Forgive me for bumping an old thread, but I just wanted to chime in here and say that I picked up the CD this weekend at MK (I don't really buy music on iTunes/Amazon mp3). What an awful mess. Waste of $25 to the average person, good thing I'm a collector of these things! I'd love to know why Disneyland's CD got the new "Married Life" from the new recordings on MS USA and we have this "Flitterin' " crap that hasn't played on MS USA in ages. "Flitterin' " is available for free anyway on MouseBits. I've had it for years! Aren't these supposed to be reflective of current music in the parks?
The good: Remastered/remixed "Tiki Tiki Tiki Room," "Little Mermaid Medley" (though I think it's a bit too long, and the safety spiel is totally unnecessary on this package) and the classics of course...can never go wrong with the classics that have been on there since the 1980 album and beyond. "Be Our Guest" is a really nice treat too! I like the version of "You've Got a Friend In Me" too, very nice.
The bad: Everything else. Overall, this album really seems like it was thrown together last minute. The version of "Bear Band Serenade" is not reflective of the current, edited version that plays in the park. The Casey Jr. and Circus Parade tracks. I had hoped that the musicality of these tracks would win me over...but...seriously?? Why even include them? I get you want to promote the new parts of the parks, but how on earth did these two make it and music from Big Thunder didn't?? Nothing from Gaston's Tavern? That's a great loop! Nothing from Frontierland area loop?? No Liberty Square marches?
Get that "Mission:Space" trash off of there too. The Throne Room is a waste of a track, and for heaven's sake, "Lights, Motor, Action" is still some of the most unememorable, generic, bland music I've ever heard in my life. Exempt it from all future releases. Thanks, too, for the 45-second waste of space called "Hot Potato." Enough with the World Showcase music as well! How about some GOOD, classic Epcot music, like a track from some Future World area music? Where's ANY of the background/entrance music for DHS? Ugh!!!!
Honestly, Disney would be much better off releasing PARK-SPECIFIC albums. A two-disc set for MK, a two-disc set for Epcot, and maybe one-disc sets for both DHS and AK. It's such a waste of time, resources and money to have this two-disc set and still have to buy separate CDs for Main Street Electrical Parade (which is not even the right version they are selling), Fantasmic!, Illuminations, Festival of the Lion King, Wishes, and then still not even have much of what would be worth having. You can easily fit most of those on an official album that was specific to one park. (The MSEP CD is only 10 minutes long...what a joke!)
Sorry for the rant, but as a professional musician/music teacher, AND a Disney enthusiast, WDW music is where the best of all possible worlds collide for me, and they have been under-delivering for a decade now. Maybe I'll post a thread about my "dream releases" from WDW...