Corpse Bride (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Given its romantic, macabre-lite storyline and stop-motion animation format, Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride can’t escape comparisons with his now-classic Nightmare Before Christmas. Likewise, Danny Elfman’s score comes with similar expectations. But while the onetime Oingo Boingo frontman’s songs and underscore may not have the former film’s evocative holiday cliches to play off, he’s delivered some fine work here, from the orchestral moodiness of cues like “Into the Forest” and “Casting a Spell” to a handful of sprightly tunes highlighted by “Remains of the Day” and Helena Bonham Carter’s “Tears to Shed.” If the film requires Elfman to lean more on underscore than songs here, it also gives him room for some tasty le hot jazz vamping, courtesy of four bonus tracks by the film’s Bonejangles and his Bone Boys.