William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet: Music From the Motion Picture, Volume 2

by

Various Artists

Edit

One of the most important parts of "Romeo + Juliet" was the soundtrack, and I'm not talking about the pop soundtrack (songs mostly found on Vol. 1). I was ecstatic when this volume was released, because it had the music I REALLY wanted to hear on it: the Wagnerian "O Verona" has such audio impact and sets such a tone for the movie, and the "Young Hearts Run Free (Ballroom Version) is a great techno song performed by Kym Mazelle.

The real gold on this album, however is in Quindon Tarver's choral-pop performance of Prince's "When the Doves Cry" -- wow, what a voice, and what a great arrangement! Another bonus, the instrumental track from Des'ree's "Kissing You" is absolutely beautiful with its longing piano and the achingly scored strings. (When I first heard it, I wanted to play it at my wedding. Now I just settle for singing to it karaoke-style everytime I hear it).

In total, this volume really is more of a treasure than Volume One from "Romeo + Juliet" (who can stand to hear "Lovefool" one more time??) It has great instrumentals, and creates the real feeling of the movie.

So you've either been looking for the version of "When Doves Cry" that was in the movie, or the first soundtrack wasn't enough. Well, if the former is true, you simply have to decide whether it's worth it to buy a whole album for one song. But in the other scenario, you have a bigger problem. This album is nothing like the first. I enjoy instrumental music, but this CD just depresses me. The album is amazing in that it has so much power to bring a person down. "O Verona" is great when you want to crank it up and yell along with the music, and the instrumental version of "Kissing You" is incredible. The second half of the album, however, actually made me cry...something a CD without memories attached to it has never done before. Buy it if you're really into classical or if you noticed that you enjoyed the background music during the movie. Do not buy it if you're looking for an encore to the first soundtrack.