Best of the Muppets featuring The Muppets' Wizard of Oz
Common Sense Note
It might be fun to listen to Ashanti singing these "Wizard of Oz" tunes, then play the Judy Garland classics for your kids and ask them to compare the styles, lyrics, and musicianship. What makes a song sound "old" or "new"?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Kathi Kamen Goldmark
Lilly Tomlin was once quoted as saying that the hardest thing about appearing as a guest on The Muppet Show was that you couldn't go out for coffee with the cast afterwards. Ashanti might have felt the same way after turning in her delightful performance on "When I'm With You," singing gamely along with Kermit, Gonzo, Fozzie, and Pepe. She makes it work, sounding like she's one of the gang. Her two other songs, "Kansas" and "Good Life," feel more like classic R&B ballads and show off Ashanti's voice to its best advantage. Allowed to drop her usual heavy breathing and sexual innuendo, she sounds lovely. Miss Piggy is brilliantly cast as Guess Who? in "The Witch Is in the House" and it turns out that Muppets can do perfect Munchkin vocals.
But only six "Wizard of Oz" songs on a CD promoted as a soundtrack album seems like a bit of a rip-off. Nine additional tracks of obvious filler are Muppet-ly delightful enough, but cause the project to teeter on the edge of false advertising. We've heard most of these classics before, including "(It's Not Easy) Being Green," "The Muppet Show Theme," and "Rainbow Connection," how many times? The all-out highlight in the second section is "What Now My Love?" in which Miss Piggy gives Dame Edna an emotive run for her money. Imagine those two going out for coffee...
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