Music Review: The Cheetah Girls One World Soundtrack
What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that this soundtrack is a dance album
with some good themes about friendship and being strong that
stays within the usual tame Disney musical conventions. Several
of the songs ("Cheetah Love" and "I'm the One"), however, might
make girls feel that they need to be like the Cheetah Girls in
order to be cool. In these songs, the Girls discuss how great
it is to be them -- from having great friends to knowing hip
dance moves.
Families can talk about the power of Disney. Do you think the
movie and soundtrack would do well without the Disney marketing
push behind it? Also, how does this soundtrack compare to other
Disney soundtracks, such as
Camp
Rock
and
High
School Musical
? What do the albums have in common and what's different?
Do you think there is a reason why they're similar? Do
audiences expect a certain type of soundtrack from Disney, or
does Disney set the pop musical standard today?
The Cheetah Girls have been part of tween pop culture for five years now -- long enough for a new generation of tweens to replace their original fans. It makes sense, then, that the singing and acting trio would want to mix things up a bit. For their third film and accompanying soundtrack, THE CHEETAH GIRLS ONE WORLD, the girls travel across the globe to India for an international experience. The unmistakable Bollywood sound finds its way onto this album mixed in with hip-hop dance numbers and light pop/R&B ballads.
The Cheetah Girls make a roaring start on this album, moving quickly from one fast-paced song to the next. "Cheetah Love" is a fun, funky song about girlfriends, "Dig a Little Deeper" is sassy and groovy with an energizing message about motivation ("Try a little harder/move a little faster"), and "Dance Me If You Can" could be straight from a big production Bollywood dance scene. But then around the sixth track, things begin to slow down and become redundant with nondescript R&B rhythms and harmonic deliveries making it difficult to stay interested as the songs start to blend together. Disney should, however, get credit for introducing young kids to the Indian pop music sound -- even if a little more Bollywood would have been a welcomed inclusion.
The Jonas Brothers'
A
Little Bit Longer
the Clique Girlz
self-titled
EP
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