Songs in the Key of Springfield

Songs in the Key of Springfield
Soundtrack album by The Simpsons
Released	March 18, 1997
Recorded	June 1989 – August 1996
Genre	Soundtrack
Length	55:27
Label	Rhino Records
Producer	Danny Elfman, Steve Bartek, Alf Clausen, Anthony D’Amico, Bill Inglot
The Simpsons chronology
The Simpsons Sing the Blues (1990) Songs in the Key of Springfield (1997) The Yellow Album (1998)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Songs in the Key of Springfield is a soundtrack/novelty album from The Simpsons compiling many of the musical numbers from the series. The album was released in the United States on March 18, 1997, and in the United Kingdom in June 1997. This was the second album released in associate with the Simpsons television series; however, the previous release, The Simpsons Sing the Blues, contained original recordings as opposed to songs featured in episodes of the series.

The album was followed by The Yellow Album, a second album of original songs.

Chart performance

Compared to the previous album released in The Simpsons franchise, The Simpsons Sing the Blues, the album failed to match the success of their previous record. It managed to peak at #18 in the United Kingdom, where it would become the last charting album for the franchise in that country.

The album was less successful in the United States, where it peaked at #103 on the Billboard 200. However, it was successful on Billboard's Top Kid Audio chart, where it peaked at #1, becoming the first #1 on that chart for the franchise.

Music

The first track, which is the extended version of the main title theme, notes that it is from the episode "Cape Feare". However, the actual episode does use the extended opening and the same couch gag (the "chorus line" version), but Lisa's sax solo is different from the version heard on the album. Similarly, syndicated reruns of "Cape Feare" replace the whole opening altogether with the couch gag with the Simpsons finding exact doubles of themselves on the couch. However, the opening sequence that matches the one on the CD was used, complete with the same sax solo and couch gag, on the episodes "Monty Can't Buy Me Love", "Simpson Safari" and "The Bart Wants What It Wants", which aired well after the album's release.

Track listing

Cultural reference

The title is taken from the Stevie Wonder album Songs in the Key of Life. Another FOX TV show, The X-Files, had a soundtrack album entitled Songs in the Key of X.

Chart positions

References