La La Land: The Complete Musical Experience
by Various Artists

From EyeKanFly 08/17/2021 21:48 | #272604

This is a mostly a compilation of La La Land: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and La La Land: Original Motion Picture Score, with a few additional tracks from the film which featured neither on the Soundtrack nor the Score. The vast majority of the tracks are performed by Justin Hurwitz and/or the film's cast. The only exceptions are the tracks added to this compilation which not in the Soundtrack or Score: "Japanese Folk Song" by Thelonious Monk (which Sebastian plays at home), "Take on Me" and "I Ran" performed by D.A. Wallach (the singer of the new wave band which Sebastian plays keytar in at a party; I guess Wallach was technically part of the cast, but he's credited separately from others on these specific songs), and "Silent Night" performed by Eddie Wakes (quite honestly I have no recollection of when this plays in the film, I don't believe it plays during the credits as the track listing would indicate).

Other than the huge obvious problems with the "white guy saves jazz" trope and the issues that come from Hollywood self-congratulating itself and glamorizing the acting and film making processes, this actually turned out to be an incredible movie in my book. Amazing music, stunning visuals, excellently choreographed dance sequences, and solid acting from Gosling, Stone, and even from the lesser-featured actors/actresses like John Legend, J.K. Simmons, and Callie Hernandez, Sonoya Mizuno, and Jessica Rothe (Mia's roommates who sing most of "Someone in the Crowd").

Usually I'm not a fan of musicals which use songs and dance sequences as filler (every musical does this, even the greats like West Side Story and Sound of Music have songs that could easily be removed without impacting the plot of the play/film whatsoever). And in La La Land, other than over-indulgent opening track, every single track advances the story narrative in some way (I guess with the exception of "Silent Night", which again, I can't recall actually being in the film).