The Road to El Dorado

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

What bugs me is simply the cover of this particular soundtrack. Elton John's The Road to El Dorado. What on earth has he got to do with this movie? We can all say loud and clear the music for the movie but it feels like he created the whole thing, and like he was the only one performing the entire piece of music alone. I can accept and acknowledge that he is a part of music fame and that he writes good songs but nowhere near the front cover do we read the names of the composers Hans Zimmer and John Powell, a major part for movie fans and probably a lot of people simply didn't bother anymore to purchase the soundtrack. A true shame because the movie music of both Hans Zimmer and John Powell is far more earth shattering then a lot of the songs found on the disc. People see them as action composers with always the same style. Of course this will not change when scores like these simply cannot bring the versatility they so good deliver in movies such as The Road to El Dorado. First of all, there are indeed score tracks to be found on this release, it will probably be the only thing we will ever hear of the score of both Zimmer and Powell. Elton John was asked onboard to compose and perform the songs, he did rightfully do this, he performed the seven songs found or heard during the movie's course and thought he would be the nicest man on earth if they would simply throw a bunch more on this disc. Yes, simply for allowing the fans something to hear our little genius composed and wrote 5 extra songs. Thank you mister Elton John, there goes the possible extra material for score fans to hear.

I must say that the songs composed for the movie are the best 'El Dorado', 'Someday out of the Blue' and 'Friends never Say Goodbye' are my favorites, but without knowing I thought 7, 9, 10 and 11 were far more boring, and it proves that these never should have been released. They miss the inspiration and destroy movie fans' patience. The only score found on The Road to El Dorado consists of 13 minutes and offers us nice guitar solos of Heitor Pereira (those that loved them in Mission: Impossible 2 will do so again) and "one" amazing main theme. Powell gets the credit in the last track but I'm sure both composers had something to say in the construction. Nonetheless people are missing a true winner of a theme. This is simply what happens, the few minutes of material that do deserve the attention isn't heard because people aren't willing to waste money on such little score. And then those idiots of consumer companies ask why there are so many black market bootlegs out there. Simple, we want to hear good music and we will do whatever the cost to get what we wanted in the first place. While both Zimmer's pieces are extremely comfortable as background source, it is the main theme in 'Wonders of the New World' that will vaporize Elton John's personal labor in this soundtrack.

I simply would ask companies to give the people what they want. This is the third time I receive little material of score for an animated movie. And if I'm not mistaken both The Lion King and The Prince of Egypt offered stunning movie music. Chicken Run and Antz received their attention and people simply quoted them the best scores of their year. The Road to El Dorado will surely offer another pack of excellent stuff and with such a main theme it wouldn't be a surprise. Elton John performed several good cues, but he should have stopped where the line was drawn. "They invited you Elton, do another stunt like that and who knows if they would dare to invite you again." Because people like the fans of the movie, who liked the movie music and personal fans of both Zimmer, Powell and those that want good movie music are being ripped of a winning and successful movie score. So, if people have any questions why I have so many bootlegs, ask our dear friend Elton John among others.

The Road to El Dorado "Bootleg"

What was lacking before in animated scores is lacking again, a full picture of the music of the movie. In The Prince of Egypt, there were key scenes missing, The Lion King was more missing music than not and The Road to El Dorado actually brought music, of which half wasn't used at all in the film. And that particular annoyance cost someone's credit because John Powell and Hans Zimmer therefore didn't got the opportunity to get more music released. Still, they somehow did even though I'm sure they had nothing to do with it, the bootleg here is covering not much new (2 score tracks) and still several key tracks missing, but things simply glue together better then in the original and making so The Road to El Dorado "Bootleg" a better buy then the original soundtrack. Why exactly is because first of all the songs heard in the movie are also presented on this disc, and not those extra solely composed for Elton John's pleasure. Don't get me wrong, I like Elton John as an artist and his songs here are good to even great, but if you compose music not heard in a movie, why call it "Music from the original Motion Picture", and doing so neglecting to get the music of which is used in the picture to surface on disc instead. So, the songs bring a more cohesive whole, but also because they receive much stronger orchestral play. I mean the oomph during 'El Dorado' and 'It's Tough to be A God' is excellent. And 'The Trail we Blaze' is just a more brilliant song because of the orchestral trumpets which literally blaze. More the songs are fitted to the movie's length (so they don't last their full length) and the rest of that air time occasionally has the music of Zimmer and Powell in it, closing the tracks as they begun, with film music.

So the songs are better because of their exact playing time and original form but secondly the score because of that improves in its diversity. I always thought a bit that Zimmer's part was background but not directly intriguing but here, due to the missing songs, the score becomes much more alive. 'Cheldorado' and 'We are Safe' form together the original first score track of the original soundtrack but also listen better because they receive more prominent attention. 'The Ball Game' (the third part of the last track on the original) is without knowing greatly improved, because it contains blasts of trumpets not often heard before in Zimmer's career, perhaps with Powell a bit more. And as always the wonderful 'To Shilbaba' with its wonderful choral part and the brilliant main theme (appearing only once) in 'Save El Dorado' is enough to get the blood boiling. Of the newly composed material, we've got spunky guitar music (which listens like a mix between The Mask of Zorro and Muppet Treasure Island) bringing fun in 'Spain 1519 / Tulio & Miguel', before ending with a short statement of the Shilbaba theme and 'The Gods are Here' is covering dark choral moments for the god's entrance and again the Shilbaba theme. Its perhaps not exactly the music I was hoping for but it listens better and it makes the other music listen better because they are in context and more, because they show diversity, something the original couldn't directly bring because of its mixing or lack of spunk.

And finally you also start to remember what is actually missing. And sadly missing is the entrance music for El Dorado which is choral majesty covering an orchestral version of the song El Dorado. This along with more statements of the main theme could have made this album even forget you owned the original. It could have been placed on the bootleg without much problems since the time is only counting 38 minutes, but hey its not on here. The sound quality is at times riveting and shows again the true class of Media Ventures scores, giving you an edge for the oomph that follows. Basically this bootleg does what the original lacked, which is bring a more cohesive, fun and enjoyable presentation of the original music composed for the film. We don't need songs not appearing in the film, and we could have wanted more score material itself, but The Road to El Dorado "Bootleg" is better to listen to because it simply is better to stand. Many people will have bored their way through the second part of Elton John's songs and so forgot the small impact of Zimmer's two cues. They only needed a wake up call of the main theme and the original composed music of the film to get back to earth. Proving that songs and score do mix if you simply know how to present them.

The Road to El Dorado: *** Score: *** Songs: ***
The Road to El Dorado "Bootleg": ***1/2 Score: ***1/2 Songs: ***1/2

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. El Dorado: Elton John (4.22)

2. Someday Out Of The Blue: Elton John (4.47) Excellent Track

3. Without Question: Elton John (4.47)

4. Friends Never Say Goodbye: Elton John (4.20)

5. The Trail We Blaze: Elton John (3.53)

6. 16th Century Man: Elton John (3.40)

7. The Panic In Me: Elton John (5.40)

8. It's Tough To Be God: Elton John and Randy Newman (3.49)

9. Trust Me: Elton John (4.46)

10. My Heart Dances: Elton John (4.51)

11. Queen Of Cities: Elton John (3.57)

12. Cheldorado * (4.26)

13. The Brig * (2.58)

14. Wonders Of The New World ** (5.56) Excellent Track

* Composed by Hans Zimmer

** Composed by John Powell

Total Length: 62.16

The Road to El Dorado "Bootleg"

1. El Dorado: Elton John (1.35)

2. Spain 1519 / Tulio & Miguel + (2.54)

3. The Brig / Altivo (2.58)

4. We Are Safe (1.07)

5. The Trail We Blaze: Elton John (3.09) Excellent Track

6. The Gods Are Here + (3.24)

7. Cheldorado * (3.20)

8. It's Tough To Be A God ** (2.35)

9. To Shilbaba (1.55) Excellent Track

10. Without Question: Elton John (2.27)

11. The Ball Game (1.46)

12. Friends Never Say Goodbye: Elton John (3.11)

13. Save El Dorado (2.12) Excellent Track

14. Someday Out Of The Blue: Elton John (4.48) Excellent Track

* Performed by Heitor Pereira

** Performed by Kenneth Branagh & Kevin Kline

+ Previously Unreleased

Total Length: 37.33

The use of artwork or photos is posted for non profitable reasons

=== Link to Composer Sites: Hans Zimmer & John Powell ===