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Hairspray (2002 Original Broadway Cast)

The cast recording for the Broadway musical of John Waters's 1988 paean to dance, music, big beautiful women, and integration is a sheer delight. It's wonderfully upbeat all the way through, with a classic feel that's in keeping with the story's setting in the early 1960s. The characters come alive in these songs, from Marissa Jaret Winokur's (Tracy Turnblad) opening lines in "Good Morning Baltimore" to the stunningly upbeat finale, "You Can't Stop the Beat." The music is by Marc Shaiman, whose recent projects include South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, as well as a number of film soundtracks, and his compositions are simultaneously solid and exuberant. Shaiman and Scott Wittman's lyrics brim over with the unreserved passions and primary-color emotions that made the film so successful. Regardless of one's familiarity with the story or the stage production, it's hard to avoid the appeal of this recording; even the less cheerful songs are awash in bright colors, without disrespect for their subjects. --Genevieve Williams

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Futures

Cast Recording;

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Customer Review:

Very Good, Definitely Deserves It's Tony's

A very upbeat, happy musical! A bit bubblegum pop but hey, what do you get when the show's named Hairspray? Very good, Harvey Fierstein definitely does a good job as Edna and Marissa Winokur does a great job playing a teenage girl

Five Best Tracks

Good Morning Baltimore
Mama, I'm A Big Girl Now
I Can Hear The Bells
Run And Tell That!
Timeless To Me

A real hit!

After seeing this musical at the Golden Gate Theatre in San Fransisco I knew that I just HAD to get the CD. Seeing Matthew Morrison (Link Larkin) on stage is one thing, but getting to listen to him day after day on a CD is AMAZING! This musical is a way of attacking racial stereotypes, but in a way so that it is humerous. I love to be able to listen to this CD day after day and hear such wonderful singers. It's a great CD geared towards teenagers and adults alike!

Exactly what it's supposed to be.

I don't get it. Are all these "Fantasia" references coming from the same reviewer using different accounts? You're supposed to use this space to review this CD, not to comment on American Idol. That aside, I'm not sure what kind of problem these people have. "Hairspray" accomplished exactly what it set out to do. It's fun, funny, clever, and not meant to be taken seriously. If you're looking for a vocal showcase, then this isn't the show for you. If you have a sense of humor, though, and don't mind just kicking back and enjoying yourself once in a while, then give "Hairspray" a try. The actors were cast for their parts precisely because of how they sound. And they're also playing roles that call for a certain kind of irony. If the producers had wanted traditional big Broadway-style voices, they would have picked a different cast. It's a character-driven musical, too, and in any case, it's intended as popular entertainment, not high art. It may not appeal to everyone, but unless you're this one guy who seems to be posting lots of suspiciously similar bad reviews, then you'll probably enjoy it.

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Keywords: Cast Recordings; Music Theater; Musical Theater; Musicals; Pop; Showtunes / B'way;

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The Phantom of the Opera (2004 Movie Soundtrack) (Special Extended Edition Package)

For better or worse, Andrew Lloyd Webber's adaptation of Gaston Leroux's gothic horror/romance novel has done for stage musicals what Spielberg's Jaws did for fish stories, with worldwide sales of its original cast album approaching 25 million. While director Joel Schumacher's film turns on his typically ambitious visual verve, its new film soundtrack recording has been paradoxically focused in scope, yet beefed up dynamically via the brawny presence of a hundred piece orchestra and the London Boys Choir. This deluxe, double-disc version showcases all of Phantom's key songs, with Gerard Butler imparting a welcome, youthful sensuality to his Phantom, making a fine foil for Emmy Rossum's ever-conflicted Christine. Original show orchestrator David Cullen has fashioned compelling new contemporary arrangements to frame Webber's songs--which now conclude with the lilting, upbeat new ballad he wrote for the film, "Learn to Be Lonely," sung by Minnie Driver. --Jerry McCulley

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Futures

Collector's Edition;

Soundtrack;

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Customer Review:

The Phantom...

I love the music. I didnt realise, however, that this cd is the entire movie, not just the music. It is rather annoying to skip parts of the tracts to get past the talking, but I still like it.

Magnificent

Much better than the overrated OLC with Crawford and Brightman. Definitely a keeper! 5 stars easily!!!!!!!

Phantom Rules~!

My daughter, Lydia, saw the opera, "Phantom", in Detroit a few months ago, enjoyed it SO much, she HAD to see the movie. Once seen, she was in love and began badgering me to get a copy for an "Early" Birthday Present - her 17th Birthday is in December~!
Needless to say, "Phantom" still rules, and is usually seen once
each week. Thursday has become "Phantom Day"!

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Keywords: Film; Film Music; Musicals; Original Score; Pop; Show Tunes; Soundtrack; Soundtracks; Soundtracks & Film Scores;

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Baby Einstein: Lullaby Classics

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Customer Review:

Relaxation Guaranteed

I bought this cd along with a cd player for my daughter when she was 3 weeks old. The first time I played it for her she was asleep by track 3. Since then I play it softly when I am ready to put her to bed at night (on repeat) and do not turn it off until morning. When she is upset and fussy I will put on the CD and hold her close and she relaxes immediately. I was so pleased with this cd that I am looking into buying the other Baby Einstein CD's for her.

This cd is not for the weak of heart !!!

The first time I listened to this cd, I automatically said ," Man, these guys must have been born in a trash can outside of Hardees!!" But then I listened to the rest, and automatically said," Man , these guys WERE born in a trash can outside of Hardees!!" So the bottom line is that this cd is definitely not for kids, or adults, even though my uncle Remus likes it. The minute he heard the first song, he said, " Ohh, duhawuh!! Gushy!!" I know that part of the review was very disturbing.

Synthesized classics

I was really disappointed to discover that every track on this CD is played on a synthesizer and not by the authentic orchestral instruments for which it was written. Mozart's Minuet in G sounds like it's being played on a (faux) marimba. A recording of actual instruments would be much more beautiful and better for a baby's developing ears.

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Keywords: Bagatelle for Keyboard; Baroque Suite/Partita for Orchestra; Cantata; Children's; Childrens; Choral; Classical Period Variations for Keyboard; Classical Sonata/Sonatina for Keyboard; Concerto; Keyboard; Keyboard Work with Descriptive or Unclassified Title; Lullabies; Miscellaneous; Orchestral; Pop; Romantic Music for Voice and Keyboard; Romantic Sonata/Sonatina for Keyboard; Romantic Symphony; Romantic Tone Poem/Symphonic Poem for Orchestra; Song Without Words for Keyboard; Symphonic; Transcription; V/A Compilations; Violin Concerto; Vocal;

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Angel: Live Fast, Die Never - Music from TV Series

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Futures

Soundtrack;

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Customer Review:

For The Fans

This lengthy soundtrack boasting highlights from the score and songs from the acclaimed television series, does a good job of summing up its run.

The scory parts in the middle of the album can tend to get a little dull, although most of these tracks give added meaning for the fans. A 3min electronic string score will probably come off pretty flat and not too exciting to the average listener... The fans though will have story lines to tie to every single note giving the entire album a much needed face lift.
Also as a nice added bonus, there`s a note from Robert J. Kral (the guy who wrote most of score) on every single track.
Nice one.

Surely there`s enough stuff here, and not only for the fans. The Greenwalt-tune is a nice guitar driven thing, a couple of well placed licensed tracks, an extended version of the theme (unfortunately with some annoying vocals to boot. But hey, we`ll live..), all those memorable themes (mostly Chris Becks`s of course..), and some, in my opinion, dreary Lorne karaoke stuff at the end.

Most of the score stuff is nicely arranged and produced. Expecting too much here would be wrong, it`s a television show. Not a hollywood blockbuster.

All in all, this is a fine treat for all us Whedon fans out there.

I`m having difficulties thinking of any reason why you shouldn`t purchase this album other than the booklet only containing photos from the final season.
But let`s face it.
That`s just being picky.

A Great Album!!!

Being a fan of the show, I knew the long awaited album release wouldn't dissapoint. I was right! This album consists of mostly scores from the show from Robert Kral. My favorites include, Hero (Played during the demise of Doyle), Home, The Trials of Darla, Untouched / Darla's Fire, I'm Game by Buffy composer Christophe Beck!!! These are my favorites, I like the others too!!! There's also songs by Andy Hallet, Vast, Christian Kane and Kim Richey. Buy this album, I did, and got my money's worth!

Smooth Soudtrack

The songs that line this album are wonderful, especially for a fan of Angel. A lot of the music is scores from very familiar episodes and the rest are a lot of the charachter sung versions of songs. Albiet lorn "lady marmalade" isn't my favorite type of music it still brings back memories of the show. On the other hand song like "L.A. Song" by Cristian Kane are just amazing. The lyrics written by David Greenwalt and the performance by Kane himself just lay you out. Other songs, like "A place called home" make you feel the loss of the show and remind you of why you loved the show so much.

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Keywords: Film; Film Music; Pop; Soundtrack; Soundtracks & Film Scores; TV Soundtrack; TV Soundtracks; Vocal; Vocal Music;

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