Hannah Montana: The Movie [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] [Lavender Eco-Mix 2 LP]

by Hannah Montana

Overview

"Livin' two lives is a little weird," sings Miley Cyrus as Hannah Montana on her signature track, "The Best of Both Worlds." Hannah Montana: The Movie and its soundtrack try to present the best of many worlds -- pop and country, California and Tennessee, Disney and non-Disney artists -- and it's also a little weird. Given the huge success of the TV series and the concert movie, it was inevitable that there would be a big-screen Hannah Montana story, but it's almost uncanny how the movie's storyline, which involves Hannah having to choose between pop stardom and her "real" life as regular country girl Miley Stewart, echoes Disney's efforts to separate Cyrus' stardom from Montana's. This tug of war of personas also shows up in the movie's music: originally, Montana's music was based on the pop of past Disney queens like Britney and Christina (with a smidgen of Avril Lavigne), but songs like "Let's Get Crazy," which makes a beat from paparazzi flashbulbs, and "The Good Life," a sugar-coated celebration of Gucci handbags and Prada shoes, sound more like fizzy caricatures of pop songs than ever. Tellingly, the best songs that Cyrus sings on the soundtrack have her own name on them -- aside from the goofy "Hoedown Throwdown," which feels more like a parody of down-home fun than a tribute to it. Cyrus' husky twang sounds far more natural, more down to earth and grown-up, on songs like "Don't Walk Away," "Dream," and "The Climb," all of which recall the Shania Twain-lite of her debut album, Breakout. This Nashville feel dominates on Hannah Montana: The Movie, from "Butterfly Fly Away," a treacly duet between Miley and her dad Billy Ray, to the inclusion of songs from country stars in an attempt to add more authenticity to Hannah's sometimes suffocating world. Billy Ray's "Back to Tennessee" fits in smoothly with an acoustic version of Rascal Flatts' witty "Backwards" (although their "Bless the Broken Road" drags). However, the best song on Hannah Montana: The Movie belongs to Taylor Swift. Her "Crazier" is more genuine, more effortless, than any of Miley or Hannah's tracks, which is all the more interesting considering that Swift is, in a lot of ways, what Hannah Montana was aiming for in the first place: a massive teen star with country roots and pop polish who seems comfortable in, and delivers the best of, both of those worlds. The soundtrack's segmented track list adds to its strangeness; after so many songs about going back home and getting back to roots, it's a little disorienting to return to Hannah's glitzy world with "Let's Do This" and "Spotlight." At just over an hour long, Hannah Montana: The Movie provides devoted Hannah/Miley fans with plenty of music for their money, but anyone else will find it exhausting. ~ Heather Phares

Product Details

Release Date:	09/13/2024
Label:	Walt Disney Records
UPC:	0050087551025
Rank:	785

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Hannah Montana   Primary Artist
Steve Rushton   Primary Artist
Taylor Swift   Primary Artist
Miley Cyrus   Primary Artist
Rascal Flatts   Primary Artist
Billy Ray Cyrus   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Joseph Magee   Mixing
Mark Hagen   Engineer
Scott Campbell   Mixing,Engineer,Audio Engineer
Scott Cutler   Composer,Producer
Matthew Wilder   Composer
Rascal Flatts   Audio Production
Nigel Clark   Composer,Composer
Raz   Audio Engineer,Audio Production
Alan Silvestri   Composer
Marcus Hummon   Composer
Jeremy Luzier   Mixing
Adam Tefteller   Composer
Antony Westgate   Composer
Kai McKenzie   Mixing,Audio Production
Marcel Chagnon   Composer
Tamara Dunn   Composer
Miriam Nervo   Composer
Hilary Lee Lindsey   Composer
Peter Chelsom   Executive Soundtrack Producer
Glen Lajeski   Composer
Alfred Gough   Executive Soundtrack Producer
Michael "Smidi" Smith   Composer
Steve Gerdes   Creative Director
Anabel Sinn   Design
Monica Zierhut   Producer
Russ "Russwell" Long   Engineer
Michael Kotch   Composer
Ali Theodore   Composer,Audio Production
Ryan Rubin   Supervising Editor
Steve Rushton   Composer,Producer,Audio Production
Desiree Craig-Ramos   Soundtrack Director
Travis Ference   Mixing
Olivia Nervo   Composer
Jon Mabe   Composer
Jessica Alexander   Composer
Robert Nevil   Composer
Robert Ellis   Composer
Robert E. Boyd   Composer
Jeffrey R. Hanna   Composer
David Derby   Composer
Adam Teftteller   Composer
Tony Mullins   Composer
Paul David Hager   Mixing
Bobby Boyd   Composer
Billy Ray Cyrus   Composer
Colleen Fitzpatrick   Composer
Fred Maher   Mixing
Jeff Hanna   Composer
Gavin MacKillop   Engineer,Audio Engineer
Derek George   Composer
John Shanks   Composer,Producer,Audio Production
Robert Ellis Orrall   Composer
Adam Anders   Composer,Engineer,Producer,Audio Engineer,Vocal Producer,Audio Production
Mark Bright   Producer
Jessi Alexander   Composer
Robbie Nevil   Composer
Kaylin Frank   Composer
Nikki Hassman   Composer,Vocal Producer
Kara DioGuardi   Composer
Matthew Gerrard   Mixing,Composer,Producer,Audio Production
Alana Da Fonseca   Producer
Taylor Swift   Composer,Producer
Bridget Benenate   Composer
Mitchell Leib   Soundtrack Producer,Executive in Charge of Music
Tim Owens   Composer
Brian Malouf   Mixing
Jason Gleed   Producer,Audio Production
Miley Cyrus   Composer
Stefanie Ridel   Composer
Dann Huff   Producer,Audio Production
Nathan Chapman   Mixing,Producer,Audio Engineer
Dave Derby   Composer
Anne Preven   Composer,Producer,Audio Production
Glen Ballard   Composer
Hillary Lindsey   Composer
Martin Johnson   Composer
Chad Carlson   Engineer
Steve Marcantonio   Mixing
Jeff Rothschild   Mixing,Engineer,Audio Engineer