Customer Reviews

The Wiz: Original Soundtrack (1978 Film)

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I saw the movie when it came out in '78 a total of SEVEN times! I had the soundtrack on vinyl, but not any more. I also own the video and my daughter LOVES this movie. I was a big MJ fan. This soundtrack is absolutely amazing! Aside from the fact that two of popular music's most talented people were paired together to make music history afterwards (MJ and Quincy), this entire soundtrack is a non-stop joy, from Diana and MJ's "Ease On Down the Road" to "Don't Nobody Bring Me No Bad News" by the late Mabel King to the heart-stopping "If You Believe" by Lena Horne. A must-have! And if you don't own the movie, I highly recommend getting that as well. You won't be disappointed.

It took forever for this soundtrack to be released on CD, and though expensive it is worth every penny. The double CD soundtrack has been remastered for its initial release, and this is by far the best sounding quality CD I have ever heard (and I have a huge collection of CDs).From the opening overture brilliantly arranged by Quincy Jones, to Diana Ross' soulful rendition of "Home," you have nearly eighty minutes of solid non-stop music. Every track is a gem. Since having bought this double CD set I now remember why I used to play this album so much back in the fall of 1978 (along with the "Grease" soundtrack but that's another review). I love every song on this album.If you had the original two LP set you won't be disappointed in this remastered two CD set. It's GREAT!!

I don't get all the negative reviews for this soundtrack, or even the 1978 film version of the Broadway musical. I saw it when was 11 years old in the theater and LOVED it - sure it has a few flat moments, but I love the Sidney Lumet "old school" way of shooting dance sequences in long, continuous takes so you can, ahem, actually see them DANCE - I loved the urban NYC authentic locations, the subway pillar monsters, the motorcycle monkeys, the Tony Walton-designed gigantic sets, and that cool linoleum yellow brick road - hello, people?! Anyway back to the soundtrack CD abso-tutely brimming with brilliant 70s/disco/funk/soul gems from Q - Brand New Day (catch the intro vocals by the one & only, late & lamented Luther Vandross), Ain't Nobody Bring Me No Bad News (the late, great Mabel King), Ease On Down the Road (I bought of the 45 and wore that mutha out on my portable stereo as a kid!), Emerald City Sequence ("I wouldn't be caught dead...in RED!"), and esp the straight-up phonkey "Poppy Girls Theme" - plus who can forget Ms. Lena Horne turning it out on "Believe in Yourself" and finally Ms. Ross pouring her heart out (and shedding some real tears) on her own take of the finale "Home" - sure, she can't sing always on-key and as well as Stephanie Mills as the original Dorothy, but La Ross sells this song! I remember the gatefold deluxe LP (back in the day), and the cool 70s disco packaging - yup, they don't make 'em like they used to. But at least you can now cherish the CD/DVD!

I adore this soundtrack ! I love the film itself and I think having this soundtrack too makes the perfect set ! My personal favourite track is "You Can't Win" sung by Michael Jackson. I'd just like to say that I think Michael does a wonderful job in playing the scarecrow, his dance moves are absolutely incredible and to say that he does these in big clowny shoes !!
Overall this is a GREAT soundtrack! And a must have if you enjoyed the film !

Its ashame this movie never made it big.I really enjoyed it,but for some reason not to many other people did.The songs are Brilliant.Quincy Jones produced the album,and this started the partnership with Michael Jackson.Lena Horne's "Believe in yourself" is my favorite.What a voice.Lena lets it all out,and puts everyone else to shame with her style and vocals.My favorite song of Diana 's is "Home." Its one of the greatest songs ever written,and she always sings this number in concert.I still love "Be a Lion," from the original Wiz better,but "Ease on Down the road," with Michael Jackson and Diana Ross is wonderfull.It was there first,and maybe one of there only duets on record.This soundtrack is so over looked.Its Brilliant.Equal to "Grease" and "Saturday night Fever."

I ordered this CD, the 30th Anniversary DVD, the original Broadway soundtrack along with the MGM DVD (reviewed) and Tin Man DVD earlier this year.

This CD pack of course has the songs from the movie, only here some of them have a bit more time and more space to play out, most notably the Overture pt 1. It also has another song not in the movie, and a few little changes:
Instead of the music where Dorothy and Toto (who didn't accompany Dorothy to Oz in the Original Broadway!) are whisked away by the tornado with the dramatic exciting tune - we instead get "Glinda's Theme", which is good but also a let down as I like that scoring of the blizzard. Michael Jackson as the Scarecrow sings "You Can't Win" (* originally writtne for Evillene on Broaway, but put here instead*) rather than "I Was Born on the Day Before Yesterday", and Nipsey Russell sings both of Tin Man's songs together: "What Would I Do If I Could Feel?" and "Slide Some Oil to Me" - the last one having more space to breathe and finish before the reprise of 'Ease on Down the Road'. Ted Ross and Mabel King once again are Lion and WWW Evillene, only here they add more energy and volume to their performance than they did back in 1975. Glinda's theme also appears on disk 2 in the appropriate place "the Good Witch Glinda" between tracks "Believe in Yourself" by Dorothy/Diana and Glinda/Lena Horne herself.

As always, "Ease on down the Road" is FANTASTIC, FUN, and a FAVOURITE to listen to! And so is "A Brand New Day/Everybody Rejoice"! Unlike the Original Broadway soundtrack, 'Ease on down the Road' is repeated on the disk after each new friend is made and joins in singing on the journey down the Yellow Brick Road (the first few minutes pre-new friends is in the end credits, so both that and the actual song are combined here).

Some/Most songs actually include dialogue from the movie, most especially being "So You Wanted To Meet the Wizard" - since this song was only mentioned but never fully (or actually) performed in film, instead we hear the friends meeting the Wiz and then his humbug discovery in the one track.

Disk 1 goes for 40 minutes (ending with "Poppy Girls"), and Disk 2 goes for 39 minutes (starting from "Be A Lion" and ending with "Home"). Both disks are on either side of a double-sided plastic-clear insert.

Disk 2's main attraction, the unheard "Is This What Feeling Gets? (Dorothy's theme)" is a wonderful listen. It opens with music that is in the final film (the Emerald City Motel scene) only here Diana Ross sings her theme song, which sounds much nicer then her New York "Can I Go On Not Knowing?" The main reason I got this CD was because of this new song not in the film, and I'm glad I included it in my order.

The soundtrack booklet has more pages than the 1975 version, and here we get photos of the characters and moments, Sidney Lumet's introduction on the movie, photos behind-the-scenes, Quincy Jones on the soundtrack, a listing of the songs and their words (with a starry background, just like the CDs themselves), how 6 of the actors felt making the movie, credits, Bruce Sweden commentating on recording, musician crew roles, and a listing of the songs on which CD.

For a often-said bad movie, it has a great soundtrack, especially with one song never heard before. Listening to "Is this What Feeling Gets?" and a very pictorial well-made soundtrack booklet is definitely worth having this CD.

Happy Anniversary "Wiz"!!

Your ipod won't be complete without the ability to jam to Ease On Down or Brand New Day - just do it!

I'm from the Netherlands and I play in that musical. It is a great CD for especially young people. I hope you enjoy this CD!

When you get a soundtrack with music written and produced by Quincy Jones and preformed by the likes of Diana Ross, the old Michael Jackson, Lena Horne, and Mabel King, there is no way it could be anything but fantastic. The music is wonderful and I cannot play it enough.

Ever since I was a small child, The Wiz has been my favorite musical (Little Shop/Horrors gave it some competition but didn't prevail). All of the cast are in wonderful vocal form and they play the hell out of their parts. My only issue is that people don't give Diana Ross her props on here. I have studied Diana and this album came out a year before the biggest album of her career ("diana" -- 1980). Just listen to her on "Home" or "Soon As I Get Home"... the best! Theresa Merrit, Mabel King, and Lena Horne are great as well. Oh and one more thing in Diana's defense. Oposed to what some critics say, if you do your research or actually sit and WATCH the movie, Diana's character is NOT a child. She's a grown woman. Of course she isn't supposed to pass for one... SHE AIN'T SUPPOSED TO! ;-)