The multiple award-winning musical Rent is based on opera of Puccini,
La Boheme. It has been playing on Broadway since 1996 and is one of the
longest running shows. In 2005, the movie based on Rent was released
and, like the musical itself, has gained a cult following. The
soundtrack album became available on CD soon after.
The story follows a group of eight Bohemian friends living in modern
New York over the course of a year, specifically 1989-1990. It is a
heartfelt look at ups and downs of life and how the various characters
deal with addiction, loss, relationships, housing, AIDS and the meaning
of life itself.
A number of the original songs were deleted during the movie
adaptation and do not appear on the movie soundtrack in order to create
more space for dialogue and produce a more free-flowing plot. Some
purists or Rentheads feel that the soundtrack is not complete because of
the removal of these songs. For everyone else, especially those who
have not seen the Broadway version, the movie is a brutally honest look
at life with aspects that most can relate to. The Rent movie soundtrack
has the same rock opera feel to it as the original musical score and is
filled with 28 moving, uplifting and ultimately, inspiring songs.
Seasons of Love is perhaps the best known of all of the songs. Unlike
in the musical, this song opens the movie. A re-mixed version,
featuring the legendary Stevie Wonder, was also released. The entire
cast sings and the song revolves around them trying to decide how you
measure a year apart from in minutes. They calculate that there are five
hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes in a year and each
suggests other methods of quantifying a year but reach the conclusion
that love is the one correct gauge of a year in a life of a human.
Seasons of Love is the perfect opening and acts as a teaser to the rest
of the tracks on this compilation.
The original theme song of the musical, Rent, follows as the film
opens in the East Village of New York on Christmas Eve, 1989. Roger and
Mark are trying to avoid being evicted from their previously rent-free
apartment. Another outstanding song on the Rent movie soundtrack is the
duet Take Me or Leave Me where Maureen and her lesbian lover Joanne are
having a quarrel at an engagement announcement party hosted by the
parents of Joanne. The local bar is the perfect setting for the
energetic rendition of La Vie Boheme. It captures the nonconformity of
the main characters, which is further emphasized by everyone dancing on
the tables.
The Rent movie soundtrack is a must-have for anyone who has seen the
movie. Fans of the original musical will also enjoy reliving the songs,
particularly because the majority of the original cast members were
involved in the film and also appear on the movie soundtrack.
