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Mamma Mia! [Original Soundtrack]

Original Soundtrack - CD

Mamma Mia! Original Soundtrack CD
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  • Artist: Original Soundtrack
  • Format: CD
  • Year: 2008
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • UPC: 602517741850
  • Item Number: DEC774185
  • Release date: 07/08/2008
  • 1. Honey, Honey
  • 2. Money, Money, Money
  • 3. Mamma Mia
  • 4. Dancing Queen
  • 5. Our Last Summer
  • 6. Lay All Your Love on Me
  • 7. Super Trouper
  • 8. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)
  • 9. The Name of the Game
  • 10. Voulez-Vous
  • 11. SOS
  • 12. Does Your Mother Know
  • 13. Slipping Through My Fingers
  • 14. The Winner Takes It All
  • 15. When All Is Said and Done
  • 16. Take a Chance on Me
  • 17. I Have a Dream
  • 18. Thank You for the Music [Bonus Track]
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Mamma Mia! [Original Soundtrack] by Original Soundtrack on CD


After more than nine years (and counting) of continuous stage performances, the musical Mamma Mia!, featuring songs from the ABBA catalog awkwardly stitched into a romantic comedy plot, was adapted for the big screen by the same producer/director/writer team that had taken it to the theater. (That would be Judy Craymer, Phyllida Lloyd, and Catherine Johnson, respectively.) Like its counterpart, it pleased moviegoers but not critics, and thankfully the film itself is not the primary subject of this consideration. The soundtrack album simply consists of 18 ABBA songs sung by the stars of the movie, most of whom are not professional singers. The instrumental portions of the music are remarkably similar to the original ABBA recordings, which is not surprising given that ABBA member Benny Andersson, who produced this album, reunited the original studio musicians to re-create their parts. Their playing (his, in particular) is a bit less precise here and there three decades on, but for the most part it's hard to tell the difference. On the original recordings, the Swedish singing group revealed its ESL (English as a Second Language) limitations, just as the songwriters (Andersson, fellow member Bjorn Ulvaeus, and sometimes Stig Anderson) revealed their ESL lyric-writing limitations. Here, the first of those problems is alleviated, while the second is somewhat elided by performers who are actors used to finding ways to say (or sing) even the silliest lines with some conviction. That's all to the good. But the generally low to mediocre quality of the singing is such as to suggest an all-ABBA night in a karaoke bar. The singers may be divided into those who embarrass themselves and those who manage to avoid doing so. In the latter category, the most prominent is Meryl Streep, in the starring role of Donna, an innkeeper living on a Greek isle with her daughter Sophie, who is about to be married and, never having been told who her real father is, sets the plot in motion by writing to three of her mother's ex-boyfriends and inviting them to the wedding. Streep, who has some stage singing experience, is actually better when she's belting than when she has to be more intimate and expressive, as she is called on to do for most of the ballad "The Winner Takes It All." Amanda Seyfried, as Sophie, also does well (and she even gets an extra solo, singing "Thank You for the Music" with only piano accompaniment as the album's hidden track). Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgard, and Julie Walters are not heard from much, and therefore also fit into the non-embarrassing category. The real problem is Pierce Brosnan, who simply can't sing at all, but who tries hard during such leads as "SOS" and particularly "When All Is Said and Done," to often painful effect. (It's too bad that Christine Baranski, a ringer who has real musical theater chops, only gets to sing "Does Your Mother Know," not only because the album would be improved vastly with more of her, but also because she is so much better than the others that she makes them sound even worse than they are.) Onscreen, just as on-stage, Mamma Mia! is at best a guilty pleasure. On disc, it is no more than a souvenir of the film experience (which didn't keep this album from topping charts all over the world upon its release). ~ William Ruhlmann, Rovi
  • Artist: Original Soundtrack
  • Format: CD
  • Year: 2008
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • UPC: 602517741850
  • Item Number: DEC774185
  • Release date: 07/08/2008
  • Label: Decca
  • Genre: Stage & Screen, Classical
  • Style: Soundtracks, Show/Musical, Contemporary
  • Album Time: 73:56

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  • Mamma Mia! Original Soundtrack CD
Mamma Mia! Original Soundtrack CD

Editorial Reviews

Is there anything Meryl Streep can't do? It would be tempting to say "won't do," but that would imply her appearance in Mamma Mia! is somehow shameless. Hardly. Watching the perennial Oscar nominee bounce on a bed like a teenager, kick out her legs, roll around on the ground, and sing her heart out -- without a trace of hesitation -- is another redefining moment for one of Hollywood's most treasured actresses. We know she's a performer with guts, but it never hurts to be reminded. On the whole, Mamma Mia! joyously reminds us how musicals -- especially those set on lush Greek islands -- can transport an audience to delicious realms of pure escapism. The whole cast fully commits, from the logical choices (prancing diva Christine Baranski) to the surprises (stiff-by-design Colin Firth) to the fresh-faced newcomers (charismatic Amanda Seyfried). In their hands, these songs have the same gusto ABBA must have felt when first writing and performing them. In some cases, gusto alone may not be enough, and Mamma Mia! likely works better for those not comparing the performances to the soundtrack of the popular show. For one, Pierce Brosnan, another plucky outside-the-box choice, seems to have more singing responsibility than he can properly carry. And a small amount of the choreography is inferior, such as the inert staging of Streep's solo "The Winner Takes It All," in which Brosnan is left trying to figure out what to do with his hands. Some of this can be blamed on stage director Phyllida Lloyd's inexperience with this particular medium, but in her first feature film, she's far more deserving of credit than complaint. It's hard to imagine anyone not feeling the rush when an entire village of women comes together to sing "Dancing Queen," finishing with a group plunge into the Aegean. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide