CD Review: Joyful Noise – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

As if our TV sets are not already perpetually airing musical shows like Glee, Camp Rock and High School Musical, the big screen these days are starting to saturate the genre even more, with the release of musical movies like Dreamgirls (the remake of course), Hairspray, Mamma Mia, the list goes on…

Joyful Noise, a 2012 film about a small town choir trying to make it big by overcoming the worst odds, on first read, sounds clichéd and overdone. Even big names like Queen Latifah (why’s this woman in every damn musical movie?), Dolly Parton and Nickelodeon star Keke Palmer fail to excite the geek in me.

The same can be said for the OST, I’m afraid. While listening to songs like I’m Yours, Maybe I’m Amazed (Paul McCartney cover) and In Love, I could tell the songs were produced to be heard in conjunction with the ongoing plot, it would have made more sense then. With meanings kept simple and cover songs scattered all over the album, it’s really no wonder I don’t feel any connection with the songs. Yes, there is a possibility that while watching the movie, I might have a thought like “The song actually fits in here”, but as a standalone album, it’s really not cutting it for me, but I can’t totally write it off as it does have some high points.

Vocally, you can expect the soulful humming and harmonizing of a backing choir, while powerhouse Queen Latifah and country darling Dolly Parton sing praises of the Lord in He’s Everything – as expected from a gospel choir created by La La Land. I’m more amazed by the fact that Parton and Latifah actually sound good together. They each get equal billing with four songs on the 12-track album. Keke Palmer, on the other hand, is less memorable though possessing a sweet voice.

What really surprised me was the Higher medley. The rearrangements of Sly & The Family Stone’s I Want to Take You Higher, segued into Yeah! by Usher, Chris Brown‘s Forever and ended on a high note with a classic, Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours by Stevie Wonder. With that song I sort of understood what music producer Mervyn Warren was attempting to achieve: using pop, country, r&b songs and transforming them into gospel tunes with a huge dose of optimism and faith – something that would rise against all odds.

Call me a pessimist if you must, but feel-good soundtracks are just another reminder of how bleak our economy and world has turned into, and how we are searching so hard to find some hope to latch onto. Joyful Noise is not much of an exception, save for the pairing that is Parton and Latifah – that I approve. Otherwise, only if you were a fan of gospel styled arrangements would I recommend you it, at least it’s better than others out there.

Track Cuts: Higher medley, He’s Everything, Man in the Mirror