WHO ARE THEY? Beyonce, Donald Glover, Seth Rogan, Billy Eichner, John Oliver, Chiwetel Ejofor and the rest of the A-list cast from Disney’s new live-action update of the animated classic about a lion cub’s quest for the throne.
WHAT IS THIS? A split-personality soundtrack and score that blends lighthearted vocal numbers — including Hakuna Matata, The Lion Sleeps Tonight and Can You Feel the Love Tonight — with orchestral fare from Hans Zimmer.
WHAT DOES IT SOUND LIKE? Disney’s latest cash-grab. With only a handful of vocal tracks, there’s not enough here to keep most listeners — especially the youngsters — from reaching for the skip button.
WHAT WOULD BE A BETTER TITLE FOR THIS ALBUM? Bungle in the Jungle.
HOW SHOULD I LISTEN TO IT? With your kids, obviously. Anything else would be way too weird.
WHAT 10 WORDS DESCRIBE IT? Colourful, family-friendly, lush, sweeping, silly, two-sided, inconsistent, unnecessary, grand, extravagant.
WHAT ARE THE BEST SONGS? Beyonce’s uplifting gospel stirrer Spirit is far and away the most compelling cut here. But even it can’t make up for the … um, unique vocal stylings of Oliver, Rogan and Eichner.
WHAT WILL MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY SAY? ‘Aren’t you a little old for cartoons?’
HOW OFTEN WILL I LISTEN TO THIS? As often as your kids demand it — but unless they’re classical music buffs, that won’t be too often.
IF THIS ALBUM WERE A TV SHOW, WHAT KIND OF TV SHOW WOULD IT BE? One of those what-were-they-thinking American reboots of a British sitcom.
SHOULD I BUY, STREAM OR STEAL? None — wait a week until Beyonce releases her own tie-in album, the African-influenced The Lion King: The Gift, which will apparently also feature Spirit.
