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Product description ------------------- 1. Good Morning Baltimore - Nikki Blonsky2. Nicest Kids In Town - James Marsden3. It Takes Two - Zac Efron 4. Legend Of Miss Baltimore Crabs - Michelle Pfeiffer5. I Can Hear The Bells - Nikki Blonsky 6. Ladies Choice - Zac Efron 7. New Girl In Town - Brittany Snow 8. Welcome To The 60s - Nikki Blonsky and John Travolta 9. Run And Tell That - Elijah Kelley 10. Big Blond And Beautiful - Queen Latifah 11. Big Blond And Beautiful - John Travolta and Michelle Pfeiffer 12. You're Timeless To Me - John Travolta and Christopher Walken 13. I Know Where I've Been - Queen Latifah 14. Without Love - Zac Efron, Nikki Blonsky, Elijah Kelley and Amanda Bynes 15. It's Hairspray - James Marsden16. You Can't Stop The Beat - Zac Efron, John Travolta, Queen Latifah 17. Come So Far (Got So Far To Go) - Queen Latifah, Nikki Blonsky, Zac Efron 18. Cooties - ee Allen 19. Mama I'm A Big Girl Now - Ricki Lake, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Nikki Blonsky .co.uk ------ What fun! This soundtrack of the film adaptation of the Broadway musical overflows with glossy, ol' fashioned '60s-style pep. It won't win any awards for innovation, but it may well be one of the most feel-good releases of the year. While not quite as super-energetic as the original Broadway cast, the new crew ain't too shabby: Nikki Blonsky delivers as Tracy Turnblad and Zac Efron (High School Musical) makes for a devoted boyfriend, and the supporting cast gleefully embraces the show's silly-but-generous spirit. John Travolta (who gets to utter the particularly ironic line "it's been years since someone asked me to dance") goes drag as Tracy’s mom, E, while Michelle Pfeiffer's slight stiffness is appropriate for her uptight character, especially on the cha-cha "(The Legend of) Miss Baltimore Crabs." After Mama Morton in Chicago, Queen Latifah puts in another brassy turn as Motormouth Maybelle ("Big, Blonde and Beautiful," which is then reprised by Travolta and Pfeiffer). The show's authors, Marc Shan and Scott Wittman, have written three new numbers for the movie: the rollicking (and first single) "Ladies' Choice," "New Girl in Town" and "Come So Far." In addition, the CD also includes two tracks that aren't in the film but were in the show: "Cooties", sung by ee Allen, and "Mama, I’m a Big Girl Now", sung by all three Tracy Turnblads: Blonsky, Ricki Lake (from the source movie) and Marissa Jaret Winokur (from the original Broadway cast). --Elisabeth Vincentelli P.when('A').execute(function(A) { A.on('a:expander:toggle_description:toggle:collapse', function(data) { window.scroll(0, data.expander.$expander[0].offsetTop-100); }); }); BBC Review ---------- Billed as this summer's feel-good family film, Hairspray is the movie of the hit Broadway musical based on the original 1988 film by cult Baltimore director John Waters. But, just like the summer, the Hairspray soundtrack proves a bit of a let down. The casting sounded promising. Queen Latifah hits all the right notes - sassy and soulful - as Motormouth Maybelle, and Michelle Pfeiffer is deliciously icy as scheming TV mogul Velma Von Tusselle, cha-cha-cha-ing in ('The Legend of) Miss Baltimore Crabs'. But John Travolta - star of that other cult retro musical, Grease - disappoints in an underplayed and resolutely masculine drag role as Tracy's plus-sized mother, E. You can't escape a note of desperation in his voice, despite a gift of a line like 'It's been years since someone asked me to dance'. Tracy herself is played by 18-year-old Nikki Blonsky. She's vocally expressive and thoroughly likeable, but lacks the larger-than-life charisma the role requires. Listening to the final track, ''Mama I'm a Big Girl Now'', which features the three Tracy actresses together, both Ricki Lake from the original film and Marissa Jaret Winokur from the Broadway production sound much stronger. Tracy's friend Seaweed, on the other hand, played by Elijah Kelly, sparkles as the voice of segregated black Baltimore. There are several new songs written specially for the film. They're catchy enough but depressingly formulaic, especially the Supreme-esque 'The New Girl in Town'. In fact, the whole production feels short of energy. It should be b, blowsy, and alive with musical wit. Instead it feels over-coiffured, lacking the kitsch necessary to carry off the pastiche. Less a towering beehive than a bouffant gone slightly limp in the summer rain. --Morag Reavley Find more music at the BBC ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/syn//albumreviews/-/music/ ) This link will take you off in a new window See more ( javascript:void(0) )