On September 24, 2002, Mutant Enemy Music/Twentieth
Century Fox Music/Rounder Records will release 'Once
More, With Feeling,' the original soundtrack to the
landmark episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
originally broadcast November 6, 2001. The episode,
which found Buffy and her undead nemeses expressing
their thoughts in song, features lyrics and music written
by series creator Joss Whedon and performed by the show's
cast, including star Sarah Michelle Gellar.
"This is the first album for Mutant Enemy Records,
my first soundtrack and my first musical. I couldn't
be more excited about it," said Whedon. "It's
about five dreams come true. It represents the hardest
work I've ever done and more importantly, fully embodies
my constant motto: surround yourself with talent and
you can get away with having a lot less. No, no excuses:
I'm proud of this work. I'm glad people will get a chance
to hear it."
The CD release features ten tracks - the entire original
soundtrack to the show, as well as an unreleased demo
version of "Going Through the Motions," sung
by Whedon and his wife Kai Cole, and score segments
from three other "Buffy" episodes, "Restless,"
"Hush" and "The Gift." The album's
artwork was designed by comic book artist Adam Hughes,
known for his work on X-Men, Justice League, Wonder
Woman and other collectible titles.
In 'Once More, With Feeling,' the residents of Sunnydale,
CA, including Vampire Slayer Buffy Summers and her friends,
find themselves unable to resist breaking into song
at inopportune moments. Mundane events, from the issuing
of a parking ticket to the successful removal of a mustard
stain from a shirt, spawn big-budget Broadway numbers
in the streets. Stricken by this musical curse, Buffy,
her mentor Giles and her friends, must root out its
nether-worldly cause.
Over the course of the episode and the CD, the cast
pushes the envelope of pop culture with a series of
songs that parody Broadway cliches and rock opera bombast,
while equally effectively tugging at the audience's
heartstrings. The opener "Going Through the Motions"
features singing demons whose chorus line is interrupted
by Buffy's wooden stake thrusts, and "I'll Never
Tell" is a hilarious twist on an Astaire/Rogers
song and dance. At the same time, the vampire Spike's
kiss-off to Buffy (with whom he'd become romantically
entwined) "Rest In Peace," conveys the character's
anger with expressive hard rock punch. Giles' "Standing,"
in which he considers letting go as a father figure
to the young Buffy, provides an unexpectedly touching
moment.
Called "Wildly ambitious, sensationally entertaining
and unexpectedly moving," by TV Guide critic Matt
Roush, "Once More, With Feeling" is nominated
for the Outstanding Music Direction Emmy Award. The
Emmy ceremony will be held September 22 in Los Angeles.
Entertainment Weekly called the episode, "Classic
Buffy," while the San Francisco Chronicle raved,
"Impossibly great work... They're all wonderful
songs... damn entertaining."
Set to debut its seventh season on September 24, "Buffy
the Vampire Slayer" has gone from cult favorite
to one of the most popular, celebrated shows on television.
VHS and DVD releases of early episodes have sold more
than two million copies worldwide, and 'Buffy the Vampire
Slayer: The TV Soundtrack' was a worldwide hit in 1999.
Esquire's Tom Carson wrote, "'Buffy the Vampire
Slayer' is the best show on the air ò brainy, good-hearted,
gloriously expressive TV poetry."
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