picing up a dramatic TV show with musical moments isn't unprecedented—Chicago Hope tried it a few years ago on an episode titled "Brain Salad Surgery," while the short-lived Cop Rock merged the two elements on a regular basis—yet few fans could probably have imagined transforming Buffy the Vampire Slayer into a song-and-dance spectacle. On "Once More, With Feeling," series creator/executive producer
Joss Whedon and the program's actors accomplished the seemingly impossible, balancing charged lyrics with stirring storytelling and uneven but, for the most part, respectable vocal performances.
The soundtrack CD opens with the impressive "Overture/Going Through the Motions," an earnest cue in which Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) bemoans her unwanted resurrection. The mood lightens in subsequent cuts, including "I've Got a Theory/Bunnies/If We're Together," an ensemble piece rowdily performed by most of the show's regular cast, and "I'll Never Tell," a revealing, Broadway-style show tune crooned by Xander (Nicholas Brendon) and Anya (Emma Caulfield). Spike (James Marsters) pleads for emotional tranquility during "Rest in Peace," with the key players regrouping for "Walk Through the Fire" and the thoughtful finale, "Where Do We Go From Here?"
Score selections from three other episodes are featured on the recording, too. Celebrated fourth-season adventures "Restless" and "Hush" are represented by a pair of extended suites, with the lone cut "Sacrifice" highlighting a fifth-year tale, "The Gift." Regular series composer Christophe Beck, who along with various collaborators also produced, arranged and orchestrated all of the "Once More, With Feeling" compositions, penned these works. The disc concludes with a demo version of "Something to Sing About," a duet previously sung by Buffy and Spike but here warbled by Whedon and his wife, Kai Cole.
Fun songs explore feelings and frailties
Some time ago, poet Wallace Stevens wrote that "music is feeling, then, not sound," an assessment that concisely clarifies how a well-crafted composition can combine harmony, melody and, as a rule, lyrics to express sentiments that often cannot be communicated through words alone. In fashioning "Once More, With Feeling," Whedon wisely capitalizes on this observation, using song to divulge intimate emotions and psychological conflicts that, in a typical TV series, would either remain unspoken or, more likely, be presented through exaggerated, soap-operatic histrionics. Notwithstanding a couple of imperfect recitations and one or two so-so stanzas, this work is an inspired, albeit somewhat gimmicky, collection that truly expands and enriches the individual Buffy the Vampire Slayer players and, ultimately, the series as a whole.
"Standing," performed first by Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) and reprised, in part, by Tara (Amber Benson), is among the more prophetic—and heart-rending—tunes, hinting at loss on many levels as both singers separately plead, "Wish I could stay." Benson's enchanting, expressive voice also imbues "Under Your Spell" with passion and pathos, just as Spike robustly but eloquently wrestles with his unrequited love for Buffy on "Rest in Peace." "Something to Sing About" is similarly noteworthy, featuring persuasive lyrics that, though at times marred by Gellar's strained intonations, are perceptive and powerful.
A few verses are mediocre, especially the aggressive and overly cutesy "Bunnies," which disrupts an otherwise strong sequence of cues, while some voices—most markedly those of Brendon and Alyson Hannigan (Willow)—are conspicuously feeble. Yet, excluding a few throwaway cuts like "The Mustard" and "The Parking Ticket," within each work Whedon provides invaluable insight into the psyche of each character. As a result, the "Once More, With Feeling" CD is significantly more than a soundtrack. It's a delightful audio artifact showcasing the creativity, energy and wondrous unpredictability that defines Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
