[NET/US/Mai 2010] (The Windy Hill) Review : Almost Alice.

Disney Soundtracks released an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ inspired CD, ‘Almost

Alice,’ on March 2. Besides ‘Alice’ by Avril Lavigne, not one of these songs appeared in the actual movie, yet these songs all focus around the plot of the Tim Burton remake.

Speaking of Lavigne, fans ev­erywhere were shocked to realize the face behind the voice, for not only is this song out of her genre, but it also has Avril reliv­ing her ‘bratty’ days when she first hit the music scene. But that’s appropri­ate since the song repre­sents Alice’s teen angst to which many ad­olescents can relate.

Stepping out of the alternative field, 3Oh!3 and Kerli collaborate to sing ‘Follow me Down.’ Admittedly, the song is catchy, and the techno feel makes lis­teners want to dance. This particular song is my personal favorite. The pop beat sounds great on a stereo sys­tem and the words are easy enough to sing along to.

The normally screa­mo band Family Force 5 flipped their style of music. After listening to their song ‘Topsy Turvy’ I noticed the tune matches the theme of strange­ness that the album seems to take on. This song is clearly one of the albums more psychedelic melodies.

The other techno track on the CD is also one of the best songs typifying the emotion that Alice feels in the world she falls into. ‘Strange’ by To­kio Hotel, featuring Kerli, is bounded by numerous instruments and a gui­tar filled chorus: ‘You try to lift me/I don’t get better/whatever makes you happy/is making me sadder.’ These lyrics show Alice’s confusion and des­peration being in a world where she does not belong.

‘Blue tree tops and velvet skies/blue ready to blow your mind/this is a place where your mind can escape/all the problems today go far, far away/this is a time with no history/welcome to mystery.’ Describing the scenery of the world in which Alice lives, the Plain White T’s song ‘Welcome to Mystery’ is the best track on the CD in terms of putting the novel’s landscape, the ex­tensive scenery for which the movie is known, into words.

Although many persons who have reviewed this CD, including a music review by Brian Linder from Assault.com, criti­cize the album’s lack of presence in the film (The only song that made it onto this soundtrack that was also in the original version of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ is ‘Very Good Ad­vice’. This song is re­made by Robert Smith, from the Cure) and Dis­ney Studios need to make more money, I disagree.

The movie itself only in­cluded instrumental pieces to set the film’s mood, so I can understand fans’ disap­pointment with a lyric-less soundtrack. But because the songs retell ‘Alice in Won­derland,’ having them play during the story would be overkill.

Separation between album and film are necessary because the trio of emo­tion, character development, and plot­lines is hard come by. The songs es­tablish such a formula. To compound the film with such redundancies may have done the film a disservice.

Overall, I was very satisfied with the turnout of this CD. The artists deliv­ered and the songs did not disappoint zealous ‘Alice in Wonderland’ fans.