Music Review: The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement Soundtrack
What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that this soundtrack is just plain fun,
once you get past the first three incredibly drippy tracks.
Julie Andrews holds her own, and then some, in a duet with
Raven.
Families can talk about the differences between enduring music
legends and manufactured ones.
THE PRINCESS DIARIES 2: THE ROYAL ENGAGEMENT begins with the extremely tedious "Breakaway" by Kelly Clarkson, a get-me-out-of-here song that manages to be simultaneously dull and so emotionally overwrought that it almost sounds like a parody of itself. Next is the repetitive yet pretentious Lindsay Lohan ditty "I Decide," followed by Raven's big yawn of an attempt at a girl-power anthem, "This Is My Time." But by track four, things start looking up with Avril Lavigne's "I Always Get What I Want" followed by Pink's "Trouble." Other high points are Norah Jones' achingly delicate version of "Love Me Tender," an adorable Wilson-Phillips cover of the Beach Boys' "Dance, Dance, Dance," and a Julie Andrews-Raven duet that is wonderful partly for its downright quirkiness and partly because it shows off what this particular grand old broad can do, even after well-publicized throat problems.
Lose the incredibly overrated first three tracks (well performed but so badly written it doesn't matter), and you have a delightful party record that's just plain fun--and better than most soundtrack compilations. Ms. Andrews comes across as a total sweetheart and a total trouper, and it sounds like she's having a blast showing the girls a thing or two.
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