Rooms: A Rock Romance

Various Artists (Artist)

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 2, 2010)
• Original Release Date: 2010
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Time Life Entertainment
• ASIN: B0030BYWBE
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #21,979 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Rooms

2. Steps 1

3. The Music

4. Bring The Future Faster

5. Steps 2

6. Friday Night Dress

7. Pacing In A Room

8. Scottish Jewish Princess

9. I Love You For All Time

10. Let's Go To London

11. All I Want Is Everything

12. Let's Leave London

13. NYC Forever!

14. The Diabolical

15. Little Bit Of Love

16. Fear Of Flying

17. Happiness

18. Clean

19. Rooms 2

20. Steps 3

See all 25 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

ROOMS: a rock romance begins in late 1970s Glasgow where Monica, an ambitious singer/songwriter meets Ian, a reclusive rocker. The two quickly become entangled creatively and romantically. Their music takes them to London and then New York City, where they discover the vibrant new music scene and create an intimate partnership, their love deepening while their personalities drive them apart. A five-piece rock band accompanies them as they search for the balance between ambition and happiness.

Time Life, which has supported the music behind an array of New York theatrical productions in the past few years, is proud to release the original cast recording of ROOMS: a rock romance. The story centers around the vibrant 70s-era music scene, with music and lyrics infused with a punk rock energy and a unique blend of pop, folk and musical theater.

This original cast recording features the vocals of Leslie Kritzer (A Catered Affair, Legally Blonde and the upcoming Sondheim on Sondheim) and Doug Kreeger (Les Miserables, Signature's The Visit). It was produced by multiple Grammy nominee Robert Sher (including 2009's Ain't Misbehavin' as well as 2008's Gypsy which was released by Time Life), with assistance from Producing Associate Brandon Wardell.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ROOMS - a rock romance is awesome, March 6, 2010

By	Stephen Surfaro "SteveSurf" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

From an opening that "pulses with infectious theatre rock energy" to sweet songs about finding love in the big city, this is a must purchase for those theater goers that enjoy fine music!

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Still waiting for a great Goodman score..., February 19, 2010

By	Steven Valenti "svclue" (Cleveland, OH) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    (VINE VOICE)

I enjoyed the recording of Paul Scott Goodman's "Bright Lights Big City," which despite some flaws, struck me as an admirable attempt at something fresh, and was actually a very faithful adaptation of the novel (perhaps TOO faithful--some of the lyrics seemed lifted directly from the page, often to awkward effect.). He displayed composing talent in that pop-rock score, so I have been waiting to see what he would come up with next.

Well here is Goodman's "Rooms," a twofer starring Leslie Kritzer and Doug Kreeger as Scottish lovers and wannabe rockers. Once again, I'm struck by Goodman's musical talent--he's created some nice musical moments in the recurring title song and a handful of enjoyable rock songs ("Bring the Future Faster," "Let's Go to London," and the faux punk song "All I Want is Everything").

The recording starts well, but I found myself (as with the previous recording) increasingly distracted by the lyrics, which made it hard to keep my eyes from rolling (the duo's on-again, off-again relationship and musical aspirations offer little drama, especially when you throw in tacked-on clichés like his alcoholism and her unwanted pregnancy.).

Kritzer and Kreeger are both good singers, but I really found the Scottish accents grating after awhile (I know it's not really reasonable for me to ask that Scottish characters NOT sound Scottish, but still we're talking about listening pleasure here...).

Perhaps if I heard this album before "Bright Lights" I would be a little more lenient about its flaws. But rather than delivering on the promises shown there, is just extends the wait for a great Goodman score.