Track Listing

1. Stay Home - Self
2. I'm A Believer - Smash Mouth
3. Like Wow - Leslie Carter
4. It Is You (I Have Loved) - Dana Glover
5. Best Years Of Our Lives (Micks Mix) - Baha Men
6. Bad Reputation - Halfcocked
7. My Beloved Monster - Eels
8. You Belong To Me - Jason Wade
9. All Star - Smash Mouth
10. Hallelujah - John Cale
11. I'm On My Way - The Proclaimers
12. I'm A Believer (Reprise) - Eddie Murphy
13. True Love's First Kiss - Harry Gregson-Wiliams, John Power

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2152 in Music
• Brand: DreamWorks
• Released on: 2001-05-15
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Amazon.com
Like The Muppet Show or The Simpsons, Shrek is tiered with visual appeal, fantasy, and sophisticated humor that appeals to children and adults on two mutually exclusive levels. Judging by the soundtrack alone, there is some genuine emotion coming from this movie; Rufus Wainwright, the Proclaimers, and especially the Eels all pen winsome, longing tunes. Dana Glover's "It Is You (I Have Loved)" represents the soundtrack's requisite glossy ballad, but it's better than most, and John Powell's climactic, orchestral "True Love's First Kiss" makes one wish there was a full score to accompany this soundtrack. On the flip side, Smash Mouth cover the Monkees' "I'm a Believer" with a groovy treatment of crunchy hip-hop beats, and Leslie Carter (sister of Aaron and Nick) gives a perky performance on the Britney-esque "Like Wow!" The soundtrack squeezes the last drops of juice from the overplayed Smash Mouth hit "All Star," but other than that, it strikes a great balance between cute-but-not-precious pop hits, and more grown-up songs that are well within reach of young ears. --Beth Massa

Customer Reviews

Fair soundtrack, but not complete... not even close!
The movie Shrek was a masterpiece! I loved it... Laughed my fool head off. And after seeing it three times, the fourth was just as good! Great characters, great voices, great story, great animation, great comedy, and most of all GREAT MUSIC SCORE!!! Unfortunately the movie soundtrack doesn't measure up to the expectations of the movie's fans and so I must give it a mere two stars.

I (along with many others who loved this movie) was really disappointed when I discovered there was only one track of actual score from the movie on this CD. Everyone I know who saw this film said, "I love the music in this movie!" In fairness I will say that there are some cool tunes on this CD that will conjure fond memories from the film (like "I'm On My Way" by the Proclaimers, "Like Wow" by Leslie Carter, "I'm A Believer" featuring Eddie Murphy and "Hallelujah" by Rufus Wainwright), but the glory of the movie's musical aspect (as most fans will certainly agree) was its orchestra score and the haunting, ethereal vocals that accompanied. Beautiful, original melodies that helped to create and enhance the atmosphere and emotion of this movie, drawing the audience into the story, sadly didn't make it onto the soundtrack. Major bummer indeed!

Perhaps a "sequel" to this soundtrack will follow. Fans can only hope. I know I will be one of the first to grab it! Until then, this CD is only an adequate passifier, but I still dig it. Two strong stars!

Great, but missing 2 things.
I docked them a star for leaving off 2 important songs.

First off, you should know that the version of "I'm a Believer" that you hear on the radio (and in the movie) is NOT the same one you get here. The radio mix is perkier and more 60s-esque, where as the album version seems a bit more edgier and harder.

Also, you may recall how prominent a role the song "Hallelujah" had in the movie. That version, the one in the movie, was by - John Cale. The version on the album is by Rufus Wainwright. WTH? That makes no sense.

I suggest you buy the CD, obtain the 2 missing tracks, and burn the real version of the soundtrack.

What Happened to John Cale?
I greatly enjoyed watching Shrek. In fact, as the father of two young children, I believe I watched the movie seven times in one weekend after we purchased the video (I had not seen it in the theatre). While suitable for children, there was sufficient content for adults that neither my wife nor I were bored. In fact, I was astounded to hear the song "Hallelujah" in the soundtrack. While this Leonard Cohen song has been one of my favorites for many years, it is particularly dark and sardonic - not typical children's fare. However, it fit in well with the plot, and John Cale's version was moving, almost transcendent.

As has been pointed out, the soundtrack album replaces Cale's version with Rufus Wainwright's. I can only assume that John Cale, co-founder of the seminal 1960s band The Velvet Underground, and a well-known recluse and eccentric (who releases infrequent solo albums) consented to his version of the song being included in the movie, but not the soundtrack album. I could also understand if there were other legal or record label considerations preventing inclusion of his version. If, however, the considerations were esthetic, I think someone was badly mistaken. I've always thought that Cale's version of "Hallelujah" was the best cover, in some ways better than Cohen's original. Although neither man has a classic singing voice, Cale's is better, and more moving in this instance, than Cohen's. Others may think that the late Jeff Buckley's version is the best. In any event, Rufus Wainwright's take on the song, while good in itself, is hardly the equal of Cale's, Cohen's, or Buckley's. Rufus is a young singer of promise (and, I think, potentially more talented than his father, Loudon Wainwright, III), but one has a reasonable expectation, when buying a soundtrack album, of having the actual artists from the soundtrack appear on the album.