Customer Reviews

Oliver! (1968 Film Soundtrack)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

There have been a few remakes over the years, and even this, too, is a remake. In general, due to the musical power of Lionel Bart, they all work. However, this is the one which won the awards and the hearts of listeners.

Why?

It sounds like it is fresh out of the box, without that contrived, "trying to sound like Broadway" vocalized music. These guys are singing, not just putting notes to words. Their accents are believable and never forced.

I first had "Oliver!" in LP form when I was a child, back when vinyl was the thing. The CD is great, but could be brighter. Hopefully, a better version is on its way. If they can fix that, my four stars will become six.

"Food, Glorious Food/Oliver!" -- This is the famous song about wanting what rich man have, indigestion!

"Boy for Sale" -- It is what you think, child slavery in Merry Ol' England. It is sing somber, cold and bitter.

"Where Is Love?" -- Oliver asks the eternal question, wandering empty and missing the family he never had. You can feel his pain and loneliness, a theme known by every character from Fagin to the Dodger.

"Pick a Pocket or Two" -- Fagin remarks his angst against society, and his response to poverty. He's half Pied Piper, half Robin Hood, and half mob boss and 100% bad. His voice is rich and layered.

"Consider Yourself" -- The Artful Dodger lets Oliver knows that family is family, even when they aren't family. Catchy song.

"I'd Do Anything" -- The Dodger and Nancy declare their bond of friendship, and Oliver and Fagin chime in.

"Be Back Soon" -- The song seems at first like it was tossed in, but Moody's elocution is perfect.

"As Long as He Needs Me" -- Nancy sings about her love for her thieving, deceitful man, Bill. Her love is buoyed by codependency and insecurity.

"Who Will Buy?" -- Mark Lester's quiet, meek voice is perfect for the role of Oliver Twist.

"It's a Fine Life" -- How living the simple life is not as bad as it seems, but aren't sure things couldn't be better. Fagin and Nancy, and the cast of children dialogue through song. "If you don't mind having to deal with Fagin. It's a fine life!"

"Reviewing the Situation" -- Fagin asks, "I'm reviewing the situation. Can a fellow be a villain all his life?"

"Oom-Pah-Pah" -- Nancy leads the chorus in a beer lifting song that is fun all the way through.

Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com

I have had this CD for years now, and among all my motion picture soundtrack CD's, I would have to say that the sound quality on this so-called "remastering" is unimpressive. This may partly be the fault of the film. I remember that when I first saw it at an old-fashioned movie palace on its original roadshow release, the sound was impressive, but not as impressive as it could have been, even in a huge theatre. I wasn't as overwhelmed by the stereo and the sheer majesty of the sound as I was when I saw similarly shown films like "The Sound of Music" and "Camelot", or "Ben-Hur" upon its 10th anniversary re-release. And even on its VHS releases, the stereo in "Oliver!" does not sound as "bright" or "spectacular" as other similarly recorded films.

However, remastering SHOULD improve the sound. Instead, the sound on this CD leaves you with a feeling of "Why did they bother?" It isn't BAD sound, really, just not nearly as good as it could have been, especially with the technological advances of the last twenty years, and ESPECIALLY in view of the fact the three greatest Rodgers and Hammerstein soundtrack albums, all made more than a decade before "Oliver!" have all been recently re-mastered so that they now sound as good or better than "Oliver!" And it would help greatly if an expanded version of the "Oliver!" soundtrack were released, especially since this version commits the unpardonable sin of leaving out some of the actual song verses to accomodate the dance music into an album that plays 50 minutes.

The actual performances on this album, however, are excellent, especially Ron Moody as Fagin and Shani Wallis as Nancy.

Stop with the nit-picking and just enjoy the CD!

I swear, some people just aren't happy! We are so lucky to have a CD soundtrack of this film! Why must you say it doesn't sound good? How good CAN it sound considering the source materials from 1968??

I think it sounds damn good considering the age of the recordings.
There isn't anything wrong with the way it sounds, as far as I can tell, and I'm an audiophile! I have heard so much worse recordings when albums are finally 'remixed' & 'remastered' for CD!
As far as verses being left out, well,...I guess you'll have to listen to the original London stage cast recordings?

I had this on LP as a child in 1968 and played it almost to death, and I'm excited to finally get it on CD!!
These songs are so special to me because I listened to the record so much. I still know most of the lyrics!
My next Amazon.com purchase is the DVD!!

These are great songs, and this album still holds up well after
all these years.
If you like soundtrack recordings, you'll probably like this CD.

Yes, it may have flaws and 'missing' lyrics, but just enjoy it!

It could be worse--we might not even have this CD available at all!

I would give the OLIVER! soundtrack 5 stars, but from a technical viewpoint this recording is lacking. The sound is often "rough" and harsh sounding. Several songs were edited due to lenght. Still one never tires from listening to John Green's lush Oscar winning orestrations. This makes this recording worthwhile. All of the vocal performances are great, though the female who dubbed for male actor Mark Lester (who plays young Oliver), can sound irritating after a time. If this ST could be remastered from the original elements to include more material (it could fill a 75 min CD) and improved sound, it would esily rate a 5. One of the last great film musicals deserves a better fate on CD.

I grew up on this movie and after buying the Broadway soundtrack, missed the movie cast. Although this CD is out of print, the same CD comes free with purchase of the newest release of the film on DVD. The cast and orchestrations make this CD the best in my opinion, and under $20 for both DVD and CD is a steal!

I got this CD before I saw the movie. I fell in love with the songs immediately. It's easily one of the best musicals ever (in my opinion). But then I saw the movie. There was so much the soundtrack left out! "Pick a Pocket or Two" is missing verses; they don't have the reprise of "Pick a Pocket or Two" or "Reviewing the Situation"; and other songs are missing things. Hopefully they will re-release this on a better CD in the future.

OLIVER won six Oscars including Best Film. It is a glossy adaptation of the gritty stage musical. One can't quibble with the dramatic or vocal interpretions of the songs - they are first rate. Orchestrations are lush and detailed (Oscar-winning). However, the sound as transferred from the film track is muddied and in some cases muffled. So this is not the ideal choice unless you're in love with the film.

I've just seen this movie for the first time (hey cut me some slack, it came out like 22 years before I was born!). I've got to say, the songs in this movie are amazing. I'm usually more into more alternative musicals, rock and punk type stuff like Rocky Horror Picture Show and Hedwig and the Angy Inch, Cabaret is another favorite and even that doesn't have a typical broadway-showtune sound. The reason for this isn't that I don't like the typical sound, I just think it usually comes off rather boring, usually just more of the same. Watching this I thought, well, it sounds pretty typical, but hell if it isn't exciting! Captivating! Charming! These are broadway showtunes at they're best. If a song started started and I thought it was just filler, it soon became one of my favorite songs in the film! Who will Buy is a good example of this. Everyone in this film has an exciting unique voice and I am looking forward to buying both the movie and soundtrack!

Oliver! won Best Picture, Best Direction and a few other Oscars in 1968. The vocal presentations are fun and first class. Mark Lester and Ron Moody's musical skills are moving and interesting. The sound quality is not that energized but it's fun to relive this Classic musical on it's 30th Anniversary. If you have never seen the film go rent it! Lots of good songs.

I notice that this CD has received mixed reviews, but this is my favorite CD of Oliver since it coincides with the 1968 movie. Simple put, if you enjoyed the movie Oliver this would be the CD you would want to own. I want to be able to hear the songs as they were sung in the movie, so this is the only CD I would want to own. The great songs on this CD help to make the movie Oliver a great movie.