So I listened to every new song twice today. So without any film context, which is always really important imo, my first impression is it isn't of the standard of the first film, but good and at times very good. You can tell the difference between writing a film where you get to create the characters and music together, and then a film where you are trying to build the music around existing characters. The effortless nature of the first is gone for a lot of it. I am so curious how I feel about it all after seeing the movie next week.
For context my rankings for the first films soundtrack:
1. For the First Time in Forever (A+): Not "Part of Your World" but then again, what is?
2. Do You Want to Build a Snowman? (A+)
3. Let it Go (A)
4. Love is An Open Door (A)
5. In Summer (B+)
6. For the First Time in Forever (Reprise) (B+)
7. Vuelie (B+)
8.Reindeer(s) are Better than People (C+)
9. Fixer Upper(C-)
10. Frozen Heart (C-)
1. All is Found (C): This one feels like a struggle. Both in terms of the content and the performance.
2. Some Things Never Change (B): For the First Time in Forever redux. This feels like a really good holiday special song.
3. Into the Unknown (A-): This is one catchy. The more I listen to it, the more I like it. Its like Let it Go, but I much prefer the instrumentation here. I wonder if I end up liking it more then Let it Go over time.
4. When I Am Older (C+): In Summer redux. Nothing wrong with it, but definitely feels like an attempt to do In Summer again.
5. Lost in the Woods (B+): This one is funky, in a good way imo. Like an 80s rock ballad. Very Styx. Wasn't what I was expecting, but in a very fun way.
6. Show Yourself (A): This, this I quite like. It's the film's, "For Good" and it really works imo.
7. The Next Right Thing (A-): The last song of the film feels very different from what has come before, in either film. To me, this is a proper "musical" number. Not a Disney musicals, but just straight up musicals. The success of the last two songs of the film has quite a bit to do with both being legitimately different from what has come before.