Customer Reviews

Mona Lisa Smile

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

If you enjoyed the movie, you'll absolutely enjoy this soundtrack. Listening to Seal's "Mona Lisa" reminds me of Nat King Cole. Tori Amos' superb rendition of "You Belong To Me" reminds me of Jo Stafford's version with its intro, it's typical '40s style of singing. Mandy Moore's "Secret Love" reminds me of Doris Day's version. The same with Alison Krauss' interpretation of "What'll I Do?" which reminds me of Patti Page's version. It's definitely contemporary artists trying to sound like the singers of yesteryears and they perfectly succeeded. A friend of mine once asked me why I know a lot of songs and singers of yesteryears and why I like them? My short answer was, "reincarnation of somebody who lived in that era!" No, seriously, from my parents' collection of albums. I belong to a musically-inclined family and grew up listening to countless albums of different genre. I learned to appreciate the standards at an early age. I remember whenever my father brought home new records, I was always excited to listen and read the back covers for the track listings, titles, composers, lyricists and notes about the recordings. Records then came in different sizes and colors... 33s and 78s, the singles were 45s, black vinyls and sometimes red or orange.

The tracks that really stand out and my favorites are "You Belong To Me," "What'll I Do," "Secret Love," "Mona Lisa," Lisa Stansfield's "I've Got The World On A String," Chris Isaak's "Besame Mucho," Kelly Rowland's "I'm Beginning To See The Light" and The Trevor Horn Orchestra's "Sh Boom" (Life Could Be A Dream). Barbra Streisand, Elton John and Celine Dion are the more seasoned performers in the group covering "Smile," "The Heart Of Every Girl" and "Bewitched" respectively.

This will be a wonderful addition to your collection of motion picture soundtracks. Highly recommended!

This soundtrack is a very classy collection of standards, without a single clunker. It also has the added bonus of an outstanding new song. "The Heart Of Every Girl" is one of the most romantic songs ever written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin. The arrangement, featuring lush strings and brass, perfectly compliments Elton's piano. Elton's voice has deepened with time, and his singing and piano playing have never sounded stronger or more assured.

The musical arrangement and Seal's vocals on the song "Mona Lisa" sound so similar to Nat King Cole's original that its scary. Chris Isaak croons a passionate rendition of "Besame Mucho," making this cheesy standard sound sophisticated. Tori Amos particularly impressed me, turning in two great performances. Her vocals on the ballad "You Belong To Me" are perfectly understated, while she playfully sings the bouncy "Murder He Says." After listening to this soundtrack, I would urge Tori Amos to record a whole album of standards.

When I first heard this in the bookstore where I work, I didn't know that Seal was the person singing the first track on the album, "Mona Lisa." I thought it was Nat King Cole because, as an act of impression or as a tribute, Seal's voice is amazingly like Cole's on the track.

Looking at the rest of the album and seeing that it allowed several modern musicians an opportunity to channel singers from the 1950's, I was impressed at how dead-on a lot of the songs were.

Tori Amos' "Murder, He Says," originally performed by Betty Hutton in one of the old MGM musicals, is an amusing, catchy tune. Celine Dion manages, with "Bewitched," to remind me of how talented she is - though her solo albums are frequently overproduced, tacky and annoying. Kelly Rowland and Mandy Moore offer up stunning, period-evoking covers of "I'm Beginning to See the Light" and "Secret Love," respectively. Chris Isaak's "Besame Mucho" is lush and romantic. And Macy Gray's "Santa Baby" catches the right mood, echoing sensuality and good humor.

I've recommended this to all sorts of people. With the flux of swing-revival albums coming out lately, from Rod Stewart's to Cyndi Lauper's, the soundtrack to "Mona Lisa Smile" deserves special attention. It's spectacular.

This is a fabulous soundtrack for a fantastic movie. If you don't like 1930's, 40's, and 50's big band and swing music, you shouldn't buy this. If you do, then you'll love it. The soundtrack has an all star artist track including Celine Dion, Mandy Moore, Alison Krauss, and Kelly Rowland. Even though the artist are new, the songs are done in the style of the period which gives the illusion that you're actually listening to an original recording. The most shocking is Tori Amos, who has two tracks on the soundtrack. She sounds great and looks great in the movie during her cameo appearances where she's singing the songs from the soundtrack. Buy this album, you won't be sorry.

What a CD! It's so much better than the movie. You definitely do not have to see "Mona Lisa Smile" to enjoy these covers of '50 songs.

For the movie, a number of contemporary artists covered '50's songs. The beauty of this CD lies in hearing one great interpretation of a classic after another.

Some highlights:
Seal covered "Mona Lisa"--at first, you think it is Nat King Cole. Then you hear and appreciate the subtle differences.

Tori Amos (who appeared in the movie) covers both "You Belong To Me" and "Murder He Says." I was humming "Murder" all day. Her voice gets very deep and gravelly.

Celine Dion (whom I normally can't stand) sings "Bewitched." I didn't even recognize her voice when I heard it the first time and I was stunned when I read her name on the jacket. She should do an album dedicated to this era.

Macy Gray covers "Santa Baby." Now there are a lot of versions of "santa baby" out there-hers may not be the best but it is definitely very interesting.

I have only included a sample of the treats in this CD...I know it sounds cliche but if you only buy one CD (this week, this year etc) then make it this one.

I was actually pleasantly surprised by this soundtrack.

At first glance, the unusual suspects on the this soundtrack singing these classics may turn some people off. For instance, pop artistes such as Macy Gray, Mandy Moore and Celine Dion.

However, once you start listening, the magic of this recording unfolds. Most impressive was Mandy Moore's Secret Love. I'm not a great fan of teen pop but I was certainly very impressed by her rendition of this song - gentle, even and comes across as musical-esque.

The rest of the soundtrack is equally amazing. Celine Dion's Bewitched was flawless and Seal's Mona Lisa had a really nice 50s jazzy tone to it.

It's a pity though that some of the songs in the movie were left out in this soundtrack.

Take care of you

The "Mona Lisa Smile" soundtrack is really an
amazing achievement for its producer, Trevor Horn.
Although it features contemporary artists (with
the possible exception of Barbra Streisand, whose
career began in the 60s), it sounds for all the
world like a long-lost tape of a Top 40 radio show
recorded off the air one day in 1953.
This is American pop music as it was just before
rock-and-roll began its takeover of the Top 40
charts. In other words, it is
traditional "classic pop" with big-band
arrangements, including the usual string and
woodwind accompaniment. But the version of "Sh-Boom"
by the Trevor Horn orchestra is an augury of things
to come. Although done in a period style, it's still
an uptempo doo-wop song, with a (subdued)
rock-and-roll beat and a bouncy, danceable rhythm.
It is gratifying to find out that there are at
least a handful of contemporary pop stars (in this
era of widespread lip-synching) who actually have
vocal talent and can conform perfectly to the style of
the "classic pop" era. Contrary to my initial
expectations, none of them over-sing or try to show
off at all. Even the often-histrionic Celine Dion
just sings straight-ahead melody (to put it another
way, sings it the way it was written) on her faithful
rendition of Rodgers & Hart's "Bewitched, Bothered &
Bewildered"! Among the other performances, the
combination of the purity and clarity of Mandy Moore's
voice with the haunting, soaring melody of "Secret Love" is certainly one of the highlights. And I would add that Alison Krauss' angelic voice makes her version of Irving Berlin's
"What'll I Do" one of the most memorable on the
album as well.
But on the other hand, it makes me a bit sad to
realize how far downhill American pop songwriting
has gone in the past half-century. It just seems that
the vast majority of the songs on the radio today
simply aren't in the same league as the Duke
Ellington, Rodgers & Hart, and Irving Berlin
compositions on this CD. (To be fair, there is also a
new song by Elton John, "The Heart Of Every Girl",
which I do like.) As Moore said in a recent interview
with the Associated Press, "there's a lot of crap out
there - and I was part of it." I honestly don't think
I've ever been more in agreement with the words of a
19-year-old pop star!

I took a chance buying this CD without first listening to it. It was on sale, I was in a hurry...and it looked like it was going to be a good soundtrack. Well, it's far exceded my expectations! While you may look at the list of songs and think "this is my parents' (or grandparents') music," don't overlook this gem of a CD. It's today's artists who, while honoring the original renditions, add their own touch to these musical treasures. Team this CD with the "Love Actually" soundtrack and you've got a perfect holiday gift for a loved one...or yourself!

This album is perfectly charming. It features contemporary pop (if you can consider Tori Amos pop) stars singing inspired big-band era songs, and in almost every instance, pulling it off without a hitch. If you don't like Celine Dion, there's no way I can convince you, but she does better than not-make-you-want-to-vomit-with-sappiness in a very controlled version of "Bewitched" that showcases the song as much as her voice, and threatens the album's closer, Barbra Streisand. Like the movie, the album probably won't move you to tears, but you definitely won't be suffering buyer's remorse, either.

I didn't see the movie, but I heard Murder, He Says, sung by Tori Amos someplace else, and then learned it was on this album. Since I grew up in the 50s and adore all that music, I decided to give this album a try, although I usually don't like covers of MY original songs by new singers. But what a surprise! All these songs are great! I love Tori Amos' singing and the songs she does sound great here. As a contrast, I thought almost all the music done by current singers on the recent movie D'Lovely were pretty awful! They just threw those songs away. But this CD is great! Highly recommended for anyone who loves 50s music -- especially early 50s.