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Muppets: The Green Album is an album released by Walt Disney Records. It was originally scheduled to come out
in early 2010 and then Fall 2010 but got pushed back to August 23rd 2011. The album contains covers by different artists of various songs from The Muppets and Sesame Street. Amy Lee announced on Twitter that she would be contributing to the album.
Promotion
Walt Disney Records made the entire album available for preview through NPR's First Listen program a week before release.
The music video for "Muppet Show Theme Song" was released online and for purchase on August 19, 2011. On August 31, OK Go and Animal had a live performance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Reception
Muppets: The Green Album received mixed to positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 60, based on 8 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Chrysta Cherrie of AllMusic concluded her review by stating that, "Muppets: The Green Album freshens up the franchise for the newish millennium, and Generation Zlisteners will enjoy hearing current artists in this different context, but other listeners may be left reaching for their classic Muppets fare." A Sputnikmusicreviewer said that "too few of the artists approach the material with the right ideas". Jeremy Frye wrote that the album's potency largely depended on the nostalgia factor; "If you were to see The Green Album sitting on the counter at Starbucks and consider making an impulse buy because you love The Muppets, I’d say go for it. As tributes to significant portions of your childhood go, it could be much worse."
Conversely, Cinema Blend's Joseph Giannone favorably compared the album to The Muppet Show saying that, "Like the original program, The Green Album is an eclectic, smart and eccentric journey through each guest appearance's effort." Consequence of Soundwrote that; "All that's "green" isn’t necessarily gold here, but most of it shines. " Elizabeth Keenan of MTV Geek!, commented that, "The album fits well in the grand tradition of the Muppets' connections with real-world pop culture." Alistair McGeorge described the album in her Female First review as "good for a nostalgic listen, the songs have a surprising amount of strength in this setting, and it's a good collection in its own right." Doug Wortel awarded the album an 8 out of 10, while positively remarking that, "The wonderful thing about The Green Album that sets it apart from those other records, besides the source material, is nearly every performer on this album sounds like they’re having a ball, which is exactly what any Jim Henson fan would want from a record like this."
In regards to the album's roster of artists, Sara Baumberger wrote that the selected songs were paired effectively well. Spin's Mikael Wood praised Andrew Bird's rendition of "Bein' Green" remarking, "Andrew Bird sidesteps the precious self-pity you'd expect from "Bein' Green": His Kermit gets the clever-to-cuddly ratio just right." Web Behrens of Time Out Chicago spoke highly of OK Go's cover; "Layering in everything from electronica to a perfectly quirky "Flight of the Bumblebees" sample, the homegrown band knows just how to push the envelope. We loved it even before we saw the video, which is sure to be another viral hit for Kulash and Company, taking their trippy cover to an even higher level." Peter Chianca of Wicked Local, wrote in regards to Weezer and Hayley Williams' cover; "complete with twittering swamp sounds, approximates the wistfulness that the late Jim Henson brought to the original." Chianca also noted that, "Alkaline Trio’s punky take on "Movin' Right Along" is the album’s standout, riffing playfully on the Kermit-and-Fozzie banter." John Terauds of the Toronto Star commended the album as a whole, highlighting that, "The finest treats come from two of the gentlest and most memorable melodies brought to us by Kermit the Frog: "Rainbow Connection", where Hayley Williams of Paramore sweetly recaptures the original's innocent wonder and longing, boosted by Weezer's pastel-swampy backdrop; and Andrew Bird's clean, frank delivery of "Bein' Green"."
Track Listing
| 1. | "Muppet Show Theme Song" | Sam Pottle, Jim Henson | OK Go | 2:36 |
| 2. | "Rainbow Connection" | Paul Williams, Kenneth Ascher | Weezer and Hayley Williams (of Paramore) | 4:00 |
| 3. | "Mahna Mahna" | Piero Umiliani | The Fray | 2:13 |
| 4. | "Movin' Right Along" | Paul Williams, Kenneth Ascher | Alkaline Trio | 2:33 |
| 5. | "Our World" | Paul Williams | My Morning Jacket | 3:05 |
| 6. | "Halfway Down The Stairs" | Harold Fraser-Simon, A.A. Milne | Amy Lee (of Evanescence) | 2:25 |
| 7. | "Mr. Bassman" | Johnny Cymbal | Sondre Lerche | 2:41 |
| 8. | "Wishing Song" | Paul Tracey | The Airborne Toxic Event | 2:47 |
| 9. | "Night Life" | Joseph Raposo | Brandon Saller (of Atreyu) and Billy Martin (of Good Charlotte) | 2:59 |
| 10. | "Bein' Green" | Joseph Raposo | Andrew Bird | 4:10 |
| 11. | "I Hope That Somethin' Better Comes Along" | Paul Williams, Kenneth Ascher | Matt Nathanson | 2:42 |
| 12. | "I'm Going to Go Back There Someday" |