Tim Burton's Corpse Bride

1	Main Titles 2:05
2	According to Plan 3:45
3	Victor's Piano Solo 1:18
4	Into the Forest 4:35
5	Remains of the Day 3:26
6	Casting a Spell 1:25
7	Moon Dance 1:28
8	Victor's Deception 4:00
9	Tears to Shed 2:45
10	Victoria's Escape 2:31
11	The Piano Duet 1:53
12	New Arrival 0:42
13	Victoria's Wedding 3:15
14	The Wedding Song 3:01
15	The Party Arrives 3:21
16	Victor's Wedding 2:08
17	Barkis's Bummer 2:07
18	The Finale 2:35
19	End Credits, Pt. 1 1:50
20	End Credits, Pt. 2 2:33
21	Ball & Socket Lounge Music #1 / Bonejangles & His Bone Boys Band Version 2:15
22	Remains of the Day / Bonejangles & His Bone Boys Combo Lounge Version / Version 3:06
23	Ball & Socket Lounge Music #2 / Bonejangles & His Bone Boys 1:10
24	Ball & Socket Lounge Music #1 / Bonejangles & His Bone Boys Combo Version 2:14

Barnes & Noble

This exuberant soundtrack -- by turns goofy and majestic, wry and tender -- is the latest in a long string of successful collaborations between composer Danny Elfman and director Tim Burton. As revealed on Elfman's scores for such films as Beetlejuice, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Edward Scissorhands, and the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory remake, his brooding, late-romantic bent perfectly complements Burton's fractured fairy tales, coloring key scenes with just the right shade of madness and kitschy gravitas. The same holds true for Corpse Bride -- but it's not all Sturm und Drang; songs such as "According to Plan" (sung by Albert Finney, Joanna Lumley, Tracey Ullman, and Paul Whitehouse, all of whom provide voices in the film) will appeal to lovers of fine comic arias from Mozart to Momus, whose witty, wordy neo-Baroque pop it closely recalls. Corpse Bride contrasts vast symphonic themes like "Victoria's Wedding" and the lush "Finale" with Elfman's favorite hot-jazz styles, like the jaunty "Remains of the Day" (sung by the onetime Oingo Boingo frontman himself) and the swinging "New Arrival." Though the ghoulishly delightful "Wedding Song" probably won't oust such perennial favorites as the march from Lohengrin or "I Love You Truly" anytime soon (except, perhaps, at the nuptials of confirmed Goths), its operatic schizophrenia is a perfectly realized musical scene unto itself. Helena Bonham Carter, in the title role, gets a star turn in "Tears to Shed." Especially beautiful -- and economical, for the typically full-tilt Elfman -- is the exquisite, Chopinesque "Victor's Piano Solo," and its graceful partner, "The Piano Duet." L.D. Beghtol

All Music Guide

A study in contrasts, the score to The Corpse Bride, Danny Elfman's second 2005 collaboration with Tim Burton, features some of the composer's gentlest, most restrained pieces as well as some of his vividest ones. Tellingly, most of the pieces that soundtrack the land of the living, including the "Main Titles" and "Victor's Piano Solo," are gray-on-gray pieces inspired by chamber music. Meanwhile, the music of the dead spans the macabre but still vibrant "Remains of the Day" -- which explains how the Corpse Bride came to pass, and makes a refrain like "die, die, we all pass away" sound downright cheerful -- as well as the swooning, spooky romance of "Moon Dance." Indeed, aside from a few slightly scary tracks, The Corpse Bride's music is largely (if darkly) romantic: "Piano Duet" and "Finale" both have an otherworldly sweetness shared by the ruefully witty "Tears to Shed," in which the Corpse Bride's friends (including the maggot that lives in one of her eye sockets) try to convince her that lacking a pulse isn't so important when it comes to true love. The soundtrack's other songs are just as pithy. "According to Plan" neatly outlines the living couple's families and their reasons for marrying -- Victor VanDorts' parents are grasping nouveau riche, while Victoria Everglot's are aristocratic but penniless -- and offers some clever commentary on arranged marriages to boot. "The Wedding Song," meanwhile, recalls the madcap whimsy of The Nightmare Before Christmas, although for two films with similar looks, themes, and creative teams, The Nightmare Before Christmas and The Corpse Bride's scores are remarkably, and admirably different. The soundtrack also includes a suite of bonus tracks by Bonejangles (who is voiced by Elfman) and his Bone Boys, a group of underworld hepcats inspired by Cab Calloway, Django Reinhardt, and hot jazz and swing in general. The "Minnie the Moocher"-esque "Remains of the Day (Combo Lounge Version)" and "Ball & Socket Lounge Music #2," for example, would make a great soundtrack for hipper Halloween and Day of the Dead-themed dinner parties. Equally playful and sophisticated, The Corpse Bride is a delightful score that delivers on all of the expectations of an Elfman/Burton teaming. Heather Phares