Yes, we already pointed out, ‘Sweeney Todd’ obsessives on YouTube are posting songs from the film (“My Friends” and “Johanna”), but we figured some of you might want more (we’re really not sure why though).
As previously reported, the soundtrack is due December 18 and the gothy, macabre musical hit theaters December 21. In our not so humble opinions, Tim Burton hasn’t put out a decent movie since the very excellent “Ed Wood,” and the recent collaborations with Johnny Depp haven’t been very worthy either, but critics are loving this thing without a doubt.
On the collated critics site, Rotten Tomatoes, “Sweeney Todd: The Barber of Fleet Street” currently rests at a whopping 100%; that’s nothing but unanimous praise. As more reviews trickle in – the film is still almost 2 weeks off – the ratings will inevitably change, but this is still a great score so far.
Some critics if the film is too bloody to earn Oscar nods, but the L.A. critics especially have been considering it a big Oscar contender (despite the fact, it’s been met with very few awards so far; though anything is possible at the Oscars, and while they’re not original songs, one would assume it has musical shots at Oscar gold).
Aside from the aforementioned YouTube clips/songs, you can hear a higher quality “My Friends” at Nonesuch records.
New York magazine recently spoke to Burton and Depp. Some excerpts below:
What’s going to piss off die-hard fans the most?
Burton: Cutting “The Ballad of Sweeney Todd.” Before I first talked to Sondheim, somebody told me that was the whole reason he wrote the show.
You’ve also called this your punk Sweeney.
Depp: If there was anybody in terms of inspiration for my sound, it was Anthony Newley [the Broadway vet]. And Iggy Pop, you know? Iggy’s kind of this very aggressive crooner. Especially in the early stuff, there’s something about his attack that’s haunting.
As for the tracks from the ‘Sweeney Todd’ soundtrack below, Sasha Baron Cohen sings, “The Contest” and Depp and some others from the film sing “Epiphany.” Their kind of involved melodies and not really our thing, but whateves, someone has to care. Be forewarned, there’s a lot of dreaded dialogue in this soundtrack disc.
