Rent (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2005 musical drama film Rent, based on Jonathan Larson's 1996 Broadway musical of the same name, in turn based on Giacomo Puccini's 1896 opera La bohème. The musical numbers performed by the cast including Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal, Jesse L. Martin, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Idina Menzel, Taye Diggs, Tracie Thoms and Rosario Dawson. The soundtrack to the film was released by Warner Bros. Records on September 23, 2005.

Background Chris Columbus admitted that he was a fan of the original cast album. However, he felt that as the cast album was recorded in three days and the show was ongoing, hence they had a lot of technical problems with the album. He was unhappy with the tracks "Rent" and "Out Tonight" as they are of poor quality and are stronger rock and roll numbers which would have much power if being stemmed. He further thought it leaned slightly "a little too far to the Broadway side of it" which was closer to a really strong rock and roll record. He collaborated with Green Day's record producer Rob Cavallo after listening to the band's 2004 album American Idiot, which he called it as "one of the best sounding rock records I've heard in the last ten years". He further met Cavallo and asked whether he would be interested in doing the film, which he agreed to do so. Jonathan Larson's "Love Heals", which was not used in the Broadway production, was included in the film as well as in the soundtrack.

Reception The music was well received by critics. William Ruhlmann of AllMusic felt that "the soundtrack takes a close second to the original cast recording", praising the vocals, production and recording and rated 4 out of 5 to the album. The Harvard Crimson writer Maura A. Graul also gave 4 out of 5 stars admitting that the soundtrack "delivers a fresh sound from a group of refreshed veterans, as good as they have ever been".

Calling the soundtrack as a "potent mixture of show-tune pop, rock, funk, even tango", Orlando Sentinel called "Seasons of Love", "La Vie Boheme" and "Love Heals" as "clear standouts" of the album. Writing for Today, John Hartl criticised the film's music, saying "A musical lives or dies on the strength of its songs, and the late Jonathan Larson’s rock tunes for Rent simply don’t measure up. The music is more bombastic than melodic; the lyrics are banal and gratingly predictable — an affliction they share with much of the dialogue. Despite its Pulitzer and its Tonys, and despite one catchy number ("Seasons of Love"), it fails to soar."

Track listing

Chart performance

Weekly charts +Weekly chart performance for Rent (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)Chart (2005)PeakpositionUS Billboard 20040US Current Album Sales (Billboard)40US Soundtrack Albums (Billboard)3

Year-end charts +Year-end chart performance for Rent (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)Chart (2006)PositionUS Soundtrack Albums (Billboard)11

Rent (Selections from the Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Rent (Selections from the Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the second album featuring selections of the original tracks used in the film. It was released on October 21, 2005 by Warner Bros. Records.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

+Weekly chart performance for Rent (Selections from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)Chart (2005)PeakpositionUS Billboard 20043US Current Album Sales (Billboard)43US Soundtrack Albums (Billboard)4

Year-end charts

+Year-end chart performance for Rent (Selections from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)Chart (2006)PositionUS Soundtrack Albums (Billboard)10

Extended plays To promote the film, Warner Bros. Records had dance remixes of several of the songs commissioned. Two extended plays of the remix albums were sent to clubs and also made available for purchase on digital download.

Personnel Credits adapted from AllMusic.

Album credits Music, lyrics and concept – Jonathan Larson Producer – Rob Cavallo Arrangement – Rob Cavallo, Tim Weil, David Campbell Engineer – Brian Cometa, Dann Thompson, Elan Trujillo Programmed by – Dorian Crozier Recorded by – Doug McKean Mixed by – Andrew Scheps, Doug McKean Mastered by – Ted Jensen Supervised by – Matt Sullivan Conductor – Tim Weil Coordinator – Cheryl Jenets Design – Orabor Legal affairs (Columbia Pictures) – Larry Kohorn, Shelly Bunge Legal affairs (Warner Bros. Records Inc.) – Ray Gonzalez, Susan Genco Management – Denise Luiso Product manager – Justin "Bumper" Reeve Executive producer – Chris Columbus

Musician credits Acoustic and electric guitar – Greg Suran, Tim Pierce Bass – Paul Bushnell Computer – Dan Chase, Matt Beckley Drums – Dorian Crozier Keyboards, organ and piano – Jamie Muhoberac Percussion – Dorian Crozier

References