Howard Ashman - Little Shop Of Horrors: Original Cast Album (1982 Off-Broadway Cast)
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Free Music Notes for Little Shop Of Horrors: Original Cast Album (1982 Off-Broadway Cast)
Free Music Review: OH MY ..., PLEASE KEEP FEEDING THE PLANTS
Hit: 5 Stars
Well, at school we're just starting to get off the ground with 'Little Shop... and to break us in we got to watch the film. I can honestly say this has topped my favourite film/musical list. Anyway, we were given the opportunity to buy a copy of the stage soundtrack and it hasn't yet left my CD plyer... Right my favourite song on the soundtrack is the excellently catchy Finale(Don't Feed The Plants) which I think is great with it's different levels. I also like The Meek Shall Inherit also for the catchy factor. My least favourite song is Now(Just the Gas)I get sick of it easily. Here is my full track rating:
Prologue/Title Track-starts off a bit dull but picks up, maybe a bit high even for the performers 7.5/10
Skid Row(Downtown)is a great song to kick start the musical wears a bit thin as it drags on for quite a while. 7/10
Da-doo isn't great I'm afraid, I'd sooner replace this with a song from an updated version called Call Back In The Morning 4/10
Grow For Me is a popular track and is the point of finding out what Audrey II eats 8/10
Ya Never Know to me on many levels showcases the catchiness if what's in store, I love it 9.5/10
Mushnik & Son you'd expect me to like because it's my song in the school production, and although the CD version is different to my script I do like it. It is up there with the best 9/10
Dentist is very funny. I love the bit at the start of the song and the doowop girls compliment the song greatly 7.5/10
Somewhere That's Green is a popular one but I don't really like it. It's too soppy for me but it is sung very heartstring pulling 5/10
Feed Me/Git It is the best song that the plant features heavily on it is very rap orientated and is popular among me and my friends 9/10
Now(Just The Gas)in my eyes spoil what is an outstanding soundtrack I've just never warmed to it 3/10
Closed For Renovation is a bit average but it has it's moments when the singers build up from 1 character to 3 6/10
Suddenly Seymour at the start I liked this but as you rehearse you discover many of the other songs are actually better than the song that the audience is supposed to like best 7/10
Suppertime is excellent and is very mellow considering that my character dies in this song I prefer Feed Me but this is up there with the best 8/10
The Meek Shall Inherit this is one of the best songs it starts off a bit creepy when the agencies sing but the chorus is catchy and Seymour's solo bit is hypnotic let down slightly when it goes in to 'But then there's Audrey'etc 10/10
Sominex/Suppertime is not an obvious one to like but I do what dissappoints me is that it hasen't got the Somewhere that's Green Reprise at the end because I find that that part is quite lighthearted to a very serious death scene but still I give this 7/10
Finale(Don't Feed The Plants) the is one of if not the best song on the show it starts off trying to display a message and then it gets all rocky a very toe-tapping if you don't leave the theatre with a smile on your face at the end of this song then I'm afraid you're a bit of a robot 11/10
I hope this review was helpful. Buy the disc you won't be disappointed. The show is set to entertain. SUCCESS
Free Music Review: Fun
Hit: 5 Stars
I'm a sucker for the whole "This is where it all began" aspect of original cast albums, not matter how simple or rough around the edges they be (The 1973 London cast of The Rocky Horror Show is a perfect example), and it's these humble recordings that are usually, if not always my favorite. That being said, Little Shop of Horrors is quite possible my favorite musical. Of every show that grace smy stereo, this is probably the only show that I truely feel is absolutly perfect. I have no gripes what so ever with this show. Since as far back as I could remember I've always felt that it balanced humor and heart with more then just a dash of coolness like no other show avant or apres has ever been able to do.
But I digress, getting back to the matter of cast recordings. The biggest gripe I could have with a cast recording is that it's incomplete. Anything less then the entire score recorded in it's entirety is painful for me. That's this recordings major flaw. It's pretty sparse. It's more of a highlight recording if anything, as it includes most of the best tracks, with the exception of a few add ons.
The main tracks it does include (Suddenly Seymour, Feed me, Dentist, Somehwere That's Green, Grow for Me...You know the ones) are fortunatly either diffinitve or pretty damn good. The Feed me here is, at least in my oppinion, the best ever recorded. Ron Taylor as Audrey II is amazing. Probably only second best to Levi Stubbs in the movie (although the Feed Me there isn't nearly as good). We also have the Amazing Ellen Greene here, and that NEVER hurts. She's heartbreaking.
You couldn't ay this is the definitive recording - the 2003 Broadway cast probably takes that honor, if only because it's complete - but this album is a wonderful light into how it all began. Highly recomennded.
Free Music Review: An Excellent Play with Excellent Music
Hit: 5 Stars
I don't think "Little Shop of Horrors" would be my favorite musical if it weren't for its songs. While listening to this CD, I actually found myself wanting to get up and dance and sing to the tune(s).The CD of the original cast, which includes Lee Wilkof as Seymour, Ellen Greene as Audrey, Hy Anzell as Mushnick, Ron Taylor as the voice of Audrey II/the plant, and Frank Luz as Orin/the Dentist and everyone else such as the Customer, Skip Snip, and Bernstein, was, in my opinion, far better than the movie soundtrack. It includes songs that the movie soundtrack doesn't have, such as "Mushnick and Son," "We're Closed for Renovations," and "Now (It's Just the Gas)." The CD of the original cast includes a large variety of songs, while the movie soundtrack only includes about half of those songs.
The only real disappointment I found with this CD was the fact that Howard Ashman (who directed the stage production, wrote the script and the lyrics to the songs) and Alan Menken (the writer of the music) didn't include the song "Mean, Green Mother from Outer Space" in the stage production. No matter how many times I hear that song, I always find myself rockin' out, if ya know what I mean. It's a real enjoyable song, and it's just a shame that it couldn't have been written earlier so that it could have been included in the soundtrack of the stage production. Instead, the CD of the stage production ends with the finale "Don't Feed the Plants," which I found to fit better with the mood of the story of "Little Shop of Horrors."
Overall, I found myself to be liking this CD quite a bit. At least enough to give it a 5 out of 5.
Free Music Review: I LOVE THIS CD!
Hit: 5 Stars
LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS RULES! THIS CD WAS AWSOME! IN FACT,I'M GONNA TYPE SOMETHING ABOUT EACH SONG.PROLOUGE/LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS:
GREAT! I THOUGHT THAT THE PROLOUGE VOICE WAS SPECTACULER!
SKID ROW [DOWNTOWN]:
IT WAS A LITTLE CREEPY. THE NARRATORS SANG REALLY FAST. I THOUGHT THAT THIS WASN'T THE BEST SONG OUT OF THE CD.
DA-DOO:
UH,IT WAS OK.
GROW FOR ME:
THIS SONG WAS HILARIOUS! YOU GOT TO HEAR THIS SONG!
YA NEVER KNOW:
I ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT THIS SONG DIDN'T REALLY GO WITH LITTLE SHOP OF horrors. THOUGH BUT THIS SONG STILL EARNS A, "A+".
MUSHIENK AND SON:
THIS SONG WAS REALLY GOOD. IT HAS THAT HIP 70'S BACKROUD MUSIC
TO IT.
DENTIST!:
I LOVE THIS SONG...BUT THE GUY WHO SANG THIS WAS KINDA LOW AND WEIRD.
SOMEWHERE THAT'S GREEN:
I HATE THIS SONG! I'M NOT EVEN GONNA SAY ANYTHING GOOD ABOUT IT.
FEED ME [GET IT]:
THIS SONG WAS COOL. BUT AUDRY 2 WAS...UH...
NOW [IT'S JUST THE GAS]:
THIS IS WHERE THE DENTIST REALLY SHINES. I LISTEN TO IT OVER,AND OVER.
CLOSED FOR RENAVATION:
STUIPED.JUST STUIPED.
SUDDENLY SEYMOUR:
I'M SO GLAD THAT THIS PLAY DOES NOT HAVE A HAPPY ENDING.
THIS SONG IS THE WORST SONG IN THE CD
SUPPERTIME:
IT WAS OK.
THE MEEK SHALL INHERIT:
I THOUGHT THAT THIS SONG WAS KINDA BORING. BUT SEYMOUR PLAYED A GOOD SOLO.
DON'T FEED THE PLANTS:
NOT AS GOOD AS THE NEW BROADWAY CD,BUT,WHAT BAD THING CAN I AY
ABOUT IT?
YOU SHOULD GET THIS CD. I DON'T KNOW WHY,BUT YOU MIGHT WANT TO.
Free Music Review: A Modern Classic
Hit: 5 Stars
To hell with all those shows from the so-called golden era of musical theatre (I.E. High Society, South Pacific, Singin' In The Rain). I like my musical theatre to be dark, dismal, and depressing (I.E. Sweeney Todd, Into The Woods, Little Shop of Horrors, Rocky Horror Show). This is Little Shop in all it's horrific splendor, all of it's terrifying glory. That is, before Hollywood got hold of it and turned it into a damn muppet movie. All of the great tunes that didn't make the final cut to the film are here, the "Ya Never Know," the "Mushnik and Son," the "Closed for Renovation," and of course the glorious ending song "Don't Feed The Plants." If you want a definitive cast album, this is it. Trouble is, though, you can't get this version of the play anymore, so it really isn't a good reference disk for people who are in performing the show. Unfortunately you'll have to look to the revival cast recording for that. Some of the songs are a little bit different, and in a different order. For example; Mushnik and Son doesn't have all those crazy names in it on the new cast recording, which could be a blessing in disguise for any actor who has trouble memorizing all that stuff. As much as I prefer the original version to the new version, when I played Mushnik this past December, I was somewhat relieved that we had in our script the new version of that song. There are other subtle improvements on the new recording, but you can look to my other review for that.