Randy Newman Albums (23)
'Harps and Angels'
Release Date 1/1/2008
Tracks 20
Label Nonesuch/WBR
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What The Critics Say
Randy Newman always came across as an old crank even when he was an angry young man, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that he's flourishing as an old curmudgeon. Flourishing might seem to be an odd word to apply to an artist whose output slowed to a trickle after the release of 1988's Land of Dreams, but 1999's Bad Love found him reconnecting to his core strengths and its 2008 sequel, Harps and Angels, is its equal -- a lean, uncluttered, viciously funny collection of rolling New Orleans shuffles, movie musical moments, and the occasional tender love song. In many ways, Harps and Angels is a continuation of Bad Love, as it has a similar stripped-down production and many of the same lyrical themes, as Newman still is singing about America and aging, just as he was almost a decade earlier. This isn't stasis, this is consistency, as Newman has always relied on his misanthropic wit just as he's always relied on his love for Fats Domino and old Hollywood scores, and this familiar musical bed helps the new wrinkles stand out, whether it's the symphonic stabs that punctuate the near-death experience on the title track or using Jackson Browne as a punch line on "A Piece of the Pie." While its unadorned sound could be seen as a throwback to the early '70s -- especially with rollicking numbers like "Only a Girl" and "Potholes" recalling how 12 Songs could skip lightly -- Harps and Angels is quite explicitly an album of its time, as Newman confronts the age of George W. Bush directly with the merciless "A Few Words in Defense of Our Country" and "A Piece of the Pie," where he points out if you're "living in the richest country in the world/Wouldn't you think you'd have a better life?" In this context, Newman's heavy reliance on loping New Orleans rhythms almost seems like a defiant expression of solidarity with the Crescent City in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, but that's probably reading a little bit too much into it, as these bluesy shuffles are Newman's greatest comfort zone, the place where his slurred singing sounds just right and where his sardonic jokes richly resonate. It's his signature sound and Harps and Angels captures it sublimely, as the production -- a co-credit to Newman's longtime associate Lenny Waronker and his latter-day producer Mitchell Froom -- has no fancy accoutrements and he's written another set of quietly wonderful songs, ranging from the brutal satire of "Korean Parents" to the gentle, lovely "Feels Like Home." These days he may take his time writing songs, but when he delivers two albums as excellent as Bad Love and Harps and Angels back to back, it's hard to call it anything besides flourishing. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
'Leatherheads'
Release Date 1/1/2008
Tracks 20
Label Varese Sarabande
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What The Critics Say
As has been apparent at least since his Sail Away album in 1972, Randy Newman's musical sensibility is heavily informed by the styles of popular music that prevailed roughly from the 1890s to the early '20s -- in particular Tin Pan Alley pop, ragtime, and Dixieland jazz. As a film composer, Newman has not tried to hide his inclinations, but rather has sought out (or been sought out for) movies that could incorporate them smoothly. One such is director/star George Clooney's Leatherheads, a neo-screwball comedy about the rise of professional football set in the mid-'20s. Nominally speaking, Newman's favored styles are to a certain extent anachronistic for the period; the sentimental ballads of the turn of the 19th century such as "After the Ball" were not being sung too much 30 years later, for example. But in Hollywood terms, that's no problem. Ever since Marvin Hamlisch brazenly used the rags of Scott Joplin to accompany the Depression Era setting of The Sting in 1974 and won an Academy Award for his trouble, it has seemed that any popular style from the Civil War to World War II could be mixed up largely by feel, if not by the calendar. In Leatherheads, Newman's familiar mixture of pre-1925 styles connotes the light comedy and sentimentality at which Clooney is aiming. Toward the end of the soundtrack, notably on "The Ambiguity of Victory," Newman contributes more traditional symphonic film scoring. And, given the subject matter, he apes the sound of a college marching band more than usual. But for the most part, Clooney has employed him here to do what he does best. Most Newman scores are unlikely to be mistaken for those of any other Hollywood composer (though they occasionally may be mistaken for Randy Newman albums without vocals), and this one is no exception. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
With songs and a small score by Randy Newman, as well as tracks by Canned Heat and Tim Hardin, Meet the Fockers is a short, often perfunctory-feeling soundtrack. Indeed, the soundtrack to the movie's predecessor, Meet the Parents -- which also featured songs and a score by Newman -- had one-and-a-half times as many tracks on it. More disappointing is that what is here feels scattered and deflated. Newman's songs, "We're Gonna Get Married" and "Crazy 'Bout My Baby," are breezy and humorous enough, but aren't all that developed. His score fares better, but cartoony cues like "Baby and Me" and "Jack" still feel more serviceable than inspired. The film's theme, which mixes tiptoeing pizzicato strings with wacky brass and saccharine flutes, is, for better or worse, an accurate portrayal of Meet the Fockers' mix of broad humor and sentimentality. "Suspicious Mind" also works well, managing to sound tense, funny, and smart. Though the soundtrack includes only a handful of pop songs, Canned Heat's "Going Up the Country" and Tim Hardin's "If I Were a Carpenter" evoke the hippie roots of the Focker family. A pair of dubby tracks by HeadBone, "Wilderness (Dub)" and "Dancing," round out the album. Die-hard Meet the Fockers fans might need this soundtrack, but it probably won't satisfy anyone else. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Someday, perhaps in a doctoral thesis or a book on film scoring, someone is going to address the question of why it is, given the sardonic character of Randy Newman's songwriting for himself, that his film scores are so warm and sweet. When this study is done, Newman's soundtrack to Seabiscuit, writer/director Gary Ross' film biography of the legendary racehorse of the 1930s based on Linda Hilllenbrand's book Seabiscuit: An American Legend, will stand as a prime example (but then, so would practically any one of Newman's soundtracks). Those slow, melodic passages for French horn, those swelling string lines, and the small sections for a single flute or trumpet, all contributed to a characteristic sound redolent of the heartwarming and the homespun. In the case of Seabiscuit, Newman responds to the time and place of the setting by adding bits of big-band swing and, especially, Mexican folk music (with one tune played by Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles), but the overall approach is easily recognizable as his own. One might suggest that Newman's scores, as the scores of any good film composer, serve the movies for which they are written, and it may be that the assignments he gets are based on what he's done before. Clearly, filmmakers go to him for a certain kind of score, and they get it. Maybe it's time for him to try something more challenging (say, an action picture), just for variety. But if he keeps writing scores as beautiful as this one, it's hard to complain, even if you wonder how the author of "Short People" could do work apparently so sincere. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
As with both of the Toy Story movies and A Bug's Life, the soundtrack to Disney/Pixar's Monsters, Inc. features a fun, whimsical score by Randy Newman. Bookending lively, big band-inspired pieces like the Monsters, Inc. theme are two versions of "If I Didn't Have You," one sung by Billy Crystal and John Goodman, who voice the film's main characters, Mike (the little green eyeball) and Sulley (the big, blue, vaguely Maurice Sendak-iancreature), and one sung by Newman. For all its charm, it can't help but sound a bit like a second-rate version of Toy Story's "You've Got a Friend in Me," but it's still a winning song. The rest of the score is charming and vaguely retro, particularly on the sprightly "Walk to Work" and "Sulley and Mike"; even spookily named pieces like "The Scare Floor" and "The Scream Extractor" sound more cute than creepy. While this album probably won't appeal to most kids, it's nice that Disney acknowledges the huge adult following that Pixar's films have by releasing this playful, detailed score. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The original soundtrack to Jay Roach's Meet the Parents features an enjoyable mix of pop songs and Randy Newman's original score. Newman also contributes covers of Fats Domino's "Poor Me" and "I Got My Mojo Workin'" along with a new song, "A Fool in Love." Bobby Womack's "I'm Your Puppet," Lee Dorsey's "Ya Ya," and Dr. John's "Big Chief" round out the album's soulful pop selections. Newman's whimsical score includes pieces with titles like "Could You Milk Me?" and "Wrong Cat," which complement Roach's antic directing style nicely. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Toy Story 2's soundtrack features more original songs and instrumentals from Grammy Award-winner Randy Newman, along with Sarah McLachlan's "When She Loved Me," Robert Goulet's "You've Got a Friend in Me," and Riders in the Sky's "Woody's Round Up." A heartwarming and funny collection for an entertaining and adventurous movie. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Newman's first collection of pop songs since 1988's Land of Dreams finds him as satirically biting as ever, yet unafraid to tackle personal and heartfelt concerns. Few are out of harm's way when Newman's at the keyboard: Old rock stars get it in "I'm Dead (But I Don't Know It)," dirty old men in "Shame" and "The World Isn't Fair," and cultural imperialism in "The Great Nations of Europe." In addition, there's perhaps one of his most beautiful and personal songs yet, "I Miss You," and even a schmaltzy one, "Every Time It Rains." The production team of Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake ensure that there are no missteps by maintaining a timeless, orchestrated sound with original instrumentation. Doubters who thought Newman lost his edge after dozens of blockbuster movies needn't worry anymore -- few of these songs would find their way onto the smiley soundtracks, yet all of them should rest comfortably alongside his other four-star offerings. ~ Denise Sullivan, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Best known for his biting wit and often irreverent pop-rock, Randy Newman shows another side of himself on this soundtrack to the Disney animated film A Bug's Life, which included the voices of Kevin Spacey, Madeline Kahn and former Seinfeld star Julia Louis-Dreyfus. The main focus of this CD isn't Newman the pop-rocker, but Newman the composer of instrumental movie music. Only on the humorous opener "The Time of Your Life" do we hear Newman sing; after that, every piece on the album is an orchestral instrumental heard in the film. A Bug's Life isn't an essential purchase by any means, although some of Newman's more hardcore and devoted fans might find it mildly interesting to hear this other side of him. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
'James and the Giant Peach'
Release Date 1/1/1996
Tracks 23
Label Walt Disney
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Randy Newman wrote five new songs in addition to the instrumental scoring for Disney's stop-action film adaptation of the Roald Dahl children's story, borrowing the lyrics to one of the songs, the lively "Eating the Peach," from Dahl. His most characteristic efforts are "Family," which owes a lot to such earlier Newman soundtrack songs as "You've Got a Friend in Me" from Toy Story, and the gospel-tinged end title theme, "Good News," which he sings himself. The other songs are performed by cast members including Richard Dreyfuss and Susan Sarandon, along with some ringers providing "additional vocals." The instrumental sections provided effective scoring for the film's audacious visuals, but on their own sound like the background music they are. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
