Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade [Import, Soundtrack]

Disney | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 6, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import, Soundtrack
• Label: Avex Trax Japan
• ASIN: B00005J4SR
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #267,751 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #58 in Music > Imports > Children's Music

Track Listings

1. Tokyo Disneyland@electrical Parade: Dreamlights

2. Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade (1985-1995)

Editorial Reviews

CD MINI ALBUM

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Make it stooooop!!!, December 22, 2005

By 

GuessHoo57 "RiiVooMee57" (Kelmar1) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade (Audio CD)

I've been a big fan of the music from "Electric Light Parade" since I first went to Disneyland in 1976. The parade wasn't playing but I bought a small picture disc of the parade, on vinyl, for 50 cents anyway. The music that came out of that small record changed my life and has never stopped entertaining me. I have several versions of it, including the original "Baroque Hoedown" that Perrey/Kingsley recorded. I worked the actual parade in the 80's and even though I heard it every night, twice a night, for months, I never got tired of it. There were always new subtle changes to the floats with new musical "stages" and I'm always looking for recordings of them. I know this music by heart, and love it.

I recently sampled a small snippet from the parade as it plays in Tokyo. I'd heard it was slightly different, and was pleased to hear it sounded like a welcome variation. I got this CD immediately.

I'm sure that in the context of the actual parade it works, but I was disappointed with the music. After a promising opening--new instruments, arrangement and a beat-driven version of the "Hoedown," the underlying "baroque" was lost altogether. One of my favorite aspects of the original version is that everything is tied to the original "hoedown" theme, there are layers and layers of depth, all syncopated. Here that disappears, each new theme comes in solo.

But even that would've been acceptable. The real offense here, and the reason I probably won't listen to this much: about 1/3 of the way into the 20 minute running time the electronic sounds disappear and are replaced by all that orchestral bombast that made the score to "Fantasmic" so easy to hate. Disney music became increasingly schmaltzy in the 90's and so did their scores for park attractions, and this is no exception. It just gets louder and more bland as it goes, until I was crying "uncle!" to make it stop. Finally the electronic themes resume at the end, but it's too late--even the wonderful "Electric Light Parade," that last bastion of old-school Disney charm, has succumbed. I can just see the formal-suited execs sitting around a big table, trying hard to squelch anything that's remotely interesting or creative in the Disney output machine, replacing everything with sterile, sentimental, emotionless, "by-the-books" pablum for bored, slightly feeble-minded, ritalin-challenged 4 year olds and the parents that have to entertain them. A real disappointment.

I doubt anyone will come across this and read it but felt compelled to write this as a formal "Buyer beware." This is NOT an iprovement, it's an unwelcome change. I gave it 3 stars, however, because track 2 is a more traditional form of the parade with a few incredibly subtle changes I've never heard on any other recording and a new stage, "Swan Lake" that was unremarkable but nice for a completist like myself.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade Soundtrack, September 18, 2001

By 

Steven D. Boutet (Saco, ME USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade (Audio CD)

Having loved the original Main Street Electrical Parade at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World and their soundtracks, I was intrigued by Tokyo Disneys plan to update the classic. How would the look of the parade change, but most of all, would they dare tinker with the soundtrack? Well tinker they did. While the original "Baroque Hoedown" remains intact but with advanced digital keyboard sounds, the overlying themes throughout the soundtrack have been updated with full orchestrations. The "Small World" finale is great. If the updated look of the parade matches the updated sound, it's time for this Disney fan to start saving for a trip to Tokyo to see and hear it in person. I almost forgot, the second track of the cd is the original soundtrack, so you can compare the old and the new.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Very Advanced Version of the Original, But NOT a Clone, August 16, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade (Audio CD)

Dreamlights is such a magical parade, probably because of the nostalgia from the original, and that nostalgia is very much presented in the music. However, if you are expecting the same musical lineup you are going to be let down. There is a lot of stuff from the original mixed in there but most of it is completely new. It's still really great to listen to and you really feel like you are there because they include all of the dialog from the parade on the track. A word of warning though, this is a JAPANESE CD, which means that there are several parts of dialog that are completely in Japanese. That doesn't hurt it though because it's still a great listen!