Okay wait! Before you dismiss a direct-to-video disney release, hear me out! Jeanine Tesori, composer of Fun Home / Shrek / Thouroughly Modern Millie / Caroline or Change, working with Lea Salonga(!), Judy Kuhn(!), and Hayley Westerna, with the moderate-to-high-quality disney production value. The album itself is okay, but it has 3 tracks that are worth listening to. These small gems are tucked away in the niche music catalog of direct-to-video film soundtracks. The lyrics are certainly indicative of a children’s film, but the melodies are complex, captivating and, at moments, soaringly beautiful. The music itself listens to like a broad, beautiful, landscape painting, with wide reaching musical architecture and smart and deliberate structure.

(1) Track #1 Lesson Number One. “Earth. Sky. Day. Night.” The intro draws you in fairly quickly and the first verse sets a pretty high bar in terms of captivating melodies. The architecture of the song is theatrical and keeps you on the edge of your listening seat. Structurally, there’s a high velocity feel moving toward the bridges and there are plenty of key changes to keep one engaged. The bridge and chorus meet the verses in quality level. The ending has a nice canon between the children and adults with equally nice harmonies sung by Salonga.

(2) Track #3 Like Other Girls.

This number is decent. There is some awkward and questionable asian-mocking-asian accents situation going on at one point, which serves as a distraction from the actual music, and dates this album quite a bit, but Judy Kuhn singing Jeanine Teori is worth listening to.

(3) Track #5 Here Beside Me

And then suddenly… an unexpected opera aria? Clear out of left field, classical crossover singer Hayley Westenra sings an intense, melodic, soaring-through-the-clouds, beautiful number. This song showcases Tesori’s ability to write music that hits the heart directly.

I wouldn’t consider this album to be essential in a collection. But for fans of Tesori’s work, fans of Disney productions, and/or fans of Salonga/Kuhn, this album, especially the latter of the songs listed above, is 100% worth listening to.