Cirque du Soleil Album: “Quidam [Enhanced]”

As the very first Cirque du Soleil show I ever saw, Quidam will always hold a special place in my heart. The music, just like the show, is saturated with emotion, passion and a hint of something darker and more surreal. I've always felt that part of the theme of Quidam was to look past the surface into the real core of a person or a situation so you can understand more about it. That way, the situation, or more importantly the person, are no longer anonymous. They have a personality and exist beyond just a shell. The music of Quidam, composed by Benoit Jutras, takes this concept and enhances it with its over-worldly mystery and surreal feel.

Oddly enough, the Quidam soundtrack is actually one of the shortest Cirque du Soleil soundtracks out there. Not only that, but much of the show's music seems to be missing. This may have something to do with the fact that Quidam tends to have re-occurring melodies and similar songs, which serve to amplify some of the themes. However, there are still other songs that the CD leaves out. Also, on a personal note, it's always bugged me that the version of the song "Quidam" on the soundtrack features English and French vocals, while the live version (at least on the DVD and from what I can recall) are solely in French and the CD version of "Let Me Fall" is in English while the live version is in a different language (French, maybe?).

The overall sound of Quidam feels very different from other Cirque productions. Not only is it darker, but it features youthful female vocals (provided by Audrey Brisson-Jutras here) along with background male vocals (provided by Mathieu Lavoie here). The youthful, childish female vocals give the music a more innocent feel but can make the Quidam world seem stranger and more twisted with such an odd concept of innocence mixed with something darker. Highlights of the soundtrack include the sinister "Incantation," the emotional "Let Me Fall," the somewhat twisted "Steel Dream," and the inspirational (as in, always manages to bring tears to my eyes) "Quidam."

While I have to overlook a few things, the Quidam soundtrack stands as one of the most provocative and surreal Cirque soundtracks out there. Filled with a sense of dark innocence and human redemption, Quidam's music will always be a personal favorite, and an amazing journey.