Your Thoughts: The Muppets Green Album

[DannyRWW]

My two favorites would have to be Movin' Right Along (So energetic!) and Hope That Somethin' Better Comes Along (cause they added that other verse that isn't in the movie).

I like both of those too. The one that surprised me though was Our World...they make it almost sound like a Beatles song

 

[LouisTheOtter]

One of the reasons I joined this forum was because I finally have my own copy of The Green Album and I wanted to share how much I loved this collection of Muppet covers.

A few tracks took a couple of listens to grow on me, and some may never grow on me (I’m looking at you, Amy Lee - “Halfway Down The Stairs” ISN’T a moody electronica song) but overall I find this to be a lovingly-crafted reworking of Muppet favourites that also shines the spotlight on some extremely underrated modern talents.

I was initially sceptical of the opener, OK Go’s ultra-modern, occasionally bored-sounding rendition of “The Muppet Show Theme,” but it’s not without its charms. And, let’s face it, if the only good thing to come out of it was that incredible music video with all the classic Muppets (and the hilarious twist endings), that’s good enough for me.

But then The Green Album really picks up steam with four great tracks. I knew Weezer had tapped into the Muppet vibe with their great “Keep Fishin’” video (ten years ago already?!) but I was truly touched by their sweet rendition of “Rainbow Connection.” Lead vocalist Rivers Cuomo has Kermit’s innocence and optimism down to a tee, as a soloist and in tandem with Paramore’s Hayley Williams - who astounded me with the depth and tenderness of her voice. The climactic, semi-rocked-up third verse is a great parallel to the way the song builds on The Muppets soundtrack (I can almost picture Animal’s triumphant return to the drums). And that solo harp on the opening and closing is just lovely. I haven’t enjoyed a cover of “Rainbow Connection” this much since Sarah MacLachlan took it on. Beautiful.

I was truly surprised to read the criticisms of The Fray’s “Mahna Mahna” cover, in this thread and on the official Muppet Central review. No offense to those who prefer Cake’s version, but I like this one better - it’s so loyal to the original but tweaks it just enough to make it fresh. I can easily picture all of these guys having a ball recording this.

By contrast, Alkaline Trio and Our Morning Jacket score big-time - and make me want to hear more of their work - by making these covers their own, albeit respectfully so. “Movin’ Right Along” is, at its heart, a fun road-trip song and the clean-but-energetic Alkaline Trio vocals stay true to the original lyrics (right down to the spoken-word interactions) while infusing the track with a trippy rock arrangement. As for “Our World,” I’ll echo DannyRWW’s comments about the cool Beatle aura to this great Emmet Otter tune - OMJ turn it into a wonderful and timeless anthem.

While the odd discordant guitar/feedback sounds late in “Mr. Bassman” throw me off a bit, I enjoy Sonore Lerche’s take on it - completely coloured with the playful spirit of Scooter and Floyd. The Airbone Toxic Event’s reworking of Gonzo’s “Wishing Song” initially left me cold with its mumbling vocal delivery and difficult balance between dance-pop and neo-grunge, but it’s starting to win me over despite the absence of Madeline Kahn and/or a friendly chicken.

The biggest surprise of the album for me was the GMC Electric Mayhem nugget “Night Life,” which I had always written off as a pre-Dubonet Club space-filler. Brandon Saller’s soaring vocals (which remind me of Canadian classic rocker Kim Mitchell) take this fun, high-energy romp to a whole new level and make me want to hear more of Saller’s band Atreyu, and hey, I actually liked his lengthy drum solo. I’m still amazed that Saller and Billy Martin were responsible for all the instruments on this one. Loved their goofy laughter at the end, too. Pure Muppety goodness.

(And, let’s face it, it was worth putting “Night Life” on here just so we could recognize that it was created by the composer of the following track, “Bein’ Green,” and realize just how much Jim Henson and The Muppets have benefited from the genius of Joe Raposo over the last 45 years.)

I find the last three tracks to be a bit too mellow as a trio of album-closers (and I change my mind every five minutes about Rachel Yamagata’s approach to “I’m Going To Go Back There Someday”...I want to give her lovely voice the benefit of the doubt but the arrangement is just a bit too morose for my taste - I’ll always prefer Gonzo on this one).

That being said, Andrew Bird put together a gentle but creative reworking of “Bein’ Green,” staying true to Kermit’s earnestness while upping the musical ante with the jazzy whistling and fiddling solos in the instrumental break. And Matt Nathanson’s sombre solo take on the Kermit-and-Rowlf women-ain’t-nothin’-but-trouble TMM duet “I Hope That Something Better Comes Along” occasionally seems a bit too laid-back, but works overall as a stripped-down presentation of the great original (and cynical!) Williams-Ascher lyrics.

Overall, The Muppets: The Green Album was a gamble that paid off, in my view, and a welcome addition to the Muppet Domination of 2011 (and early 2012). I have a feeling it’s going to be a treasured part of my music collection for years to come.

 

[Nasubionna]

Just got this CD from the local library (though I was a bit hacked off that it was labeled as "children's music"...) and have given it a thorough listen. Here are my opinions, if anyone cares.

1.) Not a huge fan of OK-Go's rather bland take on the beloved theme, but I love many things about the accompanying music video, so I'll forgive it even though I usually skip the track.

2.) I actually kind of cannot stand this cover of Rainbow Connection, because the way they alter some of the sung melody drives me up the freaking wall and it sounds bad when I sing along using the original vocal stylings. I generally skip this one, and wish I liked it more. I prefer the two new Kermit & co. performances on the soundtrack. Nice instrumentation here, though.

3.) I generally skip this track, too. I like the instrumentation, clapping and "doo-doo-do-do-do", but the guy singing the "mahna mahna" parts BOTHERS ME. His voice is grating and he has none of the life and expressiveness that Jim's performance does. This guy sounds bored/intoxicated/half asleep to me. Unimpressed.

4.) "Movin' Right Along" is probably my favorite Muppet Song ever, and I actually like this cover fairly well. While it's missing much of the charm of the original instruments and vocal performances, it's still catchy and fun and I find myself listening to it often and singing along.

5.) Our World. This is not a song I'm familiar with, but I REALLY like it. The lyrics are so Muppety-sweet and pure, and I like the (as someone upthread mentioned) Beatle-esque styling here. This song makes me happy.

6.) Halfway Down the Stairs. I dont' have very strong feelings about this one either way. It's not really a music style that I'm super fond of, but I don't get annoyed by it, so that's something I suppose. I don't usually skip the track, but I usually sing along in Robin's voice in my head.

7.) Mr. Bassman, pretty fun little cover. It's not a style of song that I typically spend a lot of time listening to, so I generally skip it... but I think it's a decent cover of a song I was never all that into to start with.

8.) Wishing Song. I really like this track! It took me a moment to figure out what the heck it was, and then I remembered it's Gonzo's sad little song from the Madeline Kahn episode, which I've always liked. I was surprised and pleased it was included here, and the styling appeals to me pretty well.

9.) I was also surprised to see Night Life on here, too, but I think they did a good job with it. It's a bit jarring for me to listen to that oh-so-recognizable intro music and then some random dude starts singing, because I am SO expecting to hear Dr. Teeth start singing! I sometimes skip this track just because I'm not in the mood to ROCK OUT, but I think it's a well done cover.

10.) This is a sweet little version of Bein' Green. I like the musical styling and instrumentation a great deal.

11.) I didn't really like this version of I Hope That Something Better Comes Along at first... but it's starting to grow on me. I like that they kept it basically a simple piano piece and I like the extra verses... they must have been intended for the original version?? Because the lyrics are perfect, so much so that I was like, "Wait, does he sing about Irish Setters and Collies giving you a 'new leash on life' in the Muppet Movie??" and I had to go watch the movie to check.

12.) I wasn't sure what to think of this version of Gonzo's signature song at first, but it's pretty much totally grown on me. I love her kind of retro-spacey, dreamy instrumentation, the climactic build to the "Come and go with me, it's more fun to share" part, and the long, sweet instrumental break after the "invisible strings". A really lovely, creative cover. In a totally different style, but captures so much of the feeling of the song, to me.

I would be happy if they kept doing albums like this, though I would be even happier if they made the original Muppet versions easily available, too!

 

[Misskermie]

I listen to the slow piano songs when I write fics. There's one thing I didn't like. They changed the words a little when I first listened to it. I tried to sing with it, but some of the words changed. Like in Bein' green, it said "It's all I wanna be" instead of "And I think it's all I want to be"

And OK GO said put on music instead of play the music!

What the heck? IDK why it bothers me. BUT I LOVE THE MUSIC!!!

 

[LouisTheOtter]

Picking up on a recurring theme from the last two posts - I actually didn't mind the slight changes to the lyrics in a couple of these songs (I actually think it's kind of cute when Andrew Bird sings that "it would be nicer being red or gold or aquamarine"), or to the melody in "Rainbow Connection." I have no trouble singing along to the Weezer/Hayley Williams version, and have very happily done so in the car on several occasions since getting this album for Christmas.

I actually had a neat experience with this particular recording of the song a few nights ago when I was hosting a live trivia contest in my hometown. At one point I played clips from 10 movie soundtracks and asked the participants to identify the films, and the Weezer/Hayley Williams clip of "Rainbow Connection" was the last clip I chose. I played the back half of the first verse and when it reached "Someday we'll find it..." a few of the tables full of trivia players actually started singing along, which HADN'T happened with any of the other song clips. A true "Awww..." moment.

Two quick responses to Nasubionna: By now you know that TMM's version of "I Hope That Something Better Comes Along" doesn't have that first bridge ("new leash on life") or the following verse, although it's on the original movie soundtrack. From what I've read over the years, that portion of the song was apparently considered too racy for the movie, which makes sense in a way because Rowlf's "lover and wife" line could be seen as endorsing adultery. (This doesn't explain why it still made it onto the soundtrack, which then won the Grammy for Best Children's Album...weird, eh?)

And I occasionally like the "retro-spacey, dreamy interpretation" and "long sweet instrumental break" from "I'm Going To Go Back There Someday," too. I still prefer Gonzo's version, but this one is growing on me (and my wife actually thought it should be released as a single, an opinion she had about "Our World" and "Wishing Song" too).

 

[Muppet fan 123]

I don't really get why some of the songs were picked.
Nightlife? Mr. Bassman? The Wishing Song?
I do have a few favorites and that's Bein' Green, TMS theme song, and Rainbow Connection. The Album isn't that good so I didn't buy it as a whole but instead only bought the songs that I liked.

 

[Alvin]

I wasn't crazy about the CD either...I hate albums that are done by other artists other than the original. Plus personally the renditions of the songs weren't that great to me.
Rather hear the Muppets do their own songs.

 

[Pinkflower7783]

I'll say it's okay but I'd rather hear Kermit sing The Rainbow Connection.

 

[catherine]

I haven't bought it yet or heard it.

 

[Pinkflower7783]

In my opinion your not missing much but that's just me. *runs and hides incase anyone loves the album*