The Polar Express (soundtrack)
The Polar Express: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | |
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Soundtrack album by Various Artists | |
Released | November 2, 2004 |
Genre | Christmas music |
Length | 44:06 |
Label | |
Producer |
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Singles from The Polar Express: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | |
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
The Polar Express: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the animated film of the same name, released on November 2, 2004 by Warner Sunset Records and Reprise Records, composed by Alan Silvestri, with orchestrations provided by Conrad Pope and William Ross.
The song, "Believe", written by Glen Ballard and Alan Silvestri, was nominated for Best Original Song at the 77th Academy Awards. It was sung at the 77th Academy Awards show by original performer Josh Groban with Beyoncé. It gained a Grammy Award in 2006.
The album was certified Gold by the RIAA in November 2007.[2] Having sold 724,000 copies in the United States, it is the best-selling film soundtrack/holiday album hybrid since Nielsen SoundScan started tracking music sales in 1991.[3]
Aside from the final track, the soundtrack includes only the vocal songs featured in the film.[4] Most of the original orchestral score featured in the film has never been commercially released.[5] A limited number of promotional "For Your Consideration" CDs containing nearly the complete score were released in 2005.[4]
Track listing
[edit]No. | Title | Performer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "The Polar Express" | Tom Hanks | 3:25 |
2. | "When Christmas Comes to Town" | Matthew Hall and Meagan Moore | 4:07 |
3. | "Rockin' on Top of the World" | Steven Tyler | 2:35 |
4. | "Believe" | Josh Groban | 4:18 |
5. | "Hot Chocolate" | Hanks | 2:33 |
6. | "Spirit of the Season" | Alan Silvestri | 2:33 |
7. | "Seeing Is Believing" | Silvestri | 3:47 |
8. | "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" | Frank Sinatra | 2:35 |
9. | "White Christmas" | Bing Crosby | 3:05 |
10. | "Winter Wonderland" | The Andrews Sisters | 2:43 |
11. | "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" | Perry Como with The Fontane Sisters | 2:40 |
12. | "Silver Bells" | Kate Smith | 2:39 |
13. | "Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane)" | Crosby and The Andrews Sisters | 3:04 |
14. | "Suite from the Polar Express" | Silvestri | 6:02 |
Total length: | 44:06 |
Charts
[edit]Chart (2022–2023) | Peak position |
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Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[6] | 25 |
Certifications
[edit]Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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United States (RIAA)[7] | Gold | 500,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Allmusic review
- ^ "American certifications – Polar Express". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved December 7, 2014.
- ^ Caulfield, Keith (December 6, 2014). "Billboard 200 Chart Moves: 'Guardians' on Cassette Cashes In". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on 2015-07-25. Retrieved December 7, 2014.
- ^ a b Clemmensen, Christian (19 September 2009). "The Polar Express". Filmtracks.com. Filmtracks Publications. Archived from the original on 24 May 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
The commercial album contains only a few minutes of Silvestri's own score material not connected to the songs. Released a month later was a Warner Brothers "For Your Consideration" promotional album featuring five untitled tracks amounting to 27 minutes. Fans eventually took the two albums and combined them to form "complete" bootlegs, some featuring an alternate edit of the suite heard on the commercial product.
- ^ Goldwasser, Dan (21 January 2005). "Battling Monsters With Alan Silvestri". Soundtrack.net. Autotelics, LLC. Archived from the original (Interview with Alan Silvestri) on 8 July 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
"I'm not sure [if a soundtrack will be released featuring the full orchestral score], I have no real information about it at this time, but I can certainly say that we all have talked about it, and it's in the air as we speak - it just hasn't gotten any further along at this point.
- ^ "Album 2023 uke 49". VG-lista. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
- ^ "American album certifications – Soundtrack – Polar Express". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved October 25, 2022.