Best Jesus Christ Superstar Recording

[abstract19]

Posted: 2/9/11 at 1:24am

Are there any preferences for which one is the best to get?

[grandpianoalex]

Posted: 2/9/11 at 1:25am

Not anything with Ted Neeley.

[Joey.]

Posted: 2/9/11 at 1:30am

The original concept album, of course.

[wonderwaiter]

Posted: 2/9/11 at 2:06am

Agreed. The original concept album is the best, most complete recording.

Every incarnation of the show since then has gotten progressively more "continuous light-rock favorites". They each have their high and low points, but if you are looking for just one recording go with the Original Concept Album.

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 2/9/11 at 2:12am

I always go with the original movie soundtrack (1973) - it has the best performers and best overall "sound" to it - plus, you get "Then We Are Decided" which was written especially for the movie and hasn't been included in any production since, which is one of the best songs in the show IMO.

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 2/9/11 at 8:08am

Not anything with Ted Neeley.

Eat a peach.

As for my recommendation, there's really no way to buy just one, so my top four are:

1. Original concept recording (Ian Gillan, Murray Head, Yvonne Elliman) -- original sound, the way the score should sound IMHO, the original vocalists coughing up lungs, kickin' ass, takin' names. Closest to the original conception, hence "original concept."

2. Original motion picture soundtrack (Ted Neeley, Carl Anderson, Yvonne Elliman) -- has the most songs, has Carl Anderson who is the benchmark by which most Judases (sp?) are measured, basically the concept album but with some gauzy Hollywood stuff on top which is good if you didn't like the thinner symphonic orchestrations on the original album (hurrah for Andre Previn's lended expertise to the movie).

3. 1992 Australian revival cast (John Farnham, Jon Stevens, Kate Ceberano) -- Updated Nineties sound to the score, with a very Top 40 "I Don't Know How to Love Him" and a heavy metal "King Herod's Song." This is seen as the game-changer.

4. 1996 London revival studio cast (Steve Balsamo, Zubin Varla, Joanna Ampil) -- How Webber wants the work to sound now. Not the best, but Balsamo shows how one can sing the role of Jesus without brain hemmorhaging through their nose.

Updated On: 2/9/11 at 08:08 AM

[sbflyfan]

Posted: 2/9/11 at 8:28am

The OBC recording has my favorite version of "Could We Start Again, Please?" on it. I'm absolutely in love with the piano!

And I'm getting the two confused right now in my mind (I can't listen to them at the moment) but I'm not sure if Yvonne Elliman does that really great sliding-guitar sound with her voice during the last note on the OBC, or on the film. Maybe both?

[Justin D]

Posted: 2/9/11 at 10:46am

Another interesting one (highlights only) is that one from a german concert sung in english with Drew Sarich as Jesus, his take on the vocals is a real treat and there is a woman playing Herrod and she is a riot.

[LALALand]

Posted: 2/9/11 at 11:21am

Totally agree with gvendo2005. The 1992 Australian cast is a guilty pleasure. The go-to version for me is the original concept.
Didn't Webber recently announce an arena tour of this show? Taking it back to the sound of the original concept album and featuring some big names in rock.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 2/9/11 at 2:35pm

I wonder if we'll ever hear the score consistently sung the way it was on the original album. Most of the singers on that were just that, rock singers who were just throwing it all to the wind. No holding back, no worrying about conserving the voice and making it through an eight show week, just pure balls-to-the-wall wailing.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 2/9/11 at 10:57pm

The obc is a butchered "highlights" album but I like it for "Could We Start Again Please?" and Jeff Fenholt's magnificent "Gethsemane"

[PitPro2004]

Posted: 2/10/11 at 10:23am

"Totally agree with gvendo2005. The 1992 Australian cast is a guilty pleasure. The go-to version for me is the original concept."

Same here. If you want an adrenaline rush, listen to the '92 Australian version which is like a wildfire running thru your musical soul. The updated orchestrations are terrific. Bummer that the work was not released in it's entirety.

But...and this is a very big but...the original concept version to me is hands down the version you should always come back to. Like going home...:)

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 2/10/11 at 7:44pm

I love the movie soundtrack with Carl Anderson, it has the best overall cast IMO. But my favorite recorded Mary Magdelen is Joanna Ampil in the 1996 London revival studio album.

[JustLikeParadise84]

Posted: 2/10/11 at 10:08pm

I own close to 30 different JCS recordings, and I can say I enjoy the 96 London Cast a lot. It might not be the ultimate best, but I do believe that Zubin Varla and Steve Balsamo are an amazing team on that album. The movie soundtrack does have Neeley and Anderson, but I don't think that's their best performances - they got much better...find videos of them in the early 90s on YouTube. Plus, the sound quality is kind of weird on that album. The concept album has great moments, and sounds great when you play it really loud...but Barry Dennen as Pilate is just pitiful on that recording, and Ian Gillian is amazing when he's screaming and stuff, but things like "Poor Jerusalem" fall flat. Murray Head has really good moments as Judas, but he's by far the best. 92 Australian Cast is really good, but definitely has some weird moments. The Vienna cast with Drew Sarich is seriously great, and one of the most consistent albums I've heard...kudos to the singers for bringing original takes to the roles...the Judas is really amazing on that.

I don't think there is a perfect JCS recording...my opinion is if you really like the show, get a bunch of them. Just anything but the Japanese cast or the 2000 movie cast.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 2/10/11 at 10:21pm

The '96 London cast would be my favorite if the title track didn't fade out and the Crucifixion track didn't sound like it just cuts out randomly.

[Zingingtobway]

Posted: 2/11/11 at 1:24am

I love the original sound track. But also loved the Movie soundtrack and the Australian version. Has anyone heard the Gospel take on JSC.. Some of the Arrangements are wicked with a great vocal delivery of Jesus by Darrius De Hass

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 2/11/11 at 11:56am

I don't think anyone has heard JCS Gospel yet. May I be able to? *cough* PM me *cough*

[Lenexajones]

Posted: 2/11/11 at 9:42pm

My guilty pleasure is the version recorded by Indigo Girls and their friends.

[Lin-Manuel Miranda]

Posted: 2/12/11 at 12:24am

Sorry, had to jump in on this thread. There's a Spanish-language JCS recording I found in a bargain bin in Puerto Rico, starring Camilo Sesto. If you don't mind your JCS in Spanish (and the translation's pretty good), the synth and guitar sounds are the craziest I've ever heard. In fact, youtube has an audio of it, dubbed on top of the movie. Listen to the synths at the top of Simon Zealotes! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TFPhFkss9k

[wonderwaiter]

Posted: 2/12/11 at 1:45am

"the synth and guitar sounds are the craziest I've ever heard."

HOLY CRAP! I see what you mean. I don't dislike it, though. ( I like how they included Larry Marshall's more, um, "inspired" moments in that video.)

"My guilty pleasure is the version recorded by Indigo Girls and their friends."

It gets a bad rap on these boards, but I got to see it live at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta (with the help of some chemical influence) and it was a great experience. The Caiaphas on the recording is not the same one that performed live, and it made a big difference. Also, there's just no way to explain how awesome it was to have the Seed & Feed Marching Abominables bust in on your theatrical experience for Hosanna.

Had I not seen it live, and were I not already a huge Indigo Girls fan, I don't know if I would have the fondness for that recording, but it is one of my favorites and still ranks as one of the most thrilling and "REAL" experiences I've had in a theater.

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 2/12/11 at 2:39am

Hey Lin! Finally saw In the Heights and loved it. Now, as to your opinion of JCS recordings... I "like" Camilo's version, but I don't love it. For me, Jesus has got to have a little more umph to his voice, and Camilo relies on falsetto too much for me to enjoy it. I like something with a little depth, grit, texture, very "rock" if you will, more like Gillan or Neeley. I do love the orchestrations though for the late Seventies/early Eighties cheesiness. I also love the drum sound. That guy (or gal) is more active and rock-oriented with his (her) drum patterns than many people who play it safe with this score.

I also love JCS: A Resurrection myself, it's a really underrated version of the score. For me, it's the only version of the show that made Herod's number work properly. I own a copy of the video of the SXSW performance that was available from Amy Ray's label, Daemon Records, for some years (it's on YouTube now if you look for it; Daemon "authorized" the release because the place that made the videos for them died, and the actual master tape somehow got lost in the shuffle when the company folded, so they've encouraged circulation of burnt DVDs from original copies of the video), and it's even better live in many places than it is on the recording. Same Caiaphas, unfortunately; the performer later passed away from lung cancer, so perhaps that gives us a little more insight into his very Tom Waits-esque performance of the part. Also, the marching band appearing for "Hosanna" is just insane; every time I hear it, it fills my head with this odd image of Jesus looking very out of place in the middle of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which sort of fits, if you think about where the character is at that moment.

I love the recording, and was interested in it ever since I got the Internet hooked up for the first time and discovered how much other JCS stuff was out there than my limited exposure. It is one of my favorites as well, and the video makes the concert seem like it would have been great to see. (Apparently they revived it for a few performances in the early 2000s, but it didn't make a big splash that I know of.)

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 2/12/11 at 7:26am

The original concept album.

[LuLu2]

Posted: 2/12/11 at 8:25am

My favourite is the 1996 original West End cast recording. Steve Balsamo's JC is something really special and makes it for me. His 26 second long note on DIE has never been repeated I don't think. I do know that he held it like that on every of the 400 live performances he did on the show. Check out his gethsemane on youtube;

youtube.com/watch?v=3-rre_BXxC0&feature=fvw

Second for me is the original concept which got me hooked on JC in the first place. I've heard many more recordings but not as yet found one that beats these two. My least favourite is the 2000 film version. Didn't like that at all!

[sally1112]

Posted: 2/12/11 at 10:08am

The original concept album change my life! Not only did it introduce me, at age 3, to my love of Broadway, but I think it also helped make me gay.

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 2/12/11 at 10:23am

I do know that he held it like that on every of the 400 live performances he did on the show.

Oh no he didn't, and there's a ton of...documentation...to support it.