Honestly, remaking a masterpiece is a terrifying gamble. When Disney announced a 2017 reboot of their 1991 crown jewel, the biggest question wasn't about Emma Watson's dress or the CGI furniture. It was about the music. The live action Beauty and the Beast soundtrack had to carry the weight of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken’s original genius while somehow justifying its own existence in a digital age. It's a tall order. You're basically asking a new generation to accept a different version of their childhood.
Some people love it. Others? Not so much.
The 2017 score, handled by the returning Alan Menken, isn't just a carbon copy of the animated classic. It’s longer. It’s denser. It’s got three brand-new songs that change the entire pacing of the story. While the 1991 version is a tight, theatrical sprint, the live-action companion feels more like a sprawling operetta. It’s more ambitious, sure, but that ambition comes with some pretty significant trade-offs that fans are still arguing about on Reddit and music forums years later.
The Auto-Tune Elephant in the Room
Let’s just get the awkward part out of the way first. When the first clips of "Belle" dropped, the internet had a collective meltdown over Emma Watson’s vocals. It’s no secret that Watson isn't a Broadway-trained powerhouse like Paige O’Hara was. She’s got a sweet, folk-adjacent voice, but the production team leaned heavily on digital pitch correction.
You can hear it.
If you listen closely to the transitions in "Something There," the vibrato feels a bit... mechanical? It’s a stylistic choice that aimed for a "modern" pop sound but often collided with the lush, orchestral arrangement. In contrast, Dan Stevens (the Beast) surprised almost everyone with his baritone range. His performance in "Evermore"—a song written specifically for this film—is arguably the vocal highlight of the entire project. It’s raw. It’s emotional. It actually feels like it belongs in a stage musical.
New Additions That Actually Work
Adding new songs to a "perfect" tracklist is risky business. Usually, it feels like filler. But Menken and lyricist Tim Rice (who stepped in because the legendary Howard Ashman passed away in 1991) actually managed to add some necessary depth.
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- "Evermore": This is the Beast's big moment. In the original, he doesn't even get a solo. He just watches Belle leave. Here, we get a sweeping, tragic ballad that explains his internal shift from a prisoner-taker to a man who truly loves someone enough to let them go.
- "Days in the Sun": This one replaced "Human Again" (which was in the Broadway show but not the original theatrical cut). It’s a melancholic look at the servants' childhoods. It makes the stakes feel higher because we see what they actually lost.
- "How Does A Moment Last Forever": This serves as the emotional "parental" theme, appearing as a music box melody and later a full song about Belle’s father and her childhood in Paris.
These tracks don't just exist to sell more CDs. They flesh out the backstory. They explain why the Beast is so bitter and why Maurice is so protective. Without them, the 2017 film would just be a hollow imitation. With them, it becomes a slightly different story about grief and memory.
The Production Quality is Outrageous
Whatever you think of the singing, the orchestration is undeniably massive. We’re talking about a full symphony orchestra recorded at Abbey Road Studios. The "Be Our Guest" arrangement in the live action Beauty and the Beast soundtrack is an absolute sensory overload. It’s faster, the percussion is crispier, and the layering of instruments is so thick you almost need to listen to it five times to catch everything.
It’s loud. It’s proud. It’s very, very Disney.
Director Bill Condon clearly wanted the music to feel cinematic rather than just theatrical. He pushed for a soundscape that matched the "rococo on steroids" visual style of the film. This means more strings, more brass, and a lot more reverb than the 1991 version. If the original soundtrack was a cozy fireplace, the 2017 version is a massive ballroom chandelier. Both are beautiful, but they hit your ears in completely different ways.
Why Some Fans Prefer the 1991 Original
Nostalgia is a hell of a drug, but it’s not just about memories. The 1991 soundtrack has a "theatrical grit" that the 2017 version lacks. Howard Ashman’s lyrics were sharp, funny, and incredibly efficient. Every syllable moved the plot forward. In the live-action version, some of that wit gets buried under the sheer volume of the production.
Take "Gaston," for example. Josh Gad (Lefou) and Luke Evans (Gaston) are fantastic performers with legitimate musical theater backgrounds. They bring a lot of energy to the tavern scene. However, the 2017 version includes "deleted" lyrics from Ashman’s original drafts—lines about Gaston hunting and his "layers" of masculinity. While it’s cool for historians to hear those lost verses, some critics argue it makes the song drag.
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The original was 3 minutes and 40 seconds of pure, punchy character building. The new one is nearly 5 minutes. Does that extra minute make it better? Or just longer?
Technical Nuances of the 2017 Recording
If you’re an audiophile, there’s a lot to dig into here. The mixing on this album is fascinating because it tries to balance live-set recordings with studio overdubs. Most modern movie musicals do this, but with the live action Beauty and the Beast soundtrack, the gap between the "natural" sound of the actors and the "polished" sound of the orchestra is quite wide.
Kevin Kline’s performance of "How Does A Moment Last Forever (Montmartre)" is a great example of a more "natural" vocal. It’s quiet, intimate, and feels like it’s actually happening in the room. Then you flip to the end-credits version by Celine Dion—the queen of Disney power ballads—and you’re launched into a completely different world of high-gloss pop production.
It’s a bit of a sonic roller coaster.
- The cast recordings provide the narrative backbone.
- The score-only tracks by Alan Menken highlight the "Rose" theme and the "West Wing" motifs.
- The "pop" covers (Celine Dion, Ariana Grande, John Legend) are designed for radio play.
This three-pronged approach is how Disney ensures the soundtrack stays relevant across different platforms, from Spotify playlists to movie theaters.
Comparing the Title Track: 1991 vs 2017
We have to talk about the title song. "Beauty and the Beast" is arguably one of the greatest songs ever written for film. Angela Lansbury’s version is iconic because it sounds like a grandmother telling a bedtime story. It’s gentle. It’s wise.
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In the 2017 film, Emma Thompson (Mrs. Potts) takes the lead. She does a wonderful job, bringing a slightly more "maternal" and "cockney" vibe to the role. But the arrangement behind her is much more grand. There’s a sweeping violin section that kicks in during the dance that almost drowns out the intimacy of the moment. It’s a trade-off: you get more "epic" scale, but you lose some of the "heart" that made the original so devastatingly simple.
Then there’s the Ariana Grande and John Legend cover. It was a bold move to try and follow Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson. Ariana’s vocal runs are impressive, and Legend brings a soulful smooth texture to it, but for many fans, it felt a little "over-produced" compared to the 90s R&B classic. It’s a matter of taste, really. Do you want 90s soul or 2010s pop-soul?
Actionable Takeaways for Listeners
If you’re looking to really appreciate what went into this production, don’t just shuffle it on a low-quality speaker.
- Listen to "Evermore" first. It is the strongest addition to the Disney canon from this film and showcases the best of what the live-action format can offer.
- Compare the "Overture." The 2017 soundtrack features a beautiful overture that wasn't in the original movie. It’s a great way to hear how the different themes are interwoven by a modern orchestra.
- Check out the Deluxe Edition. It includes Alan Menken’s demo recordings. Hearing the composer himself sing these songs at a piano gives you a much better sense of the "soul" of the music before the big-budget production took over.
- Watch the "Gaston" sequence with headphones. The foley work (the sounds of clinking mugs and stomping feet) is mixed perfectly into the music, making it a masterpiece of sound design.
The live action Beauty and the Beast soundtrack isn't trying to replace the original. It’s an expansion pack. It’s a way to see the same story through a more ornate, slightly more complicated lens. While the vocal processing on some tracks might be a turn-off for purists, the depth of the orchestration and the brilliance of the new compositions ensure that it stands on its own as a significant piece of musical cinema.
Whether you're a die-hard fan of the 1991 classic or a newcomer who prefers the modern aesthetic, there's no denying the craft involved. It’s a massive, expensive, and deeply felt tribute to one of the greatest stories ever told. Take the time to listen to the lyrics—especially the ones you don't recognize. You might find a layer to Belle or the Beast that you never knew existed.
To get the most out of your listening experience, try playing the original and the remake versions of "Belle" back-to-back. You'll notice how the 2017 version adds more environmental noise—chickens, wagons, bustling crowds—to make the village feel like a real, living place rather than just a stage set. It’s these small details that define the live-action era of Disney music.