"So delighting, it will run for fifty years!"

Firstly, let me state categorically that I'm not a fan of musicals: films where the cast, out of the blue, bursts into perfectly-choreographed song and dance are just too damn silly for my liking. But, the wife adores this one.

Secondly, let me also state that "Moulin Rouge" itself is actually a pretty cool and fun movie, and this is not just on account of Nicole Kidman and its associated camp and glamour, nor really the music itself: it's what's been done to some of the well-known songs and how they are presented (performed in both sound and vision) that is the REAL work of contemporary art.

Additionally, what makes this edition "collectable" is also beyond me since it's really just the originally-released single-disc OST packaged together with the follow-up album (which added the tracks left off the first one) in a cardboard sleeve and tagged with a new catalogue number. If you don't have either, this is obviously the one to get - despite the fact that it does fall short of my personal expectations of what I consider to be the perfect soundtrack: one that totally immerses the listener into the movie itself, complete with key dialogue (such as "Natural Born Killers", "Pulp Fiction" and even "Flash Gordon" have done). Unfortunately those are more the exception than the rule. Nevertheless, most tracks do invoke memories of images from the movie but they're out of sequence, and it is by no means complete... perhaps the idea of this was to supplement the movie, and I will try to consider this as such.

On a positive note, Ms. Kidman is an adequate singer, Ewan McGregor a surprisingly good one, and the whole damn ensemble seems to have had a good time recording these songs... after all, where can you get away with a mix/mash/combo/compilation of songs by Marilyn Monroe, Madonna, Queen, Nirvana, Elton John, DeBarge, The Police, the Beatles, KISS, and U2, all set in a Parisian brothel at the turn of the previous century? And, who'd have ever expected a showtune-type version of "Like a virgin"? Keeping in tune with Madonna, Marius de Vries and Patrick Leonard feature, too - along with a monstrous assembly of other producers, both known and unknown... this thing's a who's who of modern music.
Just about everything from the film worth remembering is included (there are notable omissions though), as well as stuff that simply wasn't in the movie: I mean, let's get real... did Beck, Bono, and Gavin Friday really get to see a rough edit of the movie and were so dumbfounded and INSPIRED that they just had to rush off, book studio time and record their renditions of Bowie and T-Rex classics that didn't end up in the final film (but, outside of the context here, are fairly good on their own)? Speaking of Bowie, he himself features on here quite prominently with several versions of "Nature Boy" "performed" by himself, Ewan McGregor, and other producers - including Massive Attack. It's the collection and variety of artists (in whatever capacity) that appears on here that tickles me pink... Freddie Mercury would certainly have liked it!

My personal cherry on top lies within the very last track (although the mix here is quite different to the one really appearing in the closing credits of the actual film): "Bolero", by one rather elusive fellow by the name of Steve Sharples runs the gamut of the instrumental spectrum and does just that at all paces - a sheer masterpiece reminiscent of Danny Elfman and Rob Dougan.