The Chipmunks Albums (22)
What The Critics Say
Undeniable is the follow-up release to the platinum-selling soundtrack from the computer animation/live-action movie Alvin & the Chipmunks. The 14 tracks include cover versions of songs from Led Zeppelin, Bob Marley, Peaches & Herb and the Rocky Horror Picture Show along with seven originals. Although this is definitely not the Chipmunks of the '60s, if your family liked the 2007 movie they'll get a kick out of Undeniable. ~ Al Campbell, All Music Guide
'Merry Christmas from the Chipmunks'
Release Date 9/16/2003
Tracks 15
Label Capitol
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What The Critics Say
This disc contains a dozen seasonal sides from the novelty singing group, the Chipmunks. Like its predecessor, Merry Christmas from the Chipmunks (2003) has become a year-end institution. This is thanks in part to the initial success of multimedia mastermind Ross Bagdasarian's hit 45 "Chipmunk Christmas Song," which spent four weeks atop the singles chart. The Chipmunks actually debuted on Bagdasarian's first number one "Witch Doctor." The sped-up voices of Alvin, Simon, and Theodore were all performed by Bagdasarian with character names inspired by Liberty Records bosses: Al Bennett (Alvin), Si Warnoker (Simon),and sound engineer Ted Keep (Theodore). The concept even spawned a prime-time animated television program called The Alvin Show, which aired from October 14, 1961 through September 12, 1962 on CBS-TV. A glance at the tune-stack lists familiar favorites such as "Deck the Halls," "Hang Up Your Stockin'," "Jingle Bell Rock," "All I Want for Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth)," as well as the Bagdasarian original composition "Wonderful Day." Those looking for the "Chipmunk Christmas Song" should note that it is included on the first volume as well as several of the holiday compilations derived from both Christmas with the Chipmunks platters. Among them are Chipmunks Greatest Christmas Hits (1999) and A Very Chipmunk Christmas (2000). ~ Lindsay Planer, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Of the several Chipmunk albums transferred from record to CD, Chipmunk Adventure is a most deserving one; it spins lightweight fun with sentimentality and values the Chipmunks as feeling and wistful creatures, not just vocalists on high speed. Composer and lyricist Randy Edelman lends a great hand in shaping the world through their eyes, and because the film plot is based on a hot air balloon ride across the continents, it really does involve the world. Songs like "I, Yi, Yi, Yi, Yi" and "Mexican Holiday" will appease fans of the old Chipmunks records. A duet face-off between Chipmunks and Chipettes for the purpose of topping each other is epitomized on "The Girls of Rock N Roll" which became a modern classic. The soft ballads sung by Chipettes, "My Mother," "Flying With the Eagles," and "Off to See the World," are inviting and shockingly emotional. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra provides the beautiful theme song. ~ Peter Fawthrop, All Music Guide
'The A-Files: Alien Songs'
Release Date 1/1/1998
Tracks 10
Label Sony Wonder
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'Club Chipmunk: The Dance Mixes'
Release Date 10/8/1996
Tracks 10
Label Sony
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What The Critics Say
Alvin and his Chipmunk brothers seem to creep out of the woodwork when there is a chance they might fit into the current era. With the '90s generation of dance clubbies, they made a hip move with The Dance Mixes. Most of the Chipmunks' humor has been substituted with straightforward dance music, including an English and Spanish version of "Macarena" and Madonna's "Vogue." The most pleasing addition is the remake of "Witch Doctor" which was a number one hit for Ross Bagdasarian (original Chipmunks creator) in the beginning of the Chipmunk fame. Including popular songs like "Love Shack," "I'm Too Sexy," and "Stayin' Alive," the Chipmunks are still marketable, as are the Chipettes if you can tell the difference between vocal groups. They have amped up on style but without one mention of David Seville, there is a deep longing for order -- which was what made the squeaky voices a little more human like. ~ Peter Fawthrop, All Music Guide
'Let's All Sing with the Chipmunks'
Release Date 12/1/1995
Tracks 12
Label EMI-Capitol Special Markets
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'When You Wish upon a Chipmunk'
Release Date 10/31/1995
Tracks 10
Label Sony
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'Christmas with the Chipmunks, Vol. 1'
Release Date 9/1/1995
Tracks 10
Label Cema Special Markets
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What The Critics Say
If you ignore, with the benefit of "grown-up" hindsight, the fact that the voices of Alvin, Simon, and Theodore were somewhat shrill, occasionally tuneless, and arguably annoying to obnoxious levels, the first volume of Christmas With the Chipmunks is a classic holiday record, and it certainly is that. The minor failings of those three cartoon voices are easy to ignore, and ultimately dismiss, especially if you were a child or were raising one in the 1960s and 1970s. For kids the world already pulsates with a sort of cartoonish, surreal vitality, and never more powerfully than at Christmastime, so the impossible-to-corral Alvin, Simon, and Theodore are the perfect spokesmen (or spokes-chipmunks, as it were) to capture that exhilarating sense of anticipation, the dreamily translucent run from the day after Thanksgiving until the morning when Santa Claus finally drops off the season's gifts. You really do have to withhold "critical" judgment when approaching this record, suspend any degree of cultivated jadedness, and place yourself back in those size five Keds you or your children used to wear. When that task has been accomplished, Christmas With the Chipmunks reveals itself for what it is: an album that is not only amusingly charming, but packed beginning to end with a wide-eyed sense of innocence and bountiful levels of seasonal exuberance, possibly enough to crack the stolid gazes of even the harshest Scrooges. An inspired novelty from the mind of actor and songwriter Ross Bagdasarian (who puts in a performance as the scatterbrained but affectionate taskmaster David Seville), the album is outstanding on a musical level, too -- a point that is often lost amid the chattering voices of the trio of lovable rodents. Some of the songs have a jazzy lilt, most immaculately on "Here Comes Santa Claus" and the wonderful "Over the River and Through the Woods," each of which is buoyed by goofy touches of orchestral percussion, ensuring that the music retains its good-natured wink and plays to the album's hokeyness. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," on the other hand, is knee-deep in early rock & roll production and rhythms, while Bagdasarian's original tune "The Chipmunk Song," an instant holiday classic, has the allure of an old Italian love song. The songs, of course, cannot be disparaged in the least, all of them Christmas standards. Despite the small quibble here or there, the same can be said about the album as whole. And if you heard these versions for the first time between the ages of three to ten years, they probably will remain the standards against which you will hold all others for the rest of your life. ~ Stanton Swihart, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The Chipmunks' Christmas album, A Very Merry Chipmunk, is a collection of standard holiday songs and original numbers performed in the trademark Chipmunk style. Like all of their records, children will find it more entertaining than adults, but this is a very well-made album and should satisfy the group's fans. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
