Rent (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Rent (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2005 musical drama film Rent, based on Jonathan Larson's 1996 Broadway musical of the same name, in turn based on Giacomo Puccini's 1896 opera La bohème. The musical numbers performed by the cast including Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal, Jesse L. Martin, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Idina Menzel, Taye Diggs, Tracie Thoms and Rosario Dawson. The soundtrack to the film was released by Warner Bros. Records on September 23, 2005. Background 
Chris Columbus admitted that he was a fan of the original cast album. However, he felt that as the cast album was recorded in three days and the show was ongoing, hence they had a lot of technical problems with the album. He was unhappy with the tracks "Rent" and "Out Tonight" as they are of poor quality and are stronger rock and roll numbers which would have much power if being stemmed. He further thought it leaned slightly "a little too far to the Broadway side of it" which was closer to a really strong rock and roll record. He collaborated with Green Day's record producer Rob Cavallo after listening to the band's 2004 album American Idiot, which he called it as "one of the best sounding rock records I've heard in the last ten years". He further met Cavallo and asked whether he would be interested in doing the film, which he agreed to do so. Jonathan Larson's "Love Heals" was included in the film as well as in the soundtrack as it was not used in the Broadway production. Reception 
The music was well received by critics. William Ruhlmann of AllMusic felt that "the soundtrack takes a close second to the original cast recording", praising the vocals, production and recording and rated 4 out of 5 to the album. The Harvard Crimson writer Maura A. Graul also gave 4 out of 5 stars admitting that the soundtrack "delivers a fresh sound from a group of refreshed veterans, as good as they have ever been". Calling the soundtrack as a "potent mixture of show-tune pop, rock, funk, even tango", Orlando Sentinel called "Seasons of Love", "La Vie Boheme" and "Love Heals" as "clear standouts" of the album. Writing for Today, John Hartl criticised the film's music, saying "A musical lives or dies on the strength of its songs, and the late Jonathan Larson’s rock tunes for Rent simply don’t measure up. The music is more bombastic than melodic; the lyrics are banal and gratingly predictable — an affliction they share with much of the dialogue. Despite its Pulitzer and its Tonys, and despite one catchy number ("Seasons of Love"), it fails to soar." Track listing

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Rent (Selections from the Motion Picture Soundtrack) 

Rent (Selections from the Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the second album featuring selections of the original tracks used in the film. It was released on October 21, 2005 by Warner Bros. Records. Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Extended plays 
To promote the film, Warner Bros. Records had dance remixes of several of the songs commissioned. Two extended plays of the remix albums were sent to clubs and also made available for purchase on digital download. Personnel 
Credits adapted from AllMusic. Album credits 
 Music, lyrics and concept – Jonathan Larson
 Producer – Rob Cavallo
 Arrangement – Rob Cavallo, Tim Weil, David Campbell
 Engineer – Brian Cometa, Dann Thompson, Elan Trujillo
 Programmed by – Dorian Crozier
 Recorded by – Doug McKean
 Mixed by – Andrew Scheps, Doug McKean
 Mastered by – Ted Jensen
 Supervised by – Matt Sullivan
 Conductor – Tim Weil
 Coordinator – Cheryl Jenets
 Design – Orabor
 Legal affairs (Columbia Pictures) – Larry Kohorn, Shelly Bunge
 Legal affairs (Warner Bros. Records Inc.) – Ray Gonzalez, Susan Genco
 Management – Denise Luiso
 Product manager – Justin "Bumper" Reeve
 Executive producer – Chris Columbus

Musician credits 
 Acoustic and electric guitar – Greg Suran, Tim Pierce
 Bass – Paul Bushnell
 Computer – Dan Chase, Matt Beckley
 Drums – Dorian Crozier
 Keyboards, organ and piano – Jamie Muhoberac
 Percussion – Dorian Crozier

References 

2005 soundtrack albums
Warner Records soundtracks
Scenes of Bohemian Life
Musical film soundtracks
Cast recordings
Albums produced by Rob Cavallo