The Barbie Album (Best Weekend Ever), by Various Artists

From time to time, I am asked to review soundtrack material, and this material is often of interest to me whether or not I have ever seen or ever want to see the movie. In the case of Barbie, I do not wish to see the movie and have not seen it, but the music from the album appears to be the sort that has attained considerable popularity, with five of the songs from this album hitting the Hot 100, two of them hitting the top ten, and three of them likely to end up on the 2023 Year End Chart. This is not too surprising for a movie as successful as this one, and so even if this album does not include the original version of Barbie Girl, which I recently listened to and ranked down as part of a collection of Aqua’s material, this album is certainly one that I have some interest from the point of view of someone who enjoys pop music and listening to culturally significant music, as well as soundtrack pop in general. Does this album stack up to the hype that it has been surrounded with? Let’s see.

The soundtrack begins with “Pink,” by Lizzo. Lizzo has had a rough time recently, but this song is a smooth nu-disco song that plays up to Lizzo’s message of female affirmation which is lamentably at odds with her own life. “Dance The Night,” by Dua Lipa was the first single from this album and it is a nu-disco song that fits right along with her songs for the last three years or so, a worthwhile hit that focuses on her resolution to dance regardless of the emotional turmoil that she faces. “Barbie World,” an all-too-brief pop rap song by Nicky Minaj, Ice Spice, and crediting Aqua for the interpolation of their original, is another song of female affirmation that plays up to the pink and to the supposed beauty of the barbies. “Speed Drive,” a hyperpop tune by Charlie XCX that has charted in the lower reaches of the Hot 100 for a few weeks, is not particularly original or appealing, but it has a recognizable interpolation of Hey Mickey to make it more accessible, and also plays to Barbie as beauty icon. “Watiti,” by Karol G f/Aldo Ranks, adds some Latin and dancehall-influenced material that focuses on dancing, which is at least on brand here. “Man I Am” is an dark and ominous dance-pop song by Sam Smith, which seeks to present Ken as a sleazy but unstoppable man in a thematic that reveals the gender conflict at the heart of the Barbie World. Tame Impala’s “Journey To The Real World” is a gorgeous synth pop interlude that again appears to be related to the plot of the movie about the relationship between Barbie World and the real world. Ryan Gosling’s “I’m Just Ken” has a suitably epic sound with its obviously amateurish vocal production, and it is the sort of guilty pleasure song it is easy to enjoy. “Hey Blondie” is a rather repetitive indie pop song where the singer tries to charm and flirt with Barbie, which comes off as slightly irritating. “Home,” by HAIM offers a reflective ode to Barbie’s desire to seek home because of the gloominess and unhappiness of the outside world. “What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish shows a sensitive and thoughtful if somewhat self-absorbed reflection of the sadness and existential crisis that Barbie faces in examining her purpose as a toy. “Forever And Again” from Kid Laroi is a surprisingly enjoyable song from an artist I don’t normally like that promises devotion and gives appreciation, which is a nice touch. Khalid’s “Silver Platter” provides a generally enjoyable song that shows the struggle for affection between Ken and Barbie that is again pretty thematically connected to the movie. “Angel,” by Pink Pantheress, is a lovely indie pop song that reflects on love with a high degree of fondness and sweetness. “Butterflies,” by GAYLE, manages to take a familiar song and mostly cover it and somehow make it considerably worse than the original. “Choose Your Fighter,” from Ava Max, adds something that sounds like video game music and which fits in with her general body of work, generally enjoyable. “Barbie Dreams” by Fifty Fifty f/Kaliii brings the listener a k-pop number with an obvious sample and a perfunctory rap verse that fits in with much of the plastic and fantasy attitude of much of this soundtrack, at least the happier side of it. After this Ken Gosling sings a remarkably faithful cover of Matchbox 20’s “Push” which definitely fits the mood of the movie, at least the darker side of it. The album closes with a somber but beautiful cover of “Closer To Fine” by Brandi and Catherine Carlile.

Overall, this soundtrack is definitely a mixed bag. With two notable exceptions, the singles to this soundtrack are definitely among the songs I enjoy more on the album, and there were definitely some surprises that I found to be very interesting and worthwhile as well. Many of the songs on this soundtrack were either covers are had particularly obvious samples and interpolations. Sometimes this was the situation for faithful covers that fit the tone of certain scenes or themes of the movie, while at other times the covers and samples were immensely irritating and detracted from my enjoyment of the soundtrack as a whole. Similarly, some of the originals of the album are strong, with wide representation concerning the different elements of theme and characterization that the album has concerning the plastic world of Barbie with an irritating and insistent form of female empowerment and affirmation that tends to disrespect men. The songs dealing with the misandry of Barbie were, on the whole, very good, even if the space between the various singers responsible was wide. Ryan Gosling does a good job of conveying frustration with Barbie’s disrespect, and this bodes well for a potential future spinoff for his character.