The New Broadway Cast Recording - Hair (The New Broadway Cast Recording)
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Free Music Notes for Hair (The New Broadway Cast Recording)
Free Music Review: A great surprise
Hit: 4 Stars
I had forgotten what a great score this show has. After seeing the production on Broadway and feeling the energy of the cast, I decided to buy the album hoping that it would capture some of the same spirit. I have listened to the album several times; love the music and can still feel the energy of the cast as I listen. Great album!Free Music Review: Let down your HAIR and enjoy
Hit: 4 Stars
This is a great cast recording. Mixes both the original music along with the movie's twist on it, and all the good that goes with it.
Free Music Review: Hair Revival
Hit: 4 Stars
Really enjoy this album. Am disappointed that "How I Love My Hippie Life" is not on the album.Free Music Review: Revisiting the Age of Aquarius: A Fine New Recording
Hit: 3 Stars
More than forty years later, "Hair" still elicits the same sort of complaints that it did when it originally opened at the Biltmore Theatre in 1968, essentially a piece of experimental theatre transferred from New York's Public Theatre. This current revival appropriately follows the same course: from an initial run at the New York Shakespeare Festival in Central Park last summer to an unveiling at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. One thing, however, that even its critics over the years seem to agree on, is Galt MacDermot's brilliant score. In 1968, Time magazine said of the Broadway production: "What holds Hair together is the score, which pulses with an insistent, primitive beat." Forty-one years later, Variety magazine says of the 2009 production: "The score's vigorousness and variety are remarkable, threading together delicate melodies with driving, combustible ones, double-edged comic sketches with celebratory anthems, dirty funk, hippie-dippie lovefests and satirical ditties."
This new recording successfully capture's the score's vigor, even if it doesn't quite showcase its variety. The vocals here are all (not surprisingly) excellent, and (surprisingly) impassioned. The moment you hear Sasha Allen and the tribe announce the dawning of the age of Aquarius is thrilling. (Although, I should note: Allen's performance is relatively subdued compared to Ren Woods on the film soundtrack.) Gavin Creel as Claude has a pleasant voice, although it perhaps lacks the masculine grit and vivacity of James Rado's of the original Broadway cast. His singing on "Flesh Failures", however, is actually quite moving. Will Swenson as Berger is decidedly less abrasive than the force of nature that was Gerome Ragni (on both the original Off-Broadway and original Broadway cast recordings). The performance of "Donna" is good fun.
This is also quite possibly the best-sung tribe on record. Nary a screech or a crack or other vocal imperfection to be heard. This is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing in the sense that the ensemble numbers come off polished and cohesive. A curse because Hair has never been about vocal prowess. In other words, this sounds more like a "cast" (which would be serviceable for any other musical in the Broadway canon) than a "tribe" (which is undeniably special to Hair).
Now to anoher matter: the arrangements. The problem seems mostly to do with the new arrangements, which homogenize Hair's originally diverse musical landscape. The original production managed to make use of a plethora of instrumentation and played to the diverse vocal talents of its cast. MacDermot managed to evoke everything from 50s jukebox ballads ("Electric Blues"), to soul ("Easy to Be Hard"), to rock ("Flesh Failures (Let the Sunshine In)"), and even managed to convey subtle diversity within each genre. The new arrangements are polished and guitar- and horn-heavy; many also pull heavy influence from the 1979 film, which strips the score of its more tribal beats in favor of more contemporary beat-machine percussion and funk arrangements.
The title number suffers the most from this treatment: the original had a swaggering, animalistic groove to it. (Listen to James Rado's delivery of "Give me a HEAD with HAIR!" There was an almost sexual energy in his voice.) Both the film and this recording speed up the tempo considerably and wash out the pulsing beat, dulling the impact. Then there is a bizarrely milquetoast version of "Easy to Be Hard." There is no reason why one cannot take a risk with this song. The original London cast recording has a beautiful acoustic-rock arrangement. But this new version is cheestastic. Caissie Levy as Sheila makes the most of a lost opportunity. The most genuinely beautiful touch of the recording is actually when the band cuts out completely during "Flesh Failures" and the cast is left singing the last few pleas of "Let the sun shine in" a capella, emphasizing the beautiful words.
Undoubtedly, the best place to start for anyone new to "Hair" is RCA Victor's deluxe edition for the Original Broadway Cast Recording, which includes the Original 1967 Off-Broadway Cast Recording as a bonus. The sound quality is much improved from the previous CD release, and you cannot beat it for authenticity. My favorite recording is actually the much-maligned original London cast recording on Decca; the singing from much of the cast doesn't match the caliber of either the OBCR or this revival, but the recording has the right balance of heart, soul and anger. It also has probably the most cohesive performances of the title song, "Going Down", and "Walking in Space" (probably my favorite piece in the whole score), as well as a rocking version of "Dead End" (cut from the original Off-Broadway score en route to Broadway) and a trippy "Aquarius." Hair actually lasted longer on the West End stage than it did on Broadway.
All in all, this is a fine recording with a more polished sound that will probably make it more appealing to younger audiences more accustomed to airbrushed, digital recording technology. It doesn't quite match the authenticity of its early predecessors (although, what can?).
Free Music Review: Good but not great
Hit: 3 Stars
Maybe it's because I've listened to the original for years and years, or maybe it's because I'm just a middle aged fart, but this version didn't quite cut it for me. I agree wholeheartedly with Terry's American Idiot singing styles comment. But....while the vocals are good, they don't POP. The vocals for the most part seem rather bland and generic. And the tempos all seem slower and less energetic then the original.
The band and instrumentals also don't seem as powerful to me. While I certainly don't expect a carbon copy of the original, I at least expect the new version to have the fire and passion of the original and it just doesn't. Maybe on stage it does. I saw the original touring company in Chicago in 1970 (I think that was the year) and it was great, and maybe on stage this one is as well.
This is a good revival, but if you want the real thing, treat yourself to the recording of the original.