Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog

Various Artists: Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog — Original Soundtrack [Mutant Enemy, Inc.]

At this point, I assume we’ve all seen Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon’s transcendent web series, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. It’s some of the most brilliant, wickedly clever, and emotionally arresting 45 minutes you’re likely to see this year. Frankly, if you haven’t seen it, I can’t even look at you right now. Seriously. Get away from me.

In any event, much like the brilliant Buffy episode, “Once More, With Feeling,” Mutant Enemy has released the soundtrack to it. In a way, listening to it is even better, since it allows you to follow the lyrics a bit more closely. And make no mistake, the lyrics to these songs are fantastic. While the album is bookended by quick bursts of instrumental score, the meat of the album is the various songs sung by the hapless Dr. Horrible (Neil Patrick Harris), his adorable crush Penny (Felicia Day), and the hysterically funny dopey jock-asshole hero, Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion). All of them hold their own vocally, though NPH is hands down the strongest of the three.

The songs range in track time from 21 seconds to three+ minutes. While the music is relatively simple, consisting of basic instrumental components with some keyboards and digital production, Joss and brother Jed Whedon’s songwriting is the real star, and they make the most of even the shortest of songs. Penny’s 37 second snapshot, “Caring Hands,” is a perfect introduction to her character, which gets expanded upon in her solo “Penny’s Song.” Similarly, Fillion’s sneering voice on his part of “A Man’s Gotta Do” is nothing short of brilliant, though his true moment of glorious assholery is on “”Everyone’s A Hero” (“Everyone’s a hero in their own way / Everyone can blaze a hero’s trail / Don’t worry if it’s hard / if you’re not a friggin ‘tard you will prevail’). While each of the main characters are given their moments to shine, the lion’s share goes to Dr. Horrible himself, who manages to be self-effacing, charming, and soulful in his desperate attempts to be sinister, though his conclusion, “Everything You Ever” is the best — an amazing, tragic and actually quite moving track. There are noticeable stylistic and lyrical similarities between Dr. Horrible and “Once More, With Feeling,” but instead of feeling like Whedon’s treading the same ground, it feels like he’s evolved and improved on the ideas he had in the Buffy episode.

The final standout: The three Whedon brothers (Joss, Jed and Zack) performing the two versions of the “Bad Horse Chorus,” two quickie pieces that will have you rolling (“There will be blood / it might be yours / So go kill someone / Signed Bad Horse!”). Regardless of where your tastes lie, whether you’re a Browncoat of Buffy-ite or a fan of musical theater or none of the above, there’s no denying the allure of this album. So please, by all means run out and track it down, pop it in, sit back and smile for 25 straight minutes. —TK