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Considering 1998 may go down as the Year of the Soundtrack, a time when movie compilations dominate the Top Ten like never before and the promotional ties between films and music have become even more sophisticated, it makes sense that this year's fourth quarter will see the unprecedented spectacle of three soundtracks being released simultaneously from the same movie, DreamWorks' animated epic, The Prince of Egypt. |
Set to hit stores on Nov. 17, the trio of Egypt
soundtracks will feature nearly three dozen separate artists and,
if all goes according to plan, a flood of hits. The first single
will feature a diva duet between Mariah Carey and
Whitney Houston, "When You Believe." Produced by
Babyface, the single ships to radio Oct. 7. (The
song will also appear later this year on Mariah Carey's greatest
hits release.)
Carey and Houston appear on the main soundtrack, along with Amy Grant, K-Ci & JoJo and others. The second and third soundtrack albums, which feature songs inspired by film but not included in it, are divided by genre. A "Nashville" soundtrack will consist of new songs by Vince Gill, Reba, Randy Travis, Clint Black, Wynonna and Alison Krauss, whose contribution is likely to be the soundtrack's first single for country radio. Meanwhile, the "Inspirational" release features songs by Boyz II Men, Kirk Franklin, Jars of Clay, gospel great Shirley Caesar and others. (Executives at DreamWorks, who are not yet commenting on the albums' rollout, would not confirm the details.)
It's not unheard of for two movie-related records, often a soundtrack and an accompanying score consisting of the movie's orchestral music, to be released simultaneously. More recently, the industry has seen a trend toward shipping a second soundtrack to coincide with a film's release on home video. That's what's driving the Top 25 success of the Eighties-themed Wedding Singer Volume 2. Also, with Titanic now out on video, Sony just released the follow-up album to last winter's blockbuster.
But three simultaneously released albums from the same movie at the
same time? "It's the first time in my career that I've seen it,"
says John Gradoni, vice president of purchasing
for the 162-store chain National Record Mart. "I
believe it's unprecedented." He suspects the main
Carey/Houston-bolstered soundtrack will be the automatic hit, with
"Inspirational" and "Nasvhille's" success more closely tied to the
movie's box office performance. "They'll follow on the coattails of
the movie," he says. Regardless, come November it's doubtful a
single consumer entering a music store will be unaware of the
Prince of Egypt triple play. Gradoni says the in-store
promotional material DreamWorks has created is "the most expensive
and intricate I've ever seen."
The Prince of Egypt, a biblical-based drama of two
brothers, features the voices of Val Kilmer, Danny Glover,
Michelle Pfeiffer and Steve Martin and
opens Dec. 18th. The movie has long been considered crucial to
long-term success of DreamWorks, the entertainment company created
in 1994 by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg
and David Geffen.
ERIC BOEHLERT(Sept. 1, 1998)