Music Review: VeggieTunes 4 by VeggieTales

Stars: 3 out of 5
Pros: "Hope's Song"
Cons: Most songs too short and not that good out of context
The Bottom Line:
Most songs are too short

And not fun out of context

"Hope's Song" is worth it

Most of These Songs Don't Work Outside the DVD

It used to be that after every few DVD's, VeggieTales would release a CD with songs from those episodes.  They stopped not too long after VeggieTunes 4 came out.  And it might give us an idea why.

This CD contains songs from The Ballad of Little Joe, A Snoodle's Tale, and An Easter Carol.  I got it for one particular song, and I'm glad I have it.  But it's not something I would sit down and listen to all the way through.

The Ballad of Little Joe recasts the story of Joseph from the Bible in an old Western setting.  As you can imagine, the songs from that story are very country.  You've got the French Peas singing "Happy Ki-Yi Birthday," or the ballads as Joe shares his "Dream of a Dozen Cactus."  I really like the feel of the "Oh Little Joe" songs (they've got three reprises).  They use an old timey piano sound that makes it feel like the soundtrack to a silent movie.  Surprisingly, they don't include the silly song from this DVD ("Belly Button" in case you are keeping track).  None of these songs are over 1:10.  And while there is a bit of humor to them, they just aren't as fun outside of the context of the story.

A Snoodle's Tale didn't have too many songs, so it doesn't take up too much time on the disc.  The only Silly Song is from this episode.  "Sports Utility Vehicle" mocks all of us who drive SUV's around town.  Yes, there are some pretty funny jabs, but I doubt that pre-school kids, the intended audience, will get them.  The other two songs are "I Want to Dance" and the reprise.  And frankly, again, the songs don't work that well outside the story.  Although the soaring melody of the first one and the disco reprise make them a little more fun.

The songs that actually do work are the ones from An Easter Carol.  "Another Easter Day" starts with some beautiful instrumentals before the singing vegetables come in and introduce the setting.  It feels like the opening number of a musical.  "113 Years Ago" is filled with lots of story points.  It starts out rather simple with piano at the forefront, but the orchestra takes over as the drama amps up near the end.  For pure fun, "You Didn't Listen Ebenezer," the vision Nezzer has about the upcoming visit to set him straight, is filled with lines that make me laugh.  "Boids" is mostly talking with percussion behind the characters.  It reminds me of the opening song from The Music Man.

But the song I bought the disc for is "Hope's Song."  As far as I know, this is the only place to get the original recording as sung by Rebecca St. James, who voiced the character who sang the song in that video.  There's no talking, just Rebecca's great vocals backed by a beautiful orchestra.  It's a powerful song with a simple Gospel message in it.  And it was worth getting the disc so I could have the song.

Of course, the disc starts with the VeggieTales theme song, which I had elsewhere.  It does end with a slightly different version of the "What We Have Learned" song.  This time, it's the Western version from the end of the Little Joe episode.

Even though there are 19 tracks, it's less than 32 minutes long.  That's because so many of the tracks are really brief.

And I guess it's those short tracks that irritate me so much here.  I'm just beginning to get into the song, and then it's over.  Of course, I'm not the target audience, and kids might enjoy it more than I do.

So maybe it was a good thing that they stopped the VeggieTunes series after volume 4 came out.  Outside of "Hope's Song," I know it won't get much play in my CD players.