Songs From the Neighborhood CD [2005]

I've had a copy of Songs From the Neighborhood: The Music of Mister Rogers for about year. In all honesty, I had never listened to it all the way through until this past weekend and probably won't be listening to it again any time soon. It's just not for me.

 

I certainly appreciate the music from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood -- it's such a large part of what that show was and continues to be. Listening to Fred Rogers sing his own songs is one thing as he wrote them for children and sang them with children in mind. But hearing well-known recording artists perform these same songs does one thing: It takes the child out of the children's music. It takes a simple song and glorifies it into a performance rather than a message.

I fully understand the concept of a tribute album as it should allow for some level of interpretation on the part of the performer. If that is the extent of it, this album has accomplished its goal. For me personally, however, it just doesn't work. The style of the songs throughout this album are all reminiscent of what you might hear as you wait in a dentist's office or maybe during the opening of a Disney movie. The intention here is good, but the product is mediocre.

The bonus DVD leaves just as much (if not more) to be desired. While the interview clips and behind-the-scenes footage are interesting, the quality of the video itself is poor enough that it's almost distracting. Between low-quality editing and laughable effects, this bonus disc sealed the deal for me and doomed this tribute album to a life of collecting dust on my CD shelf.

I applaud producer Dennis Scott and the group of performers he assembled for their efforts in paying tribute to Fred Rogers; however, when it comes to "the music of Mister Rogers", I'll stick with the real thing.