Disney Descendants Soundtrack (Daynah’s Thoughts)
The Disney Descendants Soundtrack was released during the premier of the original TV movie, and has captured the number one album spot on iTunes. This album is a mix of hip hop, R&B, dance, with a soft ballad.
With catchy tunes like “Rotten to the Core,” it is no wonder the album is a must-have.
The album is 39 minutes long and contains the 13 songs listed below:
Track List
- “Rotten to the Core” Performed by Dove Cameron, Sofia Carson, Cameron Boyce and Booboo Stewart
- “Evil Like Me” Performed by Kristin Chenoweth and Dove Cameron
- “Did I Mention” Performed by Jeff Lewis, Mitchell Hope
- “If Only” Performed by Dove Cameron
- “Be Our Guest” Performed by Mitchell Hope, Spencer Lee, Kala Balch, Marco Marinangeli
- “If Only (Reprise)” Performed by Dove Cameron
- “Set It Off” Performed by Dove Cameron, Sofia Carson, Cameron Boyce, Booboo Stewart, Mitchell Hope, Sarah Jeffrey and Jeff Lewis
- “Believe” Performed by Shawn Mendes
Bonus Tracks
- “Rotten to the Core” Performed by Sofia Carson
- “Night Is Young” Performed by China Anne McClain
- “Good Is the New Bad” Performed by Dove Cameron, Sofia Carson and China Anne McClain
- “I’m Your Girl” Performed by Felicia Barton
- “Descendants Score Suite” Performed by David Lawrence
My Review of the Songs
- “Rotten to the Core” is the addictive tune that introduces you to the villains’ children. They’re trouble, bad, and evil, and they love it. There is just something intriguing when Evie says the lines “So I got some mischief, In my blood, Can you blame me, I never got no love…” Another memorable line is from Carlos when he says “The past is past, Forgive forget, the truth is, you haven’t seen anything yet.” The movie opens up with this song and it really gets you in villainous mood. The song is pumped up with lots of keyboard effects (at times it was too much). It took me a few listens before I got use to the sounds effects.
- “Evil Like Me” performed by Kristin Chenoweth and Dove Cameron is just marvelous. Kristin Chenoweth is wickedly talented and she is great at playing evil as she does with playing good. This song just makes you want to be finger-lickin’ evil to the bone.
- “Did I Mention” is an upbeat love-crazed song that’s definitely fun to dance to. It kind of reminds me of a scene from TV’s Glee where everyone just bursts into song and dance.
- “If Only” is a sweet ballad performed by Dove Cameron. This slow rock melody is absolutely one of my favorite songs in the movie. Mal (Dove’s character from the movie) questions if she should listen to her heart and do what is right, or if she should go through doing what someone else wants her to do. It is a song of self-discovery filled with emotions.
- “Be Our Guest” is a fun acapella hip-hop rendition of one of our favorite classic songs from Beauty and the Beast. It is so catchy that my 3-year-old daughter sings it over and over again.
- “If Only (Reprise)” – I love this song, but the reprise version is way too short for me. It’s about 40 seconds long and I feel like it just leaves me hanging. I understand it was needed to move the movie scene along though.
- “Set It Off” is the big dance number at the end of the movie. It is upbeat and will get your toes and feet tapping the dance floor.
- “Believe” is powerful song about believing in each other and what we can accomplish together. The song was written and performed by Shawn Mendes, who won the Teen Choice award in 2014 for Webstar in Music.
- “Rotten to the Core” performed by Sofia Carson is another one of my favorites on this soundtrack. There is just something about how she sings the lyrics that makes the song so interesting and hard to get out of your head.
- “Night Is Young” has the dance R&B vibe similar to Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, or Lady Gaga. China Anne McClain (from A.N.T. Farm) has maturity in her voice that is beyond her years. You can try to not dance or sing along, but you will have to try really hard!
- “Good Is the New Bad” is a combination of all the strong female vocals on the soundtrack. The song radiates in harmonies and is quite enjoyable to rock to.
- “I’m Your Girl” is performed by former American Idol contestant, Felicia Barton. The rhythm and lyrics are great, except for the part where the backup singers are talking. The song has a 1990’s R&B/pop vibe. One thing I have to question is why this song on the soundtrack. It does not quite fit into the theme of the movie which was mostly about self discovery and the struggles between a broken mother-daughter relationship.
- “Descendants Score Suite” is an orchestral track by David Lawrence. It is soothing and you can feel it taking you through the highs and lows of being part of a fairy tale. I can see this track being used for background music in “Once Upon a Time.”
Overview
My three-year-old daughter really enjoys the album and sings most of the songs on it. When we watched the movie, she got up and started dancing to “Set it Off.” When “Did I Mention” starts playing, she gets into an energetic dancing queen! You can also hear her sing “If Only” and “Rotten to the Core” randomly throughout the day too. This soundtrack is like an instant party.
The overall rating I would give this album is a 3.5 out of 5 stars. The top songs for me are “If Only” performed by Dove, “Rotten to the Core” performed by Sofia, “Evil Like Me” performed by Kristin Chenoweth and Dove Cameron, and “Believe” by Shawn Mendes. It is a great soundtrack that will get your toes tapping every second.
