Disney
A Whole New Sound


2.5
average

Review

by tmagistrelli USER (23 Reviews)
September 9th, 2024 | 33 replies


Release Date: 09/06/2024 | Tracklist

Review Summary: Punk Goes Pop with a little Disney Magic

The collision course of the dramatic pomp of Disney soundtrack standards and the pop punk adjacent scene sounds silly in the grand scheme of things. When announced a lot of us felt pretty perplexed as to the nature of this project’s existence. Sure, I am a battle scarred veteran of the landscape where Fearless records’ Punk Goes… compilations were a big deal. However the combination of Disney show tunes into this formula was not something I anticipated.

For the majority of the run time the compilation does little to justify its existence beyond the sheer surface level of alternative pop rock heavyweights performing songs from a lot of our youth. New Found Glory’s rendition of “Part of your World”, Mayday Parade’s version of “Remember Me” and Boys Like Girls cover of “You’ll Be In My Heart” come off as glorified karaoke. On the other side of the Disney Dollar, risks taken such as the lo-fi, auto-tuned drenched stylings of “Let It Go” by Lolo, and Plain White T’s… rapping on their iteration of “Surface Pressure” fall on deaf ears for this reviewer.

Negatives notwithstanding, I wanted to spotlight Yellowcard’s rendering of “A Whole New World” for understanding the assignment. The harmonies here between Ryan Key, and Chrissy Costanza of Against the Current are as beautiful as they are in the original version. The instrumental feels exhilarating and showcases a gorgeous violin outro. This feels distinct to the band and a pure highlight for the compilation.

There are several more instances where the compilation feels mystical like the studio that produced many of our favorite childhood movies and experiences are known for. We the Kings on “Go the Distance” sound the best they have had since Sunshine State of Mind. Magnolia Park brings energy and a pretty fun vocal performance to their edition of “I2I”. “Friend Like Me” and Bowling for Soup are a match made in the Magic Kingdom. The inherent snark and personality of the group does Robin Williams justice and definitely closes the collection out nicely.

This compilation feels like the maximization of the crossroads of the “Disney adult” and “elder emo” subcultures. This may even be a last gasp for the so-called “emo revival” that has sustained the 2020’s to date. It feels like this is designed to be nothing more than a product for us to share with each other as a lot of us are getting older and fading away in relevance from the cultural zeitgeist. When the project shines its brightest like the star you wish upon, you feel the Disney Magic. As a whole though, this is mostly inessential.



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user ratings (23)
2
poor


Comments:Add a Comment 
TheSonomaDude
September 9th 2024


9553 Comments


never trust the tall mfer with the bucket hat, he'll steal your girl and she'll say "it's because he's goofy"

foxblood
September 9th 2024


11561 Comments


I Keep getting ads for this, it seems like nothing but unnecessary downgrades from all the original tunes but I'm not the target audience for this. Maybe if I liked these bands or if it was a more interesting genre twist than pop punk I'd feel different.

mkmusic1995
Contributing Reviewer
September 9th 2024


2319 Comments


lol what is this, why does this exist

Asdfp277
September 9th 2024


25228 Comments


this is an official disney thing? lmao

tmagistrelli
September 10th 2024


868 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

Yeah oddly enough. I think they were trying to get the Rodrigo money they missed on.

bellovddd
September 10th 2024


7500 Comments


damnnnnn this sounds bad.

Spec
September 10th 2024


40948 Comments


Part of Your World rules.

Emim
September 10th 2024


37244 Comments


Who let tokio hotel out of their cages

Stenny
September 10th 2024


20 Comments


This is the kind of stuff we look back kindly on in 10 years

Emim
September 10th 2024


37244 Comments


The friend like me cover is offensively bad

Shamus248
Contributing Reviewer
September 11th 2024


1241 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

Yellowcard cover is phenomenal, rest of the project isn't much to write home about. Mayday does a decent job too ig

vult
September 11th 2024


3206 Comments


its like Disney found a shitty compilation CD from 2007 and was like WE HOPE THESE BANDS ARE STILL ACTIVE!



ghostboobs
September 11th 2024


145 Comments


kiddie diddler album of the year just dropped

artificialbox
Staff Reviewer
September 11th 2024


3602 Comments


ghostboobs goated username

c0nf1n3d
September 11th 2024


424 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

I need a few more listens before really giving a verdict, but I'm glad at least this site's acknowledging the album; it's a kind of fascinating project because it's straight-up a Disney branded album. Clearly fans of the Pop Goes Punk series work within the creative offices at Disney and hatched this idea. Wouldn't be surprised either if Yellowcard had a part to play in it as well. As a whole, it's quite safe and harmless, and maybe that's a good thing. The only one that felt lackluster was the "You've Got a Friend in Me" cover

SomeCallMeTim
September 11th 2024


5253 Comments


listened to some of this this morning because spotify told me to, good lord is it laughable

AnimalForce1
Staff Reviewer
September 11th 2024


1533 Comments


Yellowcard's cover was great, and I also have been spinning the I2I cover a ridiculous amount of times. Go the Distance is also done great justice here.

Funnily enough, Yellowcard were at Epcot super recently for the Food and Wine Festival, and they apparently played their Whole New World cover

Clemington
September 11th 2024


26 Comments


Boys Like Girls? Mayday Parade? Plain White T's?!

Babe, wake up! It's 2007 again!

TheSupernatural
September 11th 2024


2240 Comments


When I said "bring back the Punk Goes... series" this isn't what I meant

DaveyMonsoon
September 11th 2024


1565 Comments


Born out of the grim and frostbitten woods of Chicago, Walt Disney has brought out some of the most evil and dark music ever put to tape, soevil and dark that the mind manipulates it to sound like children's movie soundtracks. Proceed at your own risk.



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