Various - The Greatest Showman Reimagined (LP)

The Greatest Showman was already a juggernaut, so when Atlantic pulled together The Greatest Showman Reimagined in November 2018, it felt like a victory lap with a fun twist. Rather than padding the original’s glittery show tunes, the label handed Benj Pasek and Justin Paul’s songs to a cross‑section of pop and indie names and let them run. It is a covers record, sure, but it works because the material was built for big voices and bold takes. That spirit carries through almost every cut here.

Panic! at the Disco open with The Greatest Show, and it is a riot. Brendan Urie belts like he is auditioning for centre stage under real circus lights, stacking harmonies and drums into a stadium‑sized stomp. It keeps the swagger of the film version but shapes it into something that would make sense between their own hits on tour. As a tone setter, it says the quiet part out loud, this album is about spectacle.

P!nk’s spin on A Million Dreams lands on the other end of the scale. She leans into warmth, keeping the verses intimate, then lifts the roof on the choruses the way only she can. The real heart‑tug arrives with Willow Sage Hart’s short reprise. Hearing that tiny voice echo her mum’s hook would be corny if it were not so genuine, but it is, and the song gains a new shade because of it. If you have worn out your original soundtrack, this version feels like a fresh coat of paint rather than a copy.

Kelly Clarkson takes on Never Enough and reminds you she came up singing power ballads that could level arenas. She does not overdo the vibrato or chase melisma, she just plants her feet and delivers. It is a faithful read, yet her tone carries enough grit to give the lyric a human edge. Sara Bareilles does the opposite with Tightrope, stripping it back to piano, hush, and careful phrasing. She finds the vulnerability in the lyric and leaves plenty of space around it, which suits the song just fine.

The collaborative casting pays off elsewhere too. MAX and Ty Dolla $ign flip The Other Side into a glossy R&B shuffle with a sly bounce, while Years & Years link up with Jess Glynne on Come Alive and pour a bright UK pop sheen over the arrangement. You can hear studio finesse at work, chorus layers clicking into place, synths tucked neatly behind the vocals. None of it feels cynical, just a set of artists who know their lane and are happy to colour the outline in their own tint.

Rewrite the Stars was always built for a radio duet, so handing it to James Arthur and Anne‑Marie was a neat call. Their voices knit together in that slightly raspy, slightly pristine way that UK pop listeners love, and it became a proper chart moment there. If you need a single track to test the waters before buying The Greatest Showman Reimagined vinyl, start here, then jump back to the opener and ride the whole thing through.

The album saves one of its boldest flips for This Is Me. The original won a Golden Globe and scored an Oscar nomination, so the stakes were high. Keala Settle returns, now flanked by Kesha and Missy Elliott on The Reimagined Remix, and the trio push it from Broadway heart‑sweller to a rallying cry with a hip‑hop pulse. Missy steps in with quick wit, Kesha belts with the defiance she brought to her own comeback, and Settle anchors it with that unmistakable timbre. Different energy, same catharsis.

Zac Brown Band close things out with From Now On, tilting the tune toward roots rock with chunky guitars and an open‑road backbeat. It is a reminder that these songs are sturdy enough to survive genre travel, and that a good chorus will sing no matter the instrument list.

For anyone hunting around a Melbourne record store, this is one of those sleeves you spot, smile at, and pull out without overthinking. It is also a solid gateway if you are looking to buy various artists records online, because it shows how a themed compilation can still feel coherent. The Greatest Showman Reimagined vinyl is not about deep collector cuts, it is about standout performances you will throw on when friends are over. If you collect various artists albums on vinyl, it sits nicely next to pop tribute sets and soundtrack curios, and it keeps the room buzzing from needle drop to run‑out.

The idea of re‑cutting a soundtrack that was already a phenomenon could have gone wrong in a dozen ways. What makes this one stick is taste, a good brief, and singers who clearly respect the bones of the songs. Whether you first met these tunes in the cinema or came in via radio, there is enough personality here to justify a place on the shelf, and it plays beautifully with a lazy Sunday stack of vinyl records Australia wide.