Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Album of the Summer, August 27, 2001
Ya know those (rare) albums that you compulsively listen to ALL the time--in the shower, during the drive to work, during lunch break, while reading before bed--and wake up having the songs immediately in your head? "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" is one of those gems. The explosive tracks "Tear Me Down," "Angry Inch" and "Exquisite Corpse" speak to my punk sensibilities. The beautiful lyrics of the "Origin of Love" and "Wicked Little Town" fill my romance quota for the day, virtually guilt-free. (Listen to the Tommy Gnosis version of "Wicked Little Town" right after "Origin of Love," it makes more sense.) The fun and feel-good tune "Wig in a Box" and the two-steppin' "Sugar Daddy" get me singing and usually smiling. My favorite track is by far "Midnight Radio." With homage to "strange rockers" like Patti, Nico, and Hedwig herself, this song is a true rock anthem. John Cameron Mitchell's (Hedwig) passion ignites the song and sends it home, and Miriam Shor's back-up vocals give me shivers. While I enjoy the songs Stephen Trask sings (lyricist/songwriter of "Hedwig" and voice of Tommy Gnosis in the movie) I find myself forwarding his tracks to get to Mitchell's more powerful vocals. The songs "Nailed" and "Freaks" are the exceptions--the lyrics of both these songs are excellent. This is the album to buy. The story of Hedwig is original, funny, and painfully realistic about a human finding herself and becoming whole and true, at all costs. See the movie, get the album. I'm (unfortunately) a newcomer to the "Hedwig" scene, but I'm in love. I'm going to buy the original cast recording of the play (the lyrics are included in this version, which are disappointingly absent in the movie soundtrack), and be a die-hard Hedwig fan for life.
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32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Longtime Hedwig Fan's Reaction, August 8, 2001
I must agree with "A Music Fan from Seattle" below on many of his/her points. I have been a longtime fan of this electrifying show -- seen it live on stage 15 times -- and have now seen four Hedwigs --John Cameron Mitchell, Michael Cerveris, Ally Sheedy (!) and the amazing, inventive, tragic and mind-blowing Nick Garrison (Seattle and Chicago productions). Garrison's performance is, in a word, heart-stopping and to me, the most powerful of the excellent bunch. The movie is marvelous, but this album -- particularly if you're familiar with the wonderful original cast album -- has absurdly slowed down the tempos, over-studied the lyrics and drained much of the structure, life and energy out of the songs. The original album is not "rawer," it's just better. On this new soundtrack version, JCM's vocals sound, at times, both overstudied and under-rehearsed, with lines overlapping, strange emphasis on certain words and less enthusiasm than his original recording. His vocals on the original cast album are magnificent -- piercing and powerful, sad and triumphant. There are certain additional orchestrations and instrumets used on this album that are quite lovely. The main problems for me are the slowness of the tempo and the fact that the recording sounds to me like a recording of a live show on an off-night. Listen to the power of "The Origin of Love" on the original recording versus on the film soundtrack. Ditto "Midnight Radio". JCM is a great vocalist. I just think some weird decisions were made as to the arrangements and vocals on this album. When you hear these same recordings in the film, they seem to suit the film fine and sound great, as your mind is on the visuals as well, particularly the animation in "The Origin of Love." But as stand-alones, they sound.... odd. "Wig in a Box" is probably the most frustrating -- with a flat sounding interlude where Hedwig snaps back into her own depressing life, and a corny band sing-along that, while great fun in the movie, on the album is jarring and brings the song down. Do yourself a favor and listen to this marvelous anthem on the cast album without the new distractions. One of the principal remarks I've often heard after the live show is that some of the lyrics were difficult to understand -- much like any rock show -- the audience, all 15 times, offered a standing ovation and was in theatrical ecstasy -- but wanted to see the show again, hear more of the song lyrics. Well, this album puts the lyrics front and center, and the songs have been re-arranged, produced and mixed. In my opinion, the cast album is more energetic, where the songs here are a bit sedated and draggy. One BIG plus is that the original cast album has the lyrics contained on the CD sleeve, which for this show, is so important in understanding Hedwig's story and accessing the brilliance of Stephen Trask's songwriting -- while the new soundtrack is strangely absent of any lyrics. For anyone who has not heard the original album or seen the live show, but is a new Hedwig fan, they'll love it. It's a perfect companion to the movie. But it's a little unnerving for those of us who love the original. Either way, the songs are great.
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A good investment for anyone..., July 12, 2001
I have to admit that I'm biased. I've been a fan of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" since the days that it was a little-known off-Broadway rock musical in New York City. Needless to say, I can't wait for the movie to come out. I bought the film soundtrack as soon as it came out, and I would highly recommend it to both a long-time fan or a johnny-come-lately. All of the old songs, except one, are there, and they have a new, more polished sound to them, especially "Wig in a Box", quite different from the raw, live sound of the musical. The slight variations in tune are welcome--and we hear Miriam Shor's aggressive back-up vocals much better. There's an additional three new songs, all credited to the character of Tommy Gnosis. This works quite well, giving an audience a greater appreciation of Tommy's character as separate from Hedwig's. The songs are great, especially "In Your Arms Tonight". Stephen Trask's slightly nasal vocals are perfect for the voice of the young rock-star: it's also nice to hear his voice more on lead vocals. It's a great CD, and not at all a waste of money to those of us who already have the original-cast off-Broadway soundtrack.
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