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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
splendid Weill and a splendid memento of the 1980s,
By Macready Lawes (The Acoastal Regions) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill (Audio CD)
Nearly every track on this CD (which includes material left off the original 1985 release) is a gem -- even if some are slightly more precious than others.
Sting's take on "Moritat/Mack the Knife" is deliberately low-key and affectless, a lovely antidote (at the time, and even now) to the jokey, albeit entertaining big-band renderings of Louis Armstrong and Bobby Darin. Lou Reed's "September Song" is an utter delight, as the personification of late 20th-century underworld New York does this set piece from *Knickerbocker Holiday*. Reed's instrumentation echoes John Lennon's last recordings (like the ironically titled "Starting Over") and adds some Stax-Volt-style horns, while his wonderfully world-weary delivery of Maxwell Anderson's cynical *and* sentimental lyrics steals the show. Other great vocal performances are contributed by Stanard Ridgway from Wall of Voodoo, Richard Butler of the Psychedelic Furs (a splendid "Alabama Song/Whiskey Bar"), Marianne Faithful, Tom Waits, Aaron Neville, and a heart-breaking turn by Dagmar Krause on Weill's perfect subversion of the torch song, "Surabaya Johnny." Fine arrangements are supplied by members of the Armadillo String Quartet, who ably explore the minor-key sonorities of the "Youkali Tango"; by Van Dyke Parks, whose music-box renderings of selections from "Johnny Johnson" are both oddly fitting and oddly moving; by John Zorn, who applies his distinctive search-and-destroy, acid jazz approach to "The Little Lieutenant of the Loving God"; by Carla Bley, who lets Phil Woods blow incandescent alto sax on the title track; and by Sharon Freeman, who provides an admirable -- both witty and heartfelt -- showcase for Charlie Haden on lead bass for "Speak Low." I have to confess that Todd Rundgren's version of Macheath's "Call from the Grave" (from *The Threepenny Opera*) disappointed me at first hearing and still does, nearly two decades later: he did this kind of hard rock translation much better with Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Lord Chancellor's Nightmare Song" on one of his own albums and recycles here many of the same techniques and effects. It's still fun, but doesn't supply the punch one expects at this late stage of the proceedings. I don't know whether Weill would "approve" of all these interpretations, but I think his own eclectic sensibilities -- and his embrace of a wide range of popular and mass-market musical forms -- receive fitting tribute on this CD. One minor cavil: the liner notes could be a little more informative about these recordings. One major plaudit: it's magnificent to have these songs well-engineered in CD format; my 1980s-era cassette had been played to death.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another great Hal Willner project,
This review is from: Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill (Audio CD)
If your idea of Weill is the Doors doing "Alabama Song," this is the perfect place to expand your knowledge. Sting's performance of that song is the weakest performance here. Marianne Faithfull's interpretation of 'Ballad Of The Soldier's Wife' is one of her best performances and really captures the pathos of the song, and Tom Waits is great on 'What Keeps Mankind Alive?' For me, a dream project would be a whole CD of the two of them doing Weill.
Just to prove that Weill has a softer side, Lou Reed does the ballad 'September Song' That tells you what kind of disc this is! Lou Reed does the 'soft' pretty music. Because this is a Hal Willner production, and because Willner doesn't want to get too close to the mainstream, this album is more challenging and complex than the later, similar disc from 1997. He produced that one, too, as a soundtrack for a film on Weill's music. That soundtrack is called 'September Songs: The Music of Kurt Weill' and as the title says, it features songs. In fact, many of the same songs are found on both albums. 'Lost in the Stars' features more instrumentals and includes both jazz and classical performances. The result is sometimes a little jarring, but that is very much in keeping with Weill.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Making Weill acceptable for the masses,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill (Audio CD)
If you're not a theater-phile, you might not be aware of Bertolt Brecht's work; however, his musical muse, Kurt Weill, has inspired musicians from all areas of music - the most recent example is the resurgence of cabaret music led by the Dresden Dolls. This is an amazing compilation produced by the same man who last year brought us the music of pirate shanties called "Rogues Gallery". Sting (before he did his own stage version of Three Penny Opera) singing Mack the Knife, Lou Reed singing September Song, Marianne Faithful, Chris Spedding, Aaron Neville- even Weill's beloved Lotte Lenya, they're all here. Its a great pop-y update of this timeless music. Sometimes difficult to get a hold of, I've gone through the cassette, album and now finally have the cd...enjoy
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