Review: A Musical History of Disneyland
Page 5 of 6

Disc 4

Track 1 - It's a Small World
This track starts with the classic tick-tock sound effect of the "happy clock" clock tower.  The entire parade of dolls music is featured complete with fanfare and gongs ringing in 5:45 (Why? Anbody have a guess?).  After the gongs, the track inexplicably goes into the single version of It's a Small World.  A rather odd choice considering it doesn't play at the park, but it does provide a nice boisterous fanfare into the attraction audio.  The mix of the various arrangements of It's a Small World is quite good, utilizing almost all of the most distinct arrangements.  In a strange move, very little of the jazzy African version is heard on this disc, but you can hear the complete version on the 2 disc version of the Official Album.  Also for some reason vocals have been put in the South Pacific room.  I think this is a mistake because I've always thought of this as a "drum-break" before the big finale.  Overall, a great compilation of the many versions of It's a Small World which thankfully doesn't get too repetitive.

Fantasyland is both awesome and exasperating.  Both the Fantasyland Dark Ride Suite and It's a Small World tracks come so close to being perfect for me that when they fall a bit short it's *beyond frustrating. * Overall though a spectacular effort that is near perfect.

Track 2 - The Sounds of Toontown
A chaotic mix of sound effects that sounds completely out-of-control.  Awesome!

Track 3 - Steamboat Willie (Mickey's Toontown area music)
A nice instrumental selection from the Mickey's Toontown area music, which has always been one of my favorite park loops.

Track 4 - Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin
If you've bought previous official albums, this track will be familiar, but this is extended from that mix.  An instrumental ride-thru the attraction that is really fun to listen to.  The jazz arrangements make this attraction's soundtrack really stand out.

Tomorrowland

Track 5 - 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Medley (Space  Mountain Concourse)
While credited as the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea exhibit, the music played most prominently in the outside queue of Space Mountain.  Other people may recognize it as the Tomorrowland toilet music from the downstairs restrooms by the Starcade.  In any case, the music pays tribute to the exhibit and features great arrangements from the score of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.  As a lover of the Space Mountain Concourse music it's a joy to listen to this in such high quality.

Track 6 - America the Beautiful
The complete underscore of the 1967 Circle-Vision film America the Beautiful.  The music written by musical genius Buddy Baker is a previously undiscovered jewel of attraction music.  Of all the tracks gathered for this compilation, I'm the most grateful for this one.  It's something I never would have chosen to be included but it does represent a great moment of Disneyland music.

Track 7 - Monorail Song
A recording of a monorail horn blends into the classic Monorail Song.  While rarely used in the parks, this song was the often-used underscore of Monorail shots in television specials.  While I think I'm starting to sound like a broken record (no pun intended) this track again sounds simply amazing.

Track 8 - Adventures Thru Inner Space
Of all the tracks on this compilation, this one is probably the most easily comparable to similar unprofessional ride-thrus available around the Internet.  Of course, the quality can't compare at all to this effort.  The sometimes exciting and sometimes spooky audio features a very trippy narration from Paul Frees.

Track 9 - Miracles from Molecules (Adventures Thru  Inner Space)
The mix makes this song so much richer than I've ever heard it before.  The classic Sherman Brothers ditty that will get stuck in your head (don't they all?) is one of my favorite Disneyland songs.

Track 10 - Star Tours
Another track that will be familiar if you've bought recent official albums.  The track starts with background score from the corny Tatooine infomercial played in the queue, then it jumps to the underscore of the attraction itself.  The score is primarily re-orchestrated score from John William's work for the Star Wars films.  Some narration is sprinkled in to add to the mix.

Track 11 - Carousel of Progress
The full attraction is represented here, even the inspiring overture that accompanied the kaleidoscopic beginning.  There's something inherently classic about the Carousel of Progress (maybe it's the optimistic views of the future, the somewhat dated gender roles, the Rex Allen narration or the charming theme song courtesy of the Sherman Brothers).  While I never had the pleasure of watching the show live, I do have many memories of the television show I watched repeatedly about the Carousel of Progress.

Track 12 - Progress City
"Please keep moving, don't stand in the way of progress."  I guess cheesy-themed phrasing dates back a while.  Kidding aside, this track gives listeners a glimpse into Walt Disney's original idea for EPCOT.

Disc 5

Track 1 - A Nation on the Move
Another piece of music rarely (if ever) heard at the parks, but used for underscore for shots of moving vehicles and in particular the People Mover attraction.  Often mistaken for part of the Monorail Song.

Track 2 - Flight to the Moon
The complete attraction audio including the "mission control" pre-show.  I'm not entirely sure, but I had thought that the show used a live performer to interact with the Audio-Animatronic figure.  That's the way that Mission to Mars worked.  On this track there is a voice interacting with the show that sounds a lot like Miss Disneyland Tencennial, the first Disneyland ambassador.

Track 3 - America Sings
The best Audio-Animatronic show, in my opinion, owes much of it's success to the wonderful Buddy Baker musical arrangements of the classic melodies.  The entire show is featured here including one my favorites, the high-energy jazz rendition of Stars and Stripes Forever. I do have a small complaint about the track, though unfortunately.  Instead of using the country version of Who Shot the Hole in My Sombrero that was heard for almost the entire run of the attraction, an alternative Mexican take was placed in.  While I guess from a historical standpoint it's nice to have the "controversial" version, I grew up listening to the LP over and over so it gets very jarring when a foreign recording pops up.

Track 4 - Submarine Voyage thru Liquid Space
Wow does this track sound great.  While this narration has been previously available through Disneyland Forever, the quality has been greatly improved.  Sound effects littered throughout really give a "you are there" feel.