Customer Reviews

Jesus Christ Superstar

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Of all the JCS recordings I've heard, this one is probably the most uniformly satisfying. The Original Concept has a whiny Jesus and a laryngitic Judas; the movie soundtrack has an awesome Jesus and Pilate, but a bad everything else; the new cast recording has an awesome Mary, but a screechy Jesus and Judas. In this one, there is not one bad singer in the bunch. While Dave Willets does snarl a lot, I think his angry take on the role is quite interesting. Clive Rowe has a great voice as Judas, but becomes very unintelligible on higher notes, which makes him sound a little ridiculous. Issy Van Randwyck and Ethan Freeman are the real stars here, though. Ethan Freeman is, by far, the best Pilate I've heard, and Issy Van Randwyck really steeps herself into the part. This recording is not as bad as everyone says it is. However, it migh not be your cup of tea. But listen to the samples here, and you might like what you find.

He also played Jesus of Nazareth in the touring version that featured Keith Burns as Judas & Sarah Brightman as Mary Magdalene. I was delighted to see this recording on tape given to me.

i LOVE jcs, but this is just awful. i just dont even believe how bad this is... it doesnt sound like these people are singing, it sounds like they are dying slow deaths. oh, i just cant even believe it.

I have every version of Jesus Christ Superstar to date. (March 2006) I am a musical theatre student, opera tenor, and I own my own theatre company so I have a pretty good idea of what's hot and what's not. This version is not. Jesus possesses a decent voice, but growls too much, and skimps out on the higher notes - Garden of Gethsemane in particular, which defeats the purpose of the role. Judas has a good voice, but struggles to ennunciate while singing the higher parts, he does put an interesting spin on the music though, a little "off the page" if you will. Pilate is good, so is Mary, and Caiphas. The orchestra is terrible. They have some bright points but the drummer sounds inexpirienced and half the time you would think they do not have a bassist. The title of the show is "Jesus Christ Superstar: A Rock Opera." This version is a musical, they're missing the "rock." If you're a collector like myself it will be worth something to you, otherwise, save your money. Truly, I've never heard a perfect version, the 1996 London Cast comes closest - Steve Balsamo with his 4 and 1/2 octave range and an incredible orchestra make this happen - buy that version if you're short on cash.

...then this one is for you. It sounds like Clive Rowe and Dave Willets recorded their vocals in their basement because they think they are great singers, with no one there to tell them what they are doing well/wrong. They have decent voices, they just have no idea what to do with them. This seems to go for the entire cast. Granted, I have quite a few versions of JCS, so I am rating relative to those, which are far superior...even the Resurrection including Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls and the Glenn Carter version (2000 Revival), both also terrible in their own, special ways. The original concept album, the original movie version, and the 96 London cast are easily the best relative to each other. So buy this one for a laugh...a very, very expensive, one-time laugh.

I picked up this CD one day because 1) I love JCS and 2) I love hearing different versions of it. Of all the versions i have (now 7) this is far and away the worst. While Dave Willets was said to be a good jesus in his time, he is not on this album. The judas, while possesing a good voice, doesn't quite "get" the feel of the music. The orchestra is good but, honestly, it just doesn't sound like rock and roll, which is what this opera is meant to be about.

You know, 1995 was a bad bad year for this musical. All of the recordings I have heard form this year are bad, rotten, junk, garbage, etc... This is no exception. Judas needs have passion and range, and this Judas has wailing and a tons of missed high notes. What confuses me is how do these studio albums make it out of the studio. One of these musicians or technicians has to have perfect pitch, heck, normal pitch; and anyone listening to this in the first minute is going to realize that this studio recording missed wide. Not to mention the stylings of Rowe are abysmal.

Ugggg... again....

this is an incredible collection of vocal performances, Andrew Lloyd Webber was in a very creative mood when he first composed these awesome arrangements and unusual chord changes. way beyond typical rock of the time, and the vocals will never be equalled.