Album Review: Almost Alice

Posted On: February 19, 2010
Posted By: odeisel
Comments: 2

By shelz.

Alice In Wonderland will be in theaters next month and the overwhelming whining, crying, gnashing of teeth and shaking of angry, jaded fists has begun. Tim Burton is at the helm and has dragged his musical partner in crime, Danny Elfman along for the ride. The problem? The ride appears to be an American Adventure special instead of the dark adult only fun house many of his fans were hoping for.

Of course I haven’t seen the film yet, but I have heard the LP of songs that were “inspired by the film,” Almost Alice and it’s quite obvious that the target audience for this album is a group who still has curfews and thinks Abercrombie and Fitch is a club. Needless to say, Burton’s grown flock ‘o fans are not pleased.

I’m sure you weren’t thinking that Hip-Hop had the only fan base that spends more time complaining about what they don’t like than listening to and supporting what they do. No, mes amis, to the ultimate contrary, Rock has been around eons longer; giving its mature set of fans years more to seethe about change and simmer in their own stew of perceived disenfranchisement. So when someone like Burton decides to put a fancy, tweenaged, glitter-filled coating all over the music from his upcoming film, the torches and pitchforks come out.

A cursory scan of the artists selected for the project lets you know exactly what’s up without even listening to the music. Plain White T’s, Owl City, Tokio Hotel and All-American Rejects, among many more like-artists, are handling the sonic duties. Even though plenty of folks refer to this subset of “rockers” as punk-pop, it carries the edge of a butter knife. There are songs from Franz Ferdinand and Robert Smith. However, they hardly provide the necessary balance to relieve the agitation of the fans who wanted this film and soundtrack to be all dark and punkish and honestly, the Robert Smith song “Very Good Advice” sounds like a Christmas carol on LSD.

The lead single duties were handed over to Avril Lavigne, an artist who isn’t even sitting too pretty with her own demographic these days. “Alice” starts with whimsical, dramatic strings that do sound like they pulled their inspiration from the film. However, that’s when the good time ends as Ms. Lavigne spends a good portion of this song screaming way past her comfort zone.

Also of note, is Tokio Hotel’s “Strange” featuring Kerli (who? Kerli) that is reminiscent of The Cranberries “Zombie” in some of its construction. Even though it’s soft serve compared to its predecessor, that bit of reverence saves the tune. Well, that’s if you like the Cranberries. Kerli isn’t Delores O’Riordan, but you can’t have everything.

Kerli returns a few tracks later with “Tea Party,” the worst track on the album. It’s probably supposed to be a club-like song, of course carrying the fancy of the musical ad libs and sound effects that tie many of these songs to the Alice in Wonderland theme. Think Ke$ha without the personality (yes she raps on this song) and you won’t even have to listen.

Franz Ferdinand follows up with “Lobster Quadrille,” a song that is closest to what the fans were looking for in this soundtrack. Franz’ delivery is eerie in its calmness and the song is simple with very few frills. I don’t really care for it, but I’m sure his folks will dig it. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals close it down with their take on Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” and it’s a sound attempt. Potter does her best Grace Slick impersonation over the updated track, but its haunting smudges of guitar and dark effects make it a clean cover.

The bottom line? Alice In Wonderland is only rated PG because of a smoking caterpillar, so this was to be expected. Everyone who is disappointed in Almost Alice should turn their frown upside down. This may be a way to usher your little ones from Kids Bop to something more substantial. You can’t take them from Justin Bieber to The Who in the blink of an eye. The Superbowl proved that. However, this could be a gateway to bigger and better things. Before you know it, they might just sit down with you and dust off the Dusty Springfield. Stranger things have happened.

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