Jim Jacobs, Warren Casey - Grease: A New 50's Rock 'N Roll Musical - The Original Broadway Cast Album
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Free Music Notes for Grease: A New 50's Rock 'N Roll Musical - The Original Broadway Cast Album
Free Music Review: It lacks...
Hit: 3 Stars
I am one of those people hates when musicals are made into movies. Only because the best parts of the musical are always cut out... I had purchased the stage show script for grease, and it is true, the play is MUCH better. (Even though I can tell that Jim Jaccobs and Warren Casey must have cleaned it up a bit before they made it availible for amature/proffessional theatre productions, cuz it's not as dirty as they made it seem on VH1 Behind The Music...). I ordered the original cast CD after listening to the new broadway cast recording (That one had great vocals, but the Rock And Roll band simplicity wasn't there...). I got my CD, and I was dissapointed. Sandy sounds too gutsy to be a Sandy, she sounds more like a Rizzo. I think the girl who played Sandy should have switched parts with the girl who played Rizzo. Barry Bostwick (Of Rocky Horror and Spin City fame) was a great Danny, I have to give him that. But the rest of the cast (Especially in the group numbers) sounds like a bunch of drunk people in their late 20s trying to sound like 17 year olds, and are doing horrible at it. The music (The instruments) arent loud enough. I guess you can blame this on the fact that the album was recorded in the early 70s. I mean, sure, its cool to see where the Grease phenomonom began, but I think maybe with better recording equipment or something... I dont know.Free Music Review: Not for all the grease fans
Hit: 3 Stars
It's growing on me, but still I wish I had not bought it. The female lead singer is great, but the female chorus seems flat, especially on the high notes. Perhaps that's intended, as they are supposed to be quakey-voiced high-school kids. It seems hard to find a volume setting that is not too much in some places, but not enough for others. Overall: Gosh-darn annoying if you are into the music. If you are into theatre, then you might like this more than I do.Free Music Review: Well... I'm All Choked Up
Hit: 2 Stars
Grease, everyone knows what it is. The goofballs and gumpoppers of the late 50's who took the world by storm in 1972. But how did Grease jump to fame... through this production. And from this CD it's almost hard to tell why. While this is the "real" Grease, it also lacks something that makes Grease so special and memorable. For me, it's the fact that Carole Demas (Sandy) sounds about 50 while singing the little known "It's Raining on Prom Night" (rarely included in current Grease stage shows) and the even lesser known "All Choked Up" which is 99% of the time replaced with "You're the One That I Want". The sound quality is good considered it was recorded more than 30 years ago, and the songs are surefire. But why isn't this Grease special? It's one of the mysteries of the century. However some songs do save this CD from being a complete waste. Freddy, My Love is a great musical comedy number, and perfect for the airheaded but sophisticated Marty, but the part belongs to Megan Mullally, who sings the part on the 1994 and 1995 recordings, and it seems inferior to that version, but HILARIOUS for a first-timer. Mooning is another terrific number, often deleted from today's stage, and is a perfect song for the final scene of Act One, which frankly drags until this whacky song. Those Magic Changes is a terrific song, and in fine form here, although in better form on the 1994 and 1995 recordings. Alone at a Drive in Movie is a great song, but doesn't really belong in the show. And then we come to the terrifically bad All Choked Up. It's a terrific song, but it sounds HORRID here. Barry Bostwick (Danny) sounds like he's smoking pot as he's singing, and Carole Demas' singing is nothing but hard on the ears. If you are in "Grease" definately go for this CD, as the later versions are quite different. Otherwise, I can't reccomend it with a clear consciense. Go with the 1994 version.
BOTTOM LINE: I'm not Hopelessly Devoted to either recording of the stage Grease, but the 1994 one is WAY better.
Free Music Review: Grease is the. . . word?
Hit: 2 Stars
If you could see me right now, I would be rolling my eyes--but smiling all the same. This album is where the whole Grease phenomenon began. If you're all about the movie: DON'T GET THIS ALBUM, the songs are completely different and you probably won't like it. But, if you're interested in the true Broadway essentials of this classic play, than go for it--but be forewarned, the vocalists...well... they just aren't that great. They're slippery on the high notes and have a tone like a vacuum. The instrumentalists are decent but the arrangements are "bare-bones," a few saxes and a rythym section. This soundtrack lacks a lot of what the musical is supposed to be about: teenagers having fun--the vocalists sound like chain-smoking thirty year-olds. However, listening to the CD is a lot of fun, especially if you see yourself as a future Sandy Dumbrowski or Danny Zuko. So watch it daddy-o's; think long and hard before purchasing this album.Free Music Review: It Had to Grow On Me
Hit: 2 Stars
After being brought up on the motion picture soundtrack of Grease, it was kind of hard to get used to the Broadway stylings of the music. At first, I didn't like it one bit. I discarded the CD as soon as possible. But then an interest in theatre and Broadway grew in me, and I decided to give this CD a listen. Although I still do not find it as a great listen, I did begin to like it more than I used to. What really threw me off was the voice stylings here. They're a bit off. Like an earlier reviewer mentioned, the Sandy was a bit Rizzo, and Rizzo was a bit Sandy. I did find it kind of neat when I found out that Barry Bostwick (Rocky Horror) was the Danny here. He faired well, but still, like the rest of the cast and company, he was a bit off.
I look at this CD as the originic beginning of the Grease phenomena. But it goes low on my list of favorite Grease recordings.