Hazbin Hotel: Season One＜Colored Vinyl＞

Hazbin Hotel is a musical adult-animation series set in Hell, and Hell has an overpopulation problem. The opening, exposition-heavy songs of Season One establish that the princess of Hell, Charlie Morningstar (voiced by Erika Henningsen of Broadways Mean Girls), has a dream of opening a hotel to rehabilitate sinners in hopes of staving off a deadly annual cull, and instead sending surplus residents to Heaven. If the premise sounds over the top, get a load of the profanity-laced show tunes that comprise the series soundtrack. Composed by the songwriting team of Andrew Underberg and Sam Haft, the songs from Hazbin Hotel: Season One were first released as three sequential EPs, with Part 1 including such spirited cast numbers as the "Hell Is Forever," the Henningsen-led power ballad "It Starts with Sorry," and the Randy Newman-esque streaming sensation "Loser, Baby," delivered by beloved actor Keith David (as Husk) and relative newcomer Blake Roman (Angel Dust). Part 2 covers tracks including the Tin Pan Alley feature "Hells Greatest Dad," "More Than Anything" (a rare earnest moment), and the bawdy "You Didnt Know." Glee alumnus Darren Criss makes his Hazbin soundtrack debut on "Welcome to Heaven," playing Saint Peter. The final third of the album is highlighted by a Daphne Rubin-Vega (Rent, The Rocky Horror Picture Show) showcase, the Latin dance-pop-minded "Out for Love." Also included are the carnivalesque "Ready for This," and, following tragedy, a motivational "Finale" that looks forward to a confirmed second season. Both the Part 1 and Part 2 EPs cracked the Billboard 200 before the complete season soundtrack made it all the way to number 13. ~ Marcy Donelson