Customer Reviews

Farkle & Friends

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I purchased "Farkle and Friends" before even knowing about "Singing in the Bathtub". After reading reviews that this CD was a disappointing second children's album for him, I was shocked!! "Singing..." must be an extraordinary album. I will definitely buy "Singing.." after hearing "Farkle.." My 1 year old absolutely loves "Farkle and Friends". She has been a music lover since the day she was born. John Lithgow's lyrics entertain me and my baby. The sometimes big band sounds, sometimes orchestral sounds are absolutely enthralling.

I am going to have to buy Lithgow's first CD because I can't believe everyone is saying this one isn't very good compared to the first one. I absolutely loved this CD. Definitely something very original compared to other kids CD's. I highly recommend purchasing this one if you aren't sure about it. Not all the songs are sing along songs but they are all entertaining and my kids love listening to them. I like them too and I can't say that about most of the kids CD's we have. Most kids music can be kinda boring to an adult, if you have to listen to it over and over, but this one is great!

This goofy CD is the brainchild of actor and funnyman-extraordinaire, John Lithgow. Combined with Bill Elliott's orchestra, John sings his way through a number of funny old songs that my children and I found quite humorous. With only nine songs, it might look to be a short album, but it isn't. In fact, The Remarkable Farkle alone is almost fifteen minutes long!

As both of my children are in the local grade school band, I appreciated that this CD relies on an orchestra for the music. The Remarkable Farkle, in particular, is the story of a boy's falling in love with the orchestra, and I have used it to show my kids just how great orchestral music can be. So, if you have young children learning an instrument, or just like goofy music, then I highly recommend this album to you. Go get it!

Hooray!!!! Fabulous!!!! Encore!!!! Once again John Lithgow has proven his versatility as a performer! He just keeps getting better with age....but I think he has found his true calling as a kids' storyteller. It is so enjoyable to hear his upbeat and entertaining music. Mr. Lithgow proves you don't have to be able to carry a tune to be a successful musical performer, in fact I think it makes his music that much more interesting. My daughter and I can't wait to see what he comes up with next, it is sure to be a curiously wonderful story of some sort which somehow manages to teach one of those ever important moral lessons about life. Thank you Mr. Lithgow for entertaining us once again! You are a credit to your craft!!!!

After being amazed by his fantastic first album, I have to totally agree with Villekulla. It's just not as great.

The first was such an amazing breath of fresh air on an otherwise tepid children's music scene; something adults and kids could all enjoy and sing along with.

But this one falls into the typical traps associated with kids music:
- overproduced: too much orchestra and not enough spunk
- too much kids singing: where did adults get the idea that kids like to hear other kids singing?
- talking down to kids
- weaker material, even the stuff not composed by Lithgow

For the record, Lithgow's composition Big Kids Scare the Heck Out of Me is one of the highlights of the first album, so he's got the knack. But all of these songs, rather than being catchy and engaging, sort of pat the children on the head and send them to bed with a cool detatched manner.

Grab the first one. Do not pass it up.

But this one, you can skip.

If you're buying this CD because you've heard John Lithgow's "Singing in the Bathtub" - don't do it. This is not the same toe-tapping, sing along fun music. In fact, I find it difficult to hear what is being sung over the orchestration. I can't stand to listen to it.

We are glad to have this second CD in our collection of (childrens') music. No, it's not the same as the first one. But then, we didn't want two of the same thing. This one sounds more like a broadway musical while the first is more big-band-sing-along. Both are really great.

John Lithgow had a tall order. After recording one of the best children's albums of all time, he had to meet his audience's feverish demands for a follow-up. Unfortunately, Farkle and Friends falls short. On the first listen, this cd sounds similar to Singing in the Bathtub. But it lacks the previous album's energy, and after hearing it a few more times, I think that there are two problems. The first is that this album relies too heavily on the orchestra, lacking some of the lightness of the banjo or piano arrangements that characterized SITB. The more profound problem, though, is in the composition. Five out of the Nine tracks on Farkle are written by Lithgow, and although they echo the style of the classics he covers, they just don't get us singing along. His real genius is in the interpretation of the older tunes, and I would like to hear another album of those. Oddly, of the four covers on this album, one is a second take on a song performed more elegantly on SITB. All this aside, if you don't have Singing in the Bathtub, you need to purchase it. IMMEDIATELY. If you do have it, how about skipping this in favor of Trout Fishing in America's "Family Music Party?" Your kids will thank you.

John Lithgow is perhaps one of the most talented celebrities around. He sings traditional songs that are not commonly heard and revives them. His songs are sung with spirit. He has a wonderful singing voice. This audiotape is great to listen to in the car or home. My children enjoy this because it is different than listening to Nursery Rhymes. They love Animal Crackers in My Soup. I highly recommend this cassette!

I bought this book for my boyfriend to use as a middle school music teacher. We worried it was too juvenile for the older students, but it apparently was very handy when teaching them about the orchestra.