"Hannah Montana: The Movie" s the soundtrack for the film of the same name. The film is an adaptation of the popular Disney Channel original series Hannah Montana, which first aired in 2006. In the television series and film, American singer–songwriter and actress Miley Cyrus portrays Miley Stewart, a girl with a secret double life as the popstar Hannah Montana. Cyrus performs twelve of the songs on the album, seven of which are credited to Hannah Montana. American recording artists Billy Ray Cyrus, Taylor Swift, and Rascal Flatts and English recording artist Steve Rushton also have songs on the soundtrack.
This album was released on March 23, 2009 by Walt Disney Records. All of the songs in the album were approved by the film's director Peter Chelsom. He felt the film needed music that was tightly woven into the film's plot and the character's background. Several producers worked on the album, mainly John Shanks and Matthew Gerrard. Shanks was more involved with Cyrus than the other artists. Meanwhile, Gerrard produced Cyrus' songs as Montana; he previously wrote her hit song "The Best of Both Worlds" (2006). A remix of "The Best of Both Worlds" is featured as the album's closing track. Musically, the album merges heavy influences from pop and country. Songwriters include Cyrus, Gerrard and Swift, among others. The songs' lyrics primarily discuss the film's themes of fame, family, and love.
Contemporary critics were pleased with the album. Cyrus was praised for being natural and reflected while performing as herself. They also complimented Swift's performance and debated if she or Cyrus were more dominant. The soundtrack received a nomination for a 2009 American Music Award for Favorite Soundtrack, but lost to the Twilight soundtrack. Hannah Montana: The Movie reached the top ten in many nations, and topped charts in countries such as Austria, Canada, and New Zealand. In the United States, it peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 and the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. By May 2009, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the album platinum.
The lead single released from the album was "The Climb". It became a chart topping single in the United States at the time and topped Billboard's Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks. Cyrus' "Hoedown Throwdown" was released in March 10, 2009 and reached the top ten on the Irish Singles Chart. The album was promoted through exclusive releases to Radio Disney and live performances at numerous venues. Cyrus performed four songs from the album on her first worldwide concert tour, the Wonder World Tour.
Writing and development[]
Most of the songs on the soundtrack were offered to Peter Chelsom, the film's director, for inclusion on the film. Producer Alfred Gough said, "Peter Chelsom describes the Stewart family [Cyrus' character's family in the film] as a bilingual family whose second language is music, and that's very true in this movie." Chelsom says the film's numerous songs are tightly woven into the fabric of the story and the characters, which is why he believes the film will feel like a musical without being one. "We continuously dance very close to the convention of a musical but are more integrated. Songs are going to sit within the film, not apart from the film. At times, you won't notice the music is happening; it'll just move the story along."
In regards to Cyrus' songs, Chelsom said, "We realized this was an opportunity to move forward with the music, to update it and make it more sophisticated, to move with Miley’s age. I’ve never had a better musical experience on any film." Cyrus noted that most of the songs included on the soundtrack were inspired by the return of Cyrus' character, Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana, to her Nashville roots. She explained, "The soundtrack is all about Nashville, and that's where I'm from, that's my roots. I think that's a lot of the reason I am who I am." Cyrus co-wrote "Don't Walk Away" because it was to be included on her own studio album Breakout (2008). "Hoedown Throwdown", a song in which Cyrus calls dance steps, took much time to write. It became an ongoing collaboration between Chelsom, Cyrus, choreographer Jamal Sims, and the song's writers, Adam Anders and Nikki Hasman.
"Dream" is a cover of the Diana DeGarmo song "Dream, Dream, Dream" from DeGarmo's debut album, Blue Skies. Jessi Alexander said she was inspired to write "The Climb" while driving to the home of her songwriting partner, Jon Mabe. Once she arrived, they decided to write a song about overcoming obstacles. Alexander referred to the process as a form of "therapy". It had initially been passed over by several artists until Chelsom chose it and offered it to Cyrus. Under the name Hannah Montana, Cyrus performs the song "Let's Do This", which was originally written and recorded by American country singer Adam Tefteller. The last track is a remixed version of Cyrus' hit "The Best of Both Worlds" (2006). The song is used as the theme song of the Disney Channel television show Hannah Montana, the basis of the film, and was originally released on the television series' first soundtrack.
Several other artists appear on the soundtrack. Billy Ray Cyrus' song on the album, "Back to Tennessee", is the title track of his eleventh studio album. Written by Cyrus, Tamara Dunn and Matthew Wilder, the song reflects the desire of both Cyrus and his character in the film, Robbie Ray Stewart, to return to their roots. Disney artist Steve Rushton sings "Everything I Want" and "Game Over". Rascal Flatts perform acoustic versions of previous efforts originally released on Feels Like Today (2004) and Me and My Gang (2006). When approached about participating in the soundtrack, Taylor Swift sent her ballad "Crazier" because it "was perfect to fall in love to". Swift also shares a writing credit with Martin Johnson of Boys Like Girls on the opening track "You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home".
Singles[]
"The Climb" was released as the lead single from the album on March 5, 2009 through digital distribution. The song was critically appreciated for its lyrical content and Cyrus' strong vocals. It achieved commercial success and reached the top ten on charts in the United States, Australia, Canada, and Norway, as well as reaching the top twenty in many other countries. In the United States, the song topped Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks for fifteen consecutive weeks.
"Hoedown Throwdown" was released on March 10, 2009.[19] The song managed to make commercial success by reaching the top ten of the Irish Singles Chart[20] and top twenty in numerous regions.[21] After the release of the soundtrack, Disney still kept sending promotional songs.
- Promotional singles
"Crazier" was premiered on Radio Disney and Disney Channel, the latter promoting the home release of the film. The song charting at number seventeen on the Billboard Hot 100,[22] sixty-four in the Australian Singles Chart,[23] sixty-seven in the Canadian Hot 100,[22]and one-hundred on the UK Singles Chart.[24]
- Other charted songs
"You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home" peaked at number seventy-six on the Canadian Hot and at number eighty-one in the Billboard Hot 100.
Commercial performance[]
Hannah Montana: The Movie debuted on the Billboard 200 at number two with 139,000 copies sold on the issue date April 11, 2009. After four weeks of ascending and descending the chart, the album reached the number one position, becoming the first soundtrack of the year to top the Billboard 200. In its fourth week the album sold 133,000 copies, a decline of 32 percent compared to previous week's haul of 196,000. It also topped Billboard Top Country Albumsfor nine non-consecutive weeks and Top Soundtracks for nineteen non-consecutive weeks. After two months, the album became certified platinum for shipments of one million copies by the Recording Industry Association of America(RIAA). The album has sold 2,085,000 copies in the US as of April 2014 and 3 million worldwide. In Canada, the album debuted at number two, and peaked at number one for two consecutive weeks.
Hannah Montana: The Movie made its debut in the New Zealand RIANZ Album Chart at number eleven and eventually topped the chart for a week. It was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) for the shipment of 15,000 copies. In Australia, the soundtrack peaked at number six and was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), selling more than 70,000 copies In Spain, the album debuted at number eighteen and peaked at the top spot for four weeks.The album was later certified platinum by the Productores de Música de España for the shipment of 80,000 copies. In Austria, the soundtrack peaked at number one for one week. and was eventually certified gold for sales above 10,000 Hannah Montana: The Movie also topped the Portuguese chart and reached the top twenty of charts in Belgium, Denmark, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Sweden, and Switzerland.
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