The Lion King is my favorite movie, ever. The soundtrack gives me chills every time. So imagine how the chills I got from the musical soundtrack! I love “They Live in You” and “Shadowland” (and Heather Headley in general), and basically everything else. This show has quickly moved up to the #1 musical I want to see.

This certainly wasn’t the greatest film in the world, and I’m not planning on going out and buying it, but for a chick flick I really enjoyed it. It was cute and surprisingly funny. I adore Hugh Grant (every time he did that little “pop” move I cracked up) and Drew Barrymore’s character was really likeable and sympathize-able.

The only songs I’d ever bothered listening to on this CD were “Stairway to Heaven” and “Black Dog” (the latter of which is still my favorite of their songs). But after finally stepping out of my small Led Zeppelin comfort zone and listening to the whole thing, I was surprised to find that I loved it! Didn’t realize they made so many LOTR references. Heh. I never thought I’d be a Led Zeppelin fan but now I want to go out and listen to more more more.

Amazing how just a guitar and piano can create such intricate, beautiful music. The two styles complement each other so well. My favorite song may have been “Annie’s Bittersweet Cake.” I would also recommend the Metheny Meldhau Quartet CD, which I liked a little bit better.

I’ve been a huge Pat Metheny fan since before I could talk. His style is familiar yet consistantly innovative. But I’d never heard of Mehldau – wow! I’d go see his trio even without Metheny. Loved it. If you listen to one song, listen to “A Night Away” – I heard it before I bought the album and fell in love with it. The bass line is so catchy.

C’mon – it’s Coltrane and Monk. I love the way they interact together; there’s something about their styles that makes them complement each other perfectly. “Epistrophy” might be my favorite song. I would have loved to see this concert!

I loved the book, and I figured the musical couldn’t be too bad, but it was better than I had expected. The music was great, with rich harmonies and outstanding vocals. Now I want to see the show!

Okay, I felt funny saying “Worth Consuming,” because the quality of this soundtrack is so terrible. It’s a shame that it’s the only one, because it sounds like a recording of a high school play, and the actual voices of the actors aren’t much better. On the other hand, I adore this musical – possibly because I played in the pit for it at school this year, but the music just makes me ridiculously happy. Granted, the play itself is ridiculously depressing, but the music itself is great. Gotta love Sondheim.

I thought it was okay, but for some reason it won’t let me change it back to “wishy-washy.” Anyway, I love Idina, and I think she has a fantastic voice. That said, the songs on this CD were pretty cheesy and mediocre.

I figured this would be a pretty blah album from an artist I usually enjoy, but was pleasantly surprised. It was a lot more funk- and soul-tinged than her studio albums, and while she did a bit too much talking, I really liked the new songs that were added and most of the remakes of the old ones (with the exception of “Fallin’,” which was so good to begin with that the “unplugged” version just seemed heavy-handed).

And, okay, I’m really a sucker for good horn sections.