H2$ soudtrack- Page 2

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 1:18pm

Yeah it sounds great. There are some great interviews with Reilly and Morse at the end too.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000DZ3ID/qid=1123435097/sr=8-3/ref=pd_bbs_3/102-1871670-4962549?v=glance&s=music&n=507846

[magruder]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 1:21pm

I also question those that feel a newer recording necessarily has better sound. The original Broadway cast recording is one of the better balanced and engineered RCA cast recordings of the 1960s and I prefer its warm, spacious sound (and the witty original Robert Ginzler orchestrations) to the brittle, digital and cold-sounding (and hard-sell performance style) of the 1995 revival recording.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 1:25pm

I think some people respond better to "modern sounding" voices, hence while some people GASP think the Revival Recording of Company is beter than the OBC. The revivals and studio recordings surely sound bigger, but I don't think they are better.

[Patronus]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 1:28pm

Now that things are being remastered, I find myself listening to the OBC a lot more rather than revivals. I'll probably go out and buy this remastered H2$ today.

Thanks for the heads up.

[magruder]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 1:31pm

I think I played the London and Broadway revival recordings for Company once, and never touched them again. It sounds like the orchestra consists of a Casio keyboard, kazoo, slide whistle and wind chime. Nothing like hearing it with a 25+ piece orchestra.

Posted: 8/7/05 at 1:45pm

Agree, Magruder.

New isn't always better. It's simply new.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 2:03pm

Some of the H2$ revival sounds awful to me, especially that weird chirping/ooma chucka crap during Coffee Break.

[Marquise]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 2:52pm

" especially that weird chirping/ooma chucka crap
what the f- - - was that all about?

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 2:55pm

It's about as weird as that clip-art zoo they used for the poster.

[Ebonic_Singer]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 3:01pm

Love the revival cast recording. Although I have only seen it on coughvideocough, I thought it was awsome--and what a wonderful set! Mullaly needs to return to the stage.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 4:01pm

1. Original Broadway Cast (RCA Victor) - The sound is better balanced than some early stereo RCA cast albums, but it does have a fuzziness and slight distortion due to the label's penchant for "hot-mic-ing" the singers. Of course the role belongs to Robert Morse and ONLY Rudy Vallee makes any sense with the perfectly awful "Love from a Heart of Gold" that was (I think - whether Vallee was aware of it or not) Loesser's parody of a typical Rudy Valee hit of the 1920s. (Those curious should seek out a Pro-Arte CD Rudy Valee: Vagabond Lover which collects 20 of his tracks recorded c. 1929-30) The song was dropped from the film and only the intervention of Jo Sullivan Loesser kept it from being cut from the 1995 revival.

2. 1966 Movie Soundtrack - A good deal of the score was cut from the film. Gone are "Happy to Keep His Dinner Warm", "Paris Original", "Cinderella Darling" and "Love from a Heart of Gold." ("Coffee Break" was cut from the release version of the film but was filed and recorded and is on the soundtrack.) Morse and Vallee are back along with Michelle Lee who was a replacement Rosemary on Broadway. Sound quality is typical Hollywood soundtage: boxy and flat. The larger Orchestra is good but the new orchestrations are not. This CD is now out-of-print and not really worth a hunt unless you are a collector who must have EVERY version of every show.

3. 1995 Broadway revival cast - The production itself was uneven. It was saved by Broderick's winning (and Tony winning) performance, and by Lillias White's "brotherhood of Man" which really did blow the roof off the theatre and gave the sagging second act such a lift right near the end that many people believed the show was better than it actualy was. (There were good moments along the way but quite a few - especially the re-concieved "Coffee Break that just did not work. The show didn't really catch fire until late in Act One and as I said after a strong first act finale, Act Two took its own sweet time getting up to speed again!)Overall sound quality is better and the CD gives a more complete represenattion of the show but with changes to the orchestrations and a revised song line-up. Despite its flaws I think I have enjoyed listening to the revival cast more than I have the OBC, but maybe because I saw this production just after it opened.

-----WARNING: Cast record vs. Soundtrack commentary------

I have always been a stickler for using the correct terms. "Cast recording" for stage and studio casts, soundtracks for "movie soundtrack" albums.

I don't think it necessary to be mean or nasty especially to newcomers who probably have encountered stores where all show albums and movie soundtracks are lumped together and the staff are too busy comparing the latest piercings to know or care.

I do think the matter should be corrected and it clearly spelled out to the originator why the differentiations are important. It is not done - nor sould it be done - to make the poster feel inadequate or to make the person replying appear superior. We are just correcting a minor mistake.

That said. if the people are Broadway World are the true "Theatre Fans", and for the most part they are, it is expected that everyone should know the difference between a film "soundtrack" (ST for short) and a stage production's "original cast recording" (OCR) just as we know the difference between a live stage performance and a movie. At least I hope we do!

[ilovespamalot]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 6:12pm

Sorry, i am a newcomer and i have always been told its a cast recording not a soundtrack. It just slipped. Thanks for all of the good advise :)!
Updated On: 8/7/05 at 06:12 PM

Posted: 8/7/05 at 6:20pm

I must add that patronus, who corrected the newcomer, was indeed very polite and even answered the question after he made the correction. To me he did not come across as superior or insulting.

The two people who attacked him, theatretrash and albin, were rude and a bit nasty. They did convey an attitude of superiority.

Updated On: 8/7/05 at 06:20 PM

[Patronus]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 6:27pm

Thanks chita, I appreciate the kind words.

[nolatheatre]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 6:53pm

i personally think it is silly that most of these messages were a debate over one slip up that i love spamalot made. Now i dont think anyone did it in a nasty way i think it was just a waste.

I love the cd! My favorite is brotherhood of man! You should enjoy it!

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 9:18pm

i've listened to both and far prefer the revival's voices. And frankly lilias white's brotherhood of man cements it as something one should have in their collection

[broadway86]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 9:55pm

I prefer the revival recording over the original. Better vocals and orchestrations.

[DreamFlyer22]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 10:01pm

I listened to both the OBC and the revival recordings back when I did the show in March of 2000, and I have to say that both have their plusses... which most people have already touched on here.

Just to add- yeeeah. "Coffee Break" on the revival is a bit of an audio zoo. The group I did H2$ with had done "Guys and Dolls" two years prior and I remember veterans of that show commenting during a H2$ choreography session, "When did we go to Havana??" (granted, they ARE both Loesser shows)

Updated On: 8/7/05 at 10:01 PM

[VonTussleGirl]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 10:48pm

Guys... he said SOUDtrack, not SOUNDtrack. There must be some difference.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 10:56pm

I've always known the difference but you don't see me making other people feel like idiots if they make a mistake. You don't have to be a theater geek to post here. You can just be semi-interested. Not everyone collects Playbills/Stagebills. Not everyone collects OCR's or solo albums or, shamefully, has a copy of the Merm's disco album. (Some don't even know who "The Merm" is.)

So send a PM. Enlighten them. Fill them in. Be a KIND theater-geek. Make us seem less full of ourselves. Don't make a stranger who's trying to learn feel like an idiot. Don't embarass them.

And besides, I'm just freaking sick of hearing it. YEESH!

[tagiunagi]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 11:30pm

I absolutely adore the revival, but of course, I am partial to Megan Mullally. If she could still sing like she did 10 years ago, she'd have a marvelous career on bway now... :)

[Patronus]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 11:32pm

Who is The Merm?

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 11:53pm

chita33, "Send the Bush twins to Iraq, they're unemployed."

I LOVE IT!


Oh, and speaking of the subject at hand, buy both recordings. It took me some time to catch onto Matthew's singing voice, but he gives a great performance. You can feel his Finchiness through the CD. Megan Mullally was adorable, and what a gorgeous voice she has. And of course Victoria Clark, who made Smitty my favorite character in the show, turns in a "hehe"-esque comic performance. And man, Lillias White rocks the house down! Dang girlfriend! Get her back on Broadway.

Updated On: 8/8/05 at 11:53 PM

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 8/8/05 at 12:17am

"(Some don't even know who "The Merm" is.)"

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooo!!!!
Who is The Merm?

Don't even kid about it!!

We have a group here, not a large group but enough in numbers to be of concern, who know nothing of the early and middle years of musical theatre. They claim not to like SHOW BOAT and the musicals of R & H. They do not understand what made Marilyn Miller, Gertrude Lawrence, Fannie Brice, Ethel Merman, Mary Martin and others great. And there is a troubling attitude that since it happened BEFORE they were born it isn't important.

Sad..sad...sad.

Posted: 8/8/05 at 12:23am

Front there was just a thread on All That Chat where someone said that "with voices like that of Gertrude Lawrence and Mary Martin, it seemed anyone could be a Broadway star back in the 50's" Sad Statement. This is the thread.

http://www.talkinbroadway.com/allthatchat/d.php?id=158147