Walt Disney Records releases Patrick Doyle's score for Cinderella. The soundtrack was recorded at Air Lyndhurst Studio in London, and was performed by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by James Shearman and produced by Maggie Rodford...

I've been a fan of Patrick Doyle's music ever since I went to see Carlito's Way (1993) at the cinema. Unfortunately, I've not managed to keep fully abreast of his output, but have enjoyed his scores for Eragon; Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire; Nim's Island, Thor, Man to Man and Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Sadly, while there are some impressive moments in his score for Cinderella, it's all a little too sugary. Now, don't get me wrong, I like "sugary" as much as the next person, but as I listened to this album I could feel early-onset diabetes creeping through my body.

Several of the tracks seemed to be based on the 17th century English folk song / nursery rhyme 'Lavender's Blue' which does dovetail rather neatly with the Cinderella tale, but (having not seen the film) I'm not sure whether this was intentional, or just a coincidence.

Of the 30 tracks (1 hr, 18 min, 20 sec) on the album, there were only really a handful that really stood out. 'The Stag' and 'Who is She' reminded me of Doyle's work on Eragon, but also of note were 'Shattered Dreams' and 'Courage and Kindness'.

There are also a handful of songs on the album. Sonna Rele performs 'Strong'; Lily James give us an auto-tune rendition of 'A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes' and Helena Bonham Carter gives us a wonderfully tongue-in-cheek take on the classic 'Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo'.

Now I know I'm not the target market for the movie, and so I'm sure young girls will get a rush from this heavy slice of sugary sweetness. Everyone else will probably not enjoy this so much.

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Darren Rea