Writing a thoughtful article about the Shrek soundtrack may seem strange, but trust us, it makes sense. There are plenty of depressing Shrek memes flying around the internet these days. Even though it was a children’s film, the series lasted a long time. Critics always believed that the Shrek soundtrack’s enormous popularity was due to the breadth and range of music featured. Two months after the movie premiered on April 22, 2001, “Shrek (Music from the Original Motion Picture)” hit No. 28 on the Billboard 200 and later scored a Grammy nomination.
Since then, the “Shrek” soundtrack has earned a place in the pop culture zeitgeist to the point that Universal Music Enterprises released a vinyl edition in 2019.
Why is Shrek Soundtrack so Popular?
Joan Jett provides genuine punk, Smash Mouth and Self provide hyper-polished modern rock, and even some ballads and pop-rockers. The massive success of the Shrek soundtrack has been because of the depth and variety of the music presented. This was an album with something for almost every occasion, and the songs were expertly crafted to flow into one another so that tiny kids of all stripes could connect with them.
Shrek soundtrack has something for about every occasion, and the songs were perfectly cultivated to flow into each other such that there were things those little kids of all stripes could connect with. We believe that the soundtrack’s success stems from its simplicity. Bridges are seldom used, and many of the tunes are stupid. It resulted in the creation of an album that children could play at birthday celebrations. This album has a childlike enchantment about it, like that which marked many a suburban American childhood.
It was the type of stuff that drew people to music in the first place, but it was all compacted here. Lyrically, the songs appear to be rather basic as well. It was one of the first songs we could sing along to, in part because the musicians were singing about topics we could relate to. There were a few girlie songs about love or lady power, but many songs were about rock stars and having a good time.
The movie is littered with efficient needle drops, none better than its opening scene. If the soundtrack was gold, then “All Star” was explains that the Smash Mouth anthem was used as temporary filler so the animators would have something to work. DreamWorks hired musician Matt Mahaffey to create a song specifically for the scene, but test audiences continued to prefer “All-Star.” The songs from Shrek’s familiarity immediately pulled viewers in, says Elton, the film’s music supervisor. Shrek’s ending song is ‘I am a believer, which gained so much popularity and is one of the best Shrek songs.
For the first time in our life, we were able to relate to music from Shrek songs, and our talks with members of the 16-25 group appear to confirm this. When we rewatch the original two Shrek movies and listen to Shrek musical soundtrack, we are always struck by how melodic they are in many aspects. Both feature montages and culminate with significant musical moments. There is something undeniably fun about the franchise, and Shrek had a much greater emphasis on music. Shrek songs never felt too corny, but they incorporated the music to capture the listeners’ imagination and added a crucial layer to the film.
It’s rare in this increasingly fragmented generation that you find a piece of content that we can all look back to. I think that might be why this album holds an exceptional place in the hearts of the millennial generation – we have nothing else to bond over, so we choose Shrek. “Shrek found the humorous way to live his life and take his mud baths and be the star of his own movie,” Jenson, co-director of the movie, adds. “The tone of that song just seemed to capture that self-sufficient rebellious celebration of his filthy life.”
