Monsters, Inc.
Sandwiched between the opening and closing numbers of theMonsters, Inc.soundtrack is the sort of far-reaching score we've come to expect fromRandy Newman. Up, down, and all around, we swerve through the standard Disney scramble: there's a danger's-near ditty, a tearjerker, a rally-the-troops energizer, a plucky peek-a-boo number, and, as befits the hit Disney/Pixar movie, a hefty chunk of liveliness. But to say this soundtrack is nothing special would be to shrug off a solid effort from a musical legend. How easy can it be, after all, to stir so many moods as effectively as Newman does? He proves again his knack for making musical genius seem pedestrian. Fans of the movie will like eyeballing Billy Crystal's Cyclops character, Mike Wazowski, the sidekick to John Goodman's lead monster, James P. Sullivan (a.k.a. Sulley), on liner notes that unfold to a full-color poster, and they'll also enjoy the end-title buddy tune "If I Didn't Have You," reminiscent ofToy Story's "You've Got a Friend in Me." It's first performed as a souped-up Crystal-Goodman duet, and as a CD closer, it becomes a pared-down piano song by the inimitable Newman.--Tammy La Gorce