The special edition includes the soundtrack and dvd (with over 45 minutes run time)DVD Includes:
Film Art Gallery Concept Art Gallery Behind the Magic of Narnia - Featuring the Score with Harry Gregson-William The Story The Director Visual Effects Sets & Locations Models & Costumes Theatrical Trailer Music Inspired By the Film
Not to be confused with the collection Songs Inspired by the Chronicles of Narnia, this album is Harry Gregson-Williams' instrumental score for the movie. Marking the composer's third collaboration with director Andrew Adamson (after both Shrek movies), this score also is one of the more mature offerings from Gregson-Williams, best known for his work on family films. The music is lush and assured, if a bit predictable. Indeed, it fits squarely in the current style popular for big epics--even using (on a few tracks) the vocals of Lisbeth Scott, which fall halfway between those of Enya and the Cocteau Twins' Liz Fraser (both of whom, uncoincidentally, appeared on the Lords of the Rings soundtracks). The CD concludes with four songs, with Gregson-Williams cowriting "Where." On "Can't Take It In," Imogen Heap's vocal acrobatics eerily recall those of the Cranberries' Dolores O'Riordan, while Alanis Morissette's "Wunderkind" is an inspirational, almost girl-powerish track written from the point of view of the movie's Lucy. But the best of these songs is "Winter Light" by Tim Finn, four minutes of understated, piano-driven melancholia. Look for it tucked near the very end of the CD. The second disc in this special edition package is a DVD that includes galleries of film stills and concept art, a featurette about the recordings of the score and a making-of featurette. There's also a segment in which the (mostly) Christian bands involved in the Songs Inspired by... album talk about their contributions to that project. --Elisabeth Vincentelli
