Customer Reviews

Jesus Christ Superstar: A Resurrection (1994 Studio Cast)

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This recording is the most rocking version you'll ever hear of this material. The editorial review above missed the point altogether. What all of these "folkies" did was take all their life long devotion to this rock opera and made one big love letter to it .... and it shows. It's inspired and every single note speaks volumes of their attachment to Jesus Christ Superstar. It's never sounded better. Michael Lorant was a fantastic Judas and the fellow who plays Caiphas(sp) sounded great ... very much as if Tom Waits played the part and, boy, did it sound cool. Kelly Hogan makes a great Simon Zealotes and though I think that the Indigo Girls were a bizarre choice for Jesus and Mary Magdelane, the Jesus part comes off quite nicely, though Mary Magdelane comes off kind of thin ... which is the only criticism I could give at all. "Hosanna" was brilliantly staged as done by a high school marching band and .... well ... I could go on and on, but to give this less than the maximum stars would be a disservice to this remarkable staging of Jesus Christ Superstar. I've heard many versions of this play and this version very much sounds like it was done by people who loved it and not by someone collecting a paycheck. My hat is off to Michael Lorant who was the brainchild of this. I have no idea who he is or what he did before or since, but he did a good thing here.

This truly sounds like a bunch of buds who love Jesus Christ Superstar got together and recorded their own version, with some 90's updates (including a rap of the title song, which is the worst part). The Indigo girls sound great, professional, as polished as they ever pull off, but the rest of the cast is pretty amateurish. I appreciate the enthusiasm, and it does make a nice change, but can't beat one of the cast recordings.

I'm a big musical fan and a big fan of the Indigo Girls. So this is a pretty great combination for me! I've seen Jesus Christ Superstar and heard various versions of the soundtrack and while this one may lack a little of the passion of some of the others, I still really like it and it is the version I like to listen to over any other. However, the reason to buy it is the novelty of having the Indigo Girls performing on some of the songs. You've got to love Amy as Jesus! I think more lesbians should play Jesus in this musical! ;-) If you are looking for a really solid JCS soundtrack and you're not a big Indigo's fan, your best bet is probably the Broadway soundtrack. But if you love the Indigo Girls, you really need to own this CD!

I got this CD simply because I was a fan of the Indigo Girls... I didn't expect that I'd like every song in this 2-disc set. Great sound, great instrumentals in the background, great voices and the work of Andrew Lloyd Webber. Outstanding!

As both a major fan of the Indigo Girls' music and Broadway musicals in general, I was curious to hear how this album would turn out. JCS is not one of my favorite shows -- I'm not much of an Andrew Lloyd Webber fan -- but I hoped the Indigo Girls' musical talents might at least make the album bearable.

I was wrong; they made it sensational! To my utter shock, the album is wonderful! JCS *never* sounded so good; every song has been given a totally modern feel and each and every one of them improves upon the original versions greatly. And don't knock the unconventional casting until you've heard this CD's version of "Gethsemane"-- easily the best version I've ever heard, sung with total raw emotion. It still gives me chills whenever I hear it.

Lloyd Webber should be down on his knees thanking Amy Ray and Emily Saliers for turning his derivative ho-hum musical-with-potential into a full-fledged tour-de-force. Brava!

I'm a big JCS fan from my childhood, when we'd listen to the Original Cast album every Easter. I heard this CD being played in a store one day and recognized the voices of some of the characters as being familiar...but couldn't place them. When the cashier told me it was Amy and Emily---the Indigo Girls---I was hearing, I fairly raced back up to my office and ordered it.

Amy Ray has always been the power voice of Indigo Girls, and as Jesus she makes a great impression. She would also have been very good as Judas I think. Emily, the "softer" sound of the duo, seems ideal for Mary Magdalene, but I was disappointed to find that her normally strong voice seems weak or diminished on this CD. Is this perhaps because of the conditions of the recording itself? I don't know. But she comes off too quiet and almost raspy and is sometimes difficult to even hear.

The other artists on the CD are tolerable, and the music is, as always, incredible. I think any fans of Indigo Girls or the other artists on this album might enjoy this CD if they are also fans of the musical. It's quite a novelty.

I wanted to give this both 1 and 5 stars, because that's what it deserves -- it's both wonderful and awful. The arrangements are unnecessarily alternativized (especially the pseudo-punk "What's the Buzz"), and except the Indigo Girls themselves, none of the voices are up to the challenge. (Especially Michael Lorant as Judas -- as long as they were casting their Atlanta-native buddies, couldn't they get Michael Stipe of REM?) However, fans of either Indigo Girls or JCS should at least hear this album for one thing only: Amy Ray's Jesus. The natural dramatic power of her voice and her extraordinary tenor range serve her well in this role, which she plays simultaneously as written, that is to say as a superstar succumbing to public adoration, and also reminding you that yes, she is a woman playing Jesus. Altogether, though, JCS has always been an extremely limited score, with a few overly obvious melodies distorting what could have been a fascinatingly complex libretto. It takes a cast with musical and acting talent, mastery of technique, and extraordinary vision to pull it off, and this just isn't it.

I loved the Original Superstar, so I thought I wouldn't be too impressed by this. I couldn't have been more wrong. It's FANTASTIC!

Amy Ray as Jesus, definately a good choice with a GREAT voice.
As for Emily Saliers singing "Everything's Alright", her gentle vocals took my breath away.

"Jesus Must Die"...the chorus of "Superstar" sung in the background beautifully done. Another favourite of mine on this album.

Overall, I really was impressed. Well done to all involved in this project.

I have been a fan of JCS for decades, and (oddly enough) also a fan of many of the artists featured on this recording. The reviews of this piece have been either all or nothing and here is the reason: The people who dislike it seem to be fans of the original and the people who love it tend to be people who have never been exposed to it before. Basically, if you are a die-hard JCS purist, you should probably not listen to this quirky, yet artistically rendered, version. However if you come to this recording with an open mind, you are in for a fun ride.

I wasn't nuts about this recording the first time I heard it. However, it grew on me real fast. Nothing will ever be like the original, but this is a very insightful and creative recording.