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CDs, Music

Universal Music Enterprises releases a double-vinyl LP “Moulin Rouge! Music from Baz Luhrmann’s Film”

Excited about the news from Universal Music Enterprises? Oui! Oui!

For the first time, the company has released a double-vinyl LP edition of Moulin Rouge! Music from Baz Luhrmann’s Film, the 2001 soundtrack which accompanied the release of his acclaimed motion picture. In addition to its standard black-vinyl release, the anniversary LP will also be released in a limited colored-vinyl edition that will be available exclusively through the online retailer, uDiscover.

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The film, a modern classic, is widely regarded as a reinvention of the film musical. Before the popularization of the mash-up, the “Elephant Love Medley” brought together a distillation of the twentieth century’s great songs into an argument-in-song between the Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor. “Lady Marmalade” created a one-time-only super group. The album purposefully brought together an eclectic cross-section of artists and music creators to make a definitive musical statement at the dawn of the new millennium.  Where else can one hear the likes of Bono, Rufus Wainwright, Beck, David Bowie, Jose Feliciano, and Fatboy Slim all joining in a unified musical gesture?

“We wanted to celebrate the great songs of the twentieth century as a lens through which to view the world of the turn-of-the-century Paris Belle Epoque, while remaining visceral and relevant to the audience watching the film in 2001,” coos Baz Luhrmann.

The album is best known for its first single, “Lady Marmalade,” re-recorded by Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mya and Pink, produced by Missy Elliott and writing partner Rockwilder, with the lyrics transposing the original location from New Orleans to the title Paris nightclub.  “Lady Marmalade” reached #1 in its eighth week on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, spending five weeks at the top of the chart, the third airplay-only song in Billboard chart history to hit #1 without being released as a commercially available single. The soundtrack album debuted at #5, and peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200, while topping the charts in Australia and New Zealand. It eventually reached #1 on the Top Soundtracks chart and was certified in April, 2002, double-platinum.

The song earned a 2002 Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals and MTV Video Music Awards for Best Video of the Year and Best Video from a Film, along with nominations for Best Dance Video, Best Pop Video, Best Choreography and Best Art Direction. The album was Grammy-nominated in the category of Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. Luhrmann (along with music supervisor Anton Monsted, under the music production pseudonym BLAM), is a co-producer on cast recordings on the album. Luhrmann, along with music director Marius DeVries, oversaw all of the cast recordings for the film during pre-production.

The album includes Beck’s “Diamond Dogs” and Bono, Gavin Friday and Maurice Seezer’s take on T. Rex’s “Children of the Revolution,” among the highlights. Other tracks include Ewan McGregor and Alessandro Safina’s take on Elton John’s “Your Song,” Nicole Kidman and McGregor’s love song, “Come What May,” originally composed by David Baerwald and Kevin Gilbert for Luhrmann’s previous film, William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet, but first heard here.

CDs, Music

No doubt abut the success of No Doubt; they were never trapped in a box

No doubt about it:  No Doubt‘s eponymous 1992 debut   album   introduced  the world to a one-of-a-kind band that would soon dominate the music world with their dynamic sound. With such early hits as “Trapped   In A Box” exemplifying the group’s original ska-pop sound, No Doubt kicked off the band’s career with a bang, laying   the   groundwork for the   multi-platinum   success   that they’d achieve over the next twenty-plus years.

On November 10, UMe celebrates the 25th anniversary of No Doubt’s original release with a sparkling new vinyl edition of the album that originally put No Doubt on the map.   In addition to marking the debut disc’s first-ever vinyl release, the new LP will be pressed on high-quality 180-gram vinyl.  Additionally, exclusive limited-edition colored-vinyl versions will be available through No Doubt’s official website, as well as the online retail sites uDiscover and The Sound of Vinyl.  In addition to the album’s original front cover art, the back cover of the new vinyl edition features   a never-before-seen   band   photo   from the original photo session by photographer Chris Cuffaro.

No Doubt—Gwen Stefani on vocals, her brother Eric Stefani on keyboards, guitarist Tom Dumont, bassist Tony Kanal and drummer Adrian Young—originally became a local sensation on their Southern California home turf, before bursting onto the national and international scenes with an effervescent, new-wave infused sound that offered an upbeat alternative to the angst-driven grunge-rock that dominated the charts at the time.cid:image003.jpg@01D341CC.BC588CD0

No Doubt’s early ska leanings are balanced on the album by a state-of-the-art pop sensibility that manifests itself on such tunes as “Let’s Get Back,” “Move On” and “Get On The Ball.”    Although the debut album was not a major hit at the time of its original release, it emerged as a fan favorite as No Doubt subsequently became one of their era’s most popular bands.

After releasing No Doubt, the band would score a series of smash singles and  massively  popular  albums  like  Tragic Kingdom,  Return  of Saturn,  Rock Steady  and Push and Shove, helping  to  secure  Gwen, Tony,  Tom  and  Adrian  their  place  in the   American    rock   music   pantheon.   The   band’s   massive success can be traced back to No Doubt, whose definitive new vinyl edition cements its pivotal place in pop history.