Story Time Classics - Story Time Classics [CD]

Storytime Classics Sing-Along is a young drama queen's (or king's) dream come true. This selection of 12 hits, many of them Disney-derived, gets served up especially for the starry-eyed. The CD's grown-up, from-the-gut voices seem well suited to the soft-favorites radio format, and it's not likely to put a spring in its listeners' steps. It may, however, generate a goose bump or two, particularly among those with a penchant for the kind of fairy tales that can easily clean a person out of their supply of Kleenex. Standouts include "Believe in Yourself" from Aladdin, "(Look at Yourself) You're an Angel" from The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and "A World of Love" from Pocohontas, but the non-Disney offerings ("Don't Talk to Strangers" from Little Red Riding Hood, "With You I Can" from Puff-n-Toot, "You Can Always Come Home" from The Wizard of Oz) also are worthy of special mention. They bring to mind stories that, for no good reason, aren't as often associated with music. To that end, the inclusion of complete lyrics in the liner notes adds to this album's likableness--every story represented by a song on this CD deserves revisiting, but it's especially fun to stumble across the ones more apt to slip through a music collection's cracks. --Tammy La Gorce