tick, tick… BOOM is a charming musical which serves as a great breather in the midst of the sea of Korean dramas and action flicks released from Netflix. It tells the musical journey of real-life musical creator Jonathan Larson, the creator of the hit Broadway musical, Rent. At the heart of tick, tick…BOOM is of course the beautiful music that brings it to life, given that it is a musical film. Even though the film is excellent, it’s not realistic to watch every day. So, if you want to brighten your afternoon with the beautifully crafted notes and vocals of a world-class musical, the tick, tick.. BOOM soundtrack is waiting for you to devour and listen to.
A Brief Background on the Tick Tick Boom Film
In a fictional manner, the film explores the challenges that Larson faced as an artist, including the need for financial stability as he simultaneously struggled to keep the dream of pursuing a career in the arts. The film boasts excellent acting and music which enabled tick, tick… BOOM in garnering relatively positive reviews including an average score of 7.7 and 88% in IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes respectively.
Thoughts on the music
The soundtrack was produced by Grammy, Tony and Emmy winners Alex Lacamoire and Bill Sherman along with Kurt Crowley, mixed by Grammy winner Greg Wells and music supervised by Grammy winner and Emmy nominee Steven Gizicki. In addition to the digital release, the album is set to be released in physical formats, with its CD out now and vinyl arriving in 2022, which you can preorder here. tick, tick… BOOM! (Netflix film) Official Soundtrack is out now on all digital music platforms worldwide via Sony Music Masterworks.
The soundtrack like most musicals features an amazing list of songs that highlights a fantastic story and dialogue which are expressed with the accompaniments of great beats and rhythms. Here’s a couple of stand out songs from this very colorful album that we recommend for you to listen to:
30/90
An easy standout in the soundtrack would be 30/90, a piece telling the life of a struggling artist, including Jon’s lack of achievement at age 30. It’s a strong opening, reminiscent of Rent’s beat. This adds a poetic element to the entire construction of each song as the influences from Larson’s opus helps in telling his very story. Andrew Garfield’s vocals are very authentic, making the listener empathize with the character. It was actually surprising on our part to hear the actor’s amazing vocal ability which has definitely won us over to the point of craving for more from him in the future. The lyrics tackle the fact that pursuing a creative career comes with the feeling of frustration at times, the catchy melody counterbalances in all by creating a light atmosphere that fills your screen and speaker with the magic of musical theater.
Louder Than Words
Louder Than Words is a very inspiring anthem about creativity, aspirations, and dreams, which explodes with so much positive energy. Hearing it for the first time is amazing which will prompt you to listen to it again and again. This track exudes so much creativity as well with artistically expressed lyrics from lines such as “Cages or wings? Which do you prefer? Ask the birds”. The build-up in the melody and storytelling nature of the song is close to perfect as well especially when the complimentary vocals of Hudgens and Garfield kicks in which has an almost vocal showdown element to it.
These two tracks just barely scratch the surface of what the entire album offers which serves as an extended experience that goes side by side with the film. The tick, tick Boom soundtrack features 13 songs with 4 bonus numbers for a total of 17 tracks. The bonus tracks include a special end credits reprise of Come To Your Senses featuring multi-Grammy-nominated powerhouse singer/songwriter Jazmine Sullivan and a cover version of the previously unreleased Jonathan Larson song, Only Takes a Few performed by acclaimed folk band The Mountain Goats.
The vision and directing prowess of Lin Manuel Miranda is clearly seen in this new endeavor that he has taken and we are just fans of great minds who take bold strokes to creatively showcase music and stories.
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