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Album Review: The Greatest Showman Re-Imagined

The Greatest Showman surpassed everyone’s expectations when the film hit cinemas last Christmas, but now Atlantic Records have taken its success a step further with the release of The Greatest Showman soundtrack: Reimagined.

Following the surprise success of the film starring Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron, Atlantic Records have released a special ‘re-imagined’ edition of the album complete with all the favourites from the original record and film, but recorded by some of the industry’s biggest musical artists including Panic at the Disco, James Arthur, Kelly Clarkson and many others.

The album opens with Panic at the Disco’s take on ‘The Greatest Show’ which offers an upbeat and alternative twist to the opening number of the film, as does Years and Years and Jess Glynne’s version of ‘Come Alive’. These two tracks alone prove that a reimagined version of the soundtrack was a good idea, offering a more pop-oriented style soundtrack that could very easily top charts across the globe, just like the original.

For many people, the highlight of this reimagined album may be the reprise of ‘A Million Dreams’ where Pink’s daughter, Willow Sage Heart, sings by herself, whilst mother Pink sings the main version of the song. The president of Atlantic Records, Kevin Weaver said that the “movie has affected families in such a profound way” and ‘A Million Dreams’ “became this special mother-daughter moment” as a result.

‘Rewrite the Stars’ however, was a different story. The original, sung by Zac Efron and Zendaya, was the biggest commercial success and the most streamed song on the album, certified platinum in the UK, US and Australia, therefore the pressure was on to find two people that could create a version just as good. The producers chose Anne Marie and James Arthur, two artists currently relevant in the music industry who could also record a commercially successful version, in a different style. However, the song received a fair few negative comments upon its release from fans, stating that it was too heavily auto-tuned, and didn’t contain the same magic that the original did.

Some people may also be disappointed that Keala Settle’s ‘This is Me’, the anthem of the film, did not really receive the same treatment as the rest of the soundtrack, however Atlantic records did provide a mash-up of Keala’s original version and Kesha’s version, with the addition of a verse by Missy Elliot. Missy’s addition might originally feel unnecessary, but after studying the lyrics that say ‘you can put your mind to do whatever you wanna do’ and ‘you fall down, but get up and skip and hop through’, these lyrics prove that the song offers a new and empowering perspective on the anthem of the film. However, maybe because Keala’s version was so powerful in the original film, it didn’t exactly need re-imagining?

From Craig David to Pentatonix, The Greatest Showman re-imagined soundtrack offers something new to the original commercial success and certainly does not disappoint, reviving the film and opening it up to the Christmas market once more.

By Faith Pring

 

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