Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street Deluxe - Complete Edition

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Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.com
Stephen Sondheim's Grand-Guignol blend of opera and musical theater is a perfect match for director Tim Burton's gothic sensibility. The result of their encounter is a superb screen musical that, despite early fears from the show's fans, preserves most of the score ("The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" being the most egregious loss) and, perhaps even more importantly, its spirit (regular Sondheim orchestrator Jonathan Tunick did the new arrangements). And yes, Johnny Depp can sing. Granted, singing in a movie is easier than it is onstage, but still, Depp is at ease with the material, if a little thin-voiced. Helena Bonham Carter is a bit more problematic as Mrs. Lovett (there's a reason this character has been played by the likes of Angela Lansbury and Patti LuPone on stage) and her take on "The Worst Pies in London" tries hard but lacks gleeful gusto (she fares better on "By the Sea"). More convincing are Sacha Baron Cohen, appropriately outlandish as Pirelli ("The Contest"), Jayne Wisener as Johanna ("Green Finch and Linnet Bird"), and Alan Rickman as Judge Turpin (a good duet with Depp on "Pretty Women"). Sondheim fans won't be disappointed, and the film should also bring new converts into his world. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Product Description
This Deluxe Complete Edition of the Sweeney Todd film soundtrack contains the complete music from the film. It is specially-packaged with an 80-page bound booklet, with lyrics and photographs.

Customer Reviews: Read 117 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

3 Stars for the Soundtrack, an Extra Star for the Immortal Score December 19, 2007
73 out of 101 found this review helpful

The just released soundtrack to the film version of "Sweeney Todd" is a rather thin voiced though richly orchestrated version of the classic musical. Whether or not you care for the work of Stephen Sondheim is a matter of taste. The virtues of "Sweeney Todd" have been discussed for thirty years, so let's just cut (pun intended) to the chase. While not a disservice to this seminal piece, the new soundtrack falls far short of other recordings due to some jarring vocal miscasting. Johnny Depp has a fair baritone, and what his voice lacks in professional training is made up for by his intense protrayal. He really ACTS the role in the songs. He's also the first recorded "Sweeney" to speak with an English accent and it works. While a bit thin at the top of his register, Depp sounds just fine in "My Friends" and his duet with Alan Rickman, "Pretty Women", is rather beautiful to hear from two generally non-professional singers. Rickman performs each of his songs with aplomb and Sacha Baron-Cohen is surprisingly effective as Pirelli. In addition, Edward Sanders, the 14-year old with the best voice in the cast, is a delight as Tobias and finally allows the role the resonence it needs because he's the right age. His "Not While I'm Around" is sensational, as are his comical moments in "Pirelli's Miracle Elixir".

The other performers are unfortunately not fully up to the task on CD. Jamie Campbell Bower is somewhat enemic on "Johanna", though he brings a certain vacuosness to his performance that's right for the role and it's nice to have Anthony cast with an actor the right age. Likewise, Jayne Wisener doesn't quite have the pipes or range to bring off the complicated "Green Finch and Linnett Bird", though it's quite appealing to have this frequently over-sung piece performed in character. That brings us to Helena Bonham Carter, a delightful actress who is disasterously miscast in the singing role of Mrs. Lovett. She supposedly got the role not because she is director Tim Burton's companion and mother to his children (yeah...right) but because of her superior audition. Huh? She barely sings above a whisper and seems to hold back in order to maintain her weak vocal control. Mrs. Lovett is the bawdy, no nonsense comic harridan of the piece, but Bonham Carter's performances are totally lackluster. They just lie there. She fares best on the eerie lullaby "Wait", where her diminished vocals suit the gentle temptation of the song. However, gone is the humor of "Worst Pies in London", the maniacal energy of "A Little Priest" and the edgy provocativeness of "Poor Thing". It almost ruins the score. But not quite....

Thankfully, most of the songs from the original production made it into the film, although some are in truncated versions. The cut songs, for the most part, make sense because most were devices of the stage and this is a different medium. Burton reportedly reinstated material the screenwriter initially omitted, and it's a pleasure to get a film version of such a timeless work that doesn't butcher or bastardize the original. Also, the orchestra adds another thirty musicians compared to the 1979 Original Cast masterpiece. And yet, we don't get the usual, souped-up and drippy Hollywood orchestrations. Here the shadings are deeper and more resonant without being sentimental or over-the-top. It's actually understated in a way that serves the piece as a whole.

A mixed bag and a curio at the same time, this soundtrack will remain an unusual effort to present an obviously challenging work. Which, I guess, makes it worthwhile....in a way.

5 out of 5 stars

At last! A Film Version of Sondheim That Works! December 19, 2007
52 out of 57 found this review helpful

I received the soundtrack for Sweeney Todd today, and although I have not seen the film yet (it will open in three days), I am more looking forward to seeing the movie than ever. The soundtrack was a pleasant - I shouldn't say "surprise"; I expected to like it - let's say a wholly satisfying experience, for more than one reason.

Firstly, as stated by Mr. Sondheim, be forewarned that the film is not exactly the same as the stage version. That said, the score appears to be as close to the original as one could hope. I only noticed a few cuts and some minor changes here and there in the various numbers, and although (as had been announced) whole portions of the score have been excised for the purpose of trimming the running time, many of the small, subtle changes Mr. Sondheim has made in the lyrics are decided improvements. There is, if I heard correctly on my first listen, a whole verse missing from "Priest". While I lament (as many will) the deletion of some grand moments of wit, especially in the chorus and opening, enough of the original score has been preserved, and preserved well, for me to feel an enormous satisfaction upon my first listen. Although I haven't seen the film yet, I have a feeling (and certainly hope) that the single-disc CD omits some portions of the music that are in the film.

Many have complained already that the singing is a bit weak, but for me, the voices were no problem at all. Many theatre fans and critics consider Stephen Sondheim to be the most accomplished theatre composer of the 20th century. Although lauded as his masterwork, Sweeney Todd is not my favorite Sondheim score, but I never argue with those who praise it as his best work, and they certainly have good reason for their assessment. The problem with a Sondheim score - any Sondheim score - is that his glorious wit and amazing rhymes require very delicate handling, without extensive dramatization or gesticulation; in fact, I have seen certain performers ruin his songs through excessive theatrics. His witty, urbane words and ultra-clever rhymes need only be performed, thank you, and easily stand on their own without overt grandstanding. Any playing for broad comedy tends to detract from his marvelous command of the language, not to mention his amazingly deft rhymes and delicious wit. Thus, in these performances, I found myself thrilled to note that they are put across simply and quietly, with careful enunciation but no unnecessary scenery-chewing, the way I believe Sondheim should be performed. Even so, many could argue that it is difficult to ruin material of this caliber, but I always feel that with Sondheim, the words are all that are really required to put any of his songs over.

It is also a delight to hear virtually all of the cast proffering the appropriate British (and in some cases, Cockney) accents, and for once, the score sounds like it might be actually enacted by inhabitants of 19th century London. Not that I object, mind you, to earlier interpretations of this particular work - all of the previous casts have been outstanding in their way, but what a nice change to hear actors playing Londoners who sound English. But what comes across best in the soundtrack for me is the acting, and Johnny Depp, who I have never been especially fond of, must be singled out. His performance, which is more acting than singing, may not be vocally impressive, but his invocation of the character and spirit of the narrative is perfectly realized, and the early doubts I confess I may have harbored have been completely swept away.

Most joyous to me is that it appears (from the soundtrack, anyway) that someone has finally made a film version of a Sondheim show that actually works, something that hasn't happened, in my opinion, since West Side Story. Too many attempts at filming Sondheim have butchered his score, or changed it for the worse, or been horribly presented, or all of the above. It is my fervent hope that this film will inspire moviegoers who were previously unfamiliar with the talents of Mr. Sondheim to investigate his glorious, literate and oh so satisfying way with words and music. Although I must deliver kudos to the principals involved, Tim Burton, Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, Mr. Sondheim's brilliant score is, to me, the real star here.

Judging by the soundtrack alone, I believe that we may now have a film that has finally done Mr. Sondheim justice. I may die happy yet!

5 out of 5 stars

Well, I loved it! December 25, 2007
38 out of 39 found this review helpful

I can completely understand why fans of Hearn and Lansbury's Sweeney and Lovett (and same for fans of LuPone and the like) were inconsolable after hearing these tracks. I think, however, the crucial difference isn't the quality of the music, but the medium it was made for. Burton stripped the Broadway out of this show, and it shows. Does this make the performances and tracks bad? Heck no! Quite the opposite, I argue!

Please, however, see the film first. You will appreciate the soundtrack so much more with the visuals accompanying it. And those completely sold on the stage shows should hopefully at least see why Depp and Carter were best suited for the big screen and not the stage... and there's a reason this movie's been getting stellar reviews and appreciation from Depp, Burton, and Sweeney fans alike! Depp, unlike Hearn, plays an emotionally drained and hollow Sweeney, and his voice, unlike Hearn's, is growling and full of contempt and dispassion. Makes you wonder why Depp was never in a rock band.

Carter replaces the jolly, enthusiastic Lovett with a bitter-sweet cynical Lovett, and her voice is arguably the weakest, but her performance is an interesting if not very different take on the character. Alan Rickman's deep, sensuous voice seems almost too perfect for the lecherous judge Turpin, and I found his duet with Depp, "Pretty Women" to be a particular highlight on this album. The real gems, however, are Sacha Baron Cohen and Sanders as Pirelli and Toby.

To conclude, this isn't the Sweeney Todd you've heard before. It isn't better. It isn't worse. It is what it is, which is a solid and moving soundtrack for a well-cast movie. More proof that Tim Burton is a director who understands how to translate a musical to film without losing its core or its appeal to moviegoers. Also, I would recommend this version over the movie highlights CD if just for the finale alone. It is 10 minutes of an emotionally charged performance that you'll want to remember and hear again if you enjoyed the film!

4 out of 5 stars

A song-by-song review... December 19, 2007
18 out of 28 found this review helpful

A note before the review: I have both the original Broadway and the revival recordings of Sweeney Todd, and honestly, I'm not a huge fan of the musical in the first place. Sondheim does wonderful work, but for me, I can't listen to a Sondheim show straight through without getting a bit of a headache. (I can watch the shows just fine, but for some reason, just listening to the songs for a long period of time gives me migraines. o.O;) So I had to listen to this CD with a few breaks. Also note that I have favorite songs that I will probably talk more about than others.

**Edit** (Oo you can edit these things?) I should clarify: This is a review of the soundtrack only, not the film performances. I saw the movie and I completely utterly loved Helena's performance there. In the film, everything (Toby's age and her voice) works. However, *with the soundtrack* I don't feel her voice works as well because of it's wispiness.

Anyway. I reviewed each song individually because I'm sure there are people who are curious as to how their favorite songs turned out.

1) Overture (5/5) - Okay, so this track has no vocals, but boy, is it GORGEOUS. It has a bit of the instrumental of "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" in it, for those of us who were sorely disappointed by it's deletion. It is a delicious, delicious track. Organs, cellos, even some ghostly chorus? I can't tell if it's an instrument or not, but it's very haunting.

2) No Place Like London (5/5) - I held my breath during this song waiting for Johnny to start singing. I've been avoiding "spoilers" of his singing voice until I got the CD (including "AHH *flicks off TV* for trailers) and I was greatly surprised. Johnny's voice is not professionally trained, but it honestly doesn't even matter. He knows how to ACT the songs -- even somewhat better than the Sweeney's who have had stronger voices. The "there was a barber and his wife..." section was positively heartbreaking.

3) The Worst Pies in London (2/5) - I was extremely disappointed with Helena Bonham Carter's performance. She certainly looks like a great Mrs. Lovett, but her voice is completely unsuitable, and she sticks out like a sore thumb with her voice. It strains to hold any long or even somewhat high notes, and is very wispy. I would've felt better if she had fun with the songs, but she sounds like she's recording it for a karaoke album track, not the show. :/ She has none of the humor that this song needs.

4) Poor Thing (3/5) - Once again, a disappointment. She just didn't seem to know how to "act" with the songs. It's certainly better than her rendition of the Worst Pies in London, however. A mediocre rendition of a good song.

5) My Friends (5/5) - Any doubts of Johnny's talents were quickly melted away with this song. The first time he sang, "my friend!" I immedietely turned up the volume and sat back and just enjoyed his singing. His voice is... I don't know how to describe it. It's quite hypnotizing and very charismatic. He has these lovely "low" bits to certain notes, and it's like chocolate. Wonderful, wonderful chocolate. This is my favorite song on the entire CD. Helena did all right with this song, not horrible, not terrible, but this song is definately the gem of the soundtrack.

6) Green Finch and Linnet bird (3/5) - This would've gotten a 4/5 if the song weren't absolutely migraine-inducing. I'm not a fan of the "annoying high note" songs in any shows. Jayne Wisener does a great job, however, and I've no complaints about her performance. Her voice does strain a bit on the stronger notes, but her 'acting' of the words makes up for it. Great performance of my least favorite song.

7) Alms! Alms! (2/5) - Err... I'm thinking this will be better when it's coupled with the actual scene, but it just didn't work for me on the soundtrack. She just doesn't sound quite crazy enough to me.

8) Johanna (5/5) - Finally, someone playing Anthony that doesn't sound like he's in his 30s! This is one of my favorite songs of the show, and newcomer Jamie Campbell Bower doesn't disappointment. He's a classic lovesick old teenager/young adult. No complaints or notes about this song, other than it's a "younger" version than most of the renditions of Johanna that Sondheim fans might be used to.

9) Pirelli's Miracle Elixer (4/5) - Edward Sanders isn't a bad singer, but... I question their decision to cast him. In the source material, Tobias is (someone correct me if I'm wrong) 14 at the very youngest. He sounds like a 10 year old and it reminds me more of Oliver! than Sweeney Todd. But if we ignore my bias against the casting of a very young sounding Toby, it's a nice song. It has a catchy melody and Edward Sanders does fine with it.

10) The Contest (5/5) -- Ohh my goodness. I had my doubts about Sacha baron Cohen (aka: Borat) playing Pirelli, and yes there are moments where he sounds pretty much just like his Borat character, and it's sure to draw some laughs and "IS THAT BORAT?" reactions when seen on screen. Did he actually do the singing for this? Because he has some hilarious trills and vibratto.

11) Wait (4/5) -- Finally a decent performance from Helena! It may be that this song doesn't require strong, long notes, and is a bit of a lulling song.

12) Ladies in their Sensitivites (3/5) -- No complaints about this track. Timothy Spell isn't horrible as the Beadle, but he isn't particularily memorable either.

12) Pretty Women (5/5) -- (I'll get it out of the way now: SNAPE. IS. SINGING.) This song has never been one of my favorites, but the interaction between Sna...err... Alan Rickman and Johnny Depp is simply divine. Their voices (although recorded seperately, sadly) mesh very well together. I love that such a lighthearted, upbeat song has such a violent tension underneath it. Their distinct voices have made me a bigger fan of this song.

13) Epiphany (5/5) -- What. Can't. Johnny. Do?! Johnny knows how to sing, act, and act an song. This song is so full of rage, despair, and you can clearly hear it in Johnny's voice. "I will have vengeance/I will have salvation" is so full of raw emotion. "I want you bleeders" gave me chills. He does spectularily well with this difficult song. Add another song to my favorites list!

14) A Little Priest (3.5/5) -- It's not terrible. BUT. Helena's voice is simply too soft for the role. To her credit, she did manage to keep the humor in this song. I can almost see the gleeful smile on Mrs. Lovett's face in this, whereas with the Worst Pies of London, I got nothing but a bored face. Johnny does much better in the song, and Helena definately sounds much better when coupled with his singing.

15) Johanna (reprise) (5/5) -- I was holding my breathe once again waiting for Johnny to start singing. The Johanna reprise has always been my #1 favorite song in this show because of Sweeney's part of this song, and I really thought they would delete this song from the movie, so imagine my shock that it was on the track list! It is a wonderful song on all fronts (although I noticed they got rid of Johanna's singing part - but they also got rid of 'Kiss Me,' from which her part was derived.). Jamie continues with his wonderful rendition of his part, and Johnny is absolutely, heartbreakingly wonderful. If someone was for some reason STILL having doubts about his talent, this song should turn them. There is such a sadness in his voice - sometimes the sadness of the words is lost in a singer's voice during this song, but he carries it through and through. Absolutely brilliant.

17) God, That's Good! (2.5/5) -- No ensemble at all? Hm. They completely got rid of the ensemble part of this song and it felt really weird and empty. They trimmed the song down a lot, getting rid of the ensemble and Sweeney's parts. It just felt "off" and out of place. Why not just have Toby singing the "mrs. lovett's meat pies" part and get rid of her singing? The performances weren't bad but it was just the barest bones of the song.

18) By the Sea (3/5) -- It's all right. She does much, much better with the lightheartedness of this song. I can see her joyfully singing this with her romantic notions of living together with Sweeney. It's not terrible, once again, her voice is so soft and wispy that it can't sing very strongly.

19) Not While I'm Around (3/5) -- I hate to give it a 3/5 score, but why on Earth did they cast such a young Toby? the song is meant to be a desperate romantic, foolish young boy's plea from Toby to Mrs. Lovett, and I just don't get that from this song. It sounds more like "Oliver!" than Sweeney Todd. Edward Sanders isn't terrible, but he sounds very very young in this song, almost like Gavroche from Les Miserables!

20) Final Scene (4/5) -- Would've been 5/5 but for Helena's performance. I won't spoil anything, but it's a very haunting final performance from everybody. Some of it was tweaked from the original Broadway, but I have a feeling it won't matter on the screen. Helena's performance of her part near the end was disappointing. She didn't sound desperate/upset/anything -- just "ohh... I have another line to sing." :/ Which was disappointing. Johnny's final part in the finale is a positively chilling.

OVERALL:

Johnny Depp stole the soundtrack. I was the most worried about his performance going into it, and I was greatly, greatly surprised. I will be listening to the Sweeney-heavy songs the most, I suspect. Helena Bonham Carter was miscast. She's not a bad ACTOR (her Bellatrix Lestrange who had, what, 5 lines in the newest Harry Potter film was the most memorable bit for me!) but her voice was not meant for this part. Hopefully her acting will make up for it. Alan Rickman was a nice surprise as the Judge. The two newcomers for Johanna and Anthony were very nice. And although I disagree with the casting of such a young kid as Toby, he has a nice voice. In general, if you're a fan of Sondheim, you'll probably enjoy Johnny's songs the most and Helena's the least.

1 out of 5 stars

Wait for the DVD December 20, 2007
17 out of 51 found this review helpful

Like others, I have all the soundtrack albums of Sweeny Todd with the magnificent vocals of George Hearn, Len Cariou, Angela Lansbury and (perhaps) Patti LuPone and love Stephen Sondheim's score. No comment on Michael Cerveris' recent performance. While my initial reaction from the CD was that Johnny Depp cannot sing and Helen Bonham Carter is even worse, having now returned from seeing the movie, which is far, far better than I'd ever imagined, "genius" as noted by A.O. Scott in the NYT, I stand corrected. In the context of the movie their performances are superb. CD = 1; DVD = 10.

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