#1
Posted: 4/4/21 at 8:00am
I always go back to the original concept album, though am also partial to the OBC.
Favorite Jesus Christ Superstar Recording?
#2
Posted: 4/4/21 at 8:18am
Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve never listened to a recording of JCS where every performance is perfect. I usually pick and choose to get the best versions from each recording. The movie has the best Jesus, the Vienna production has the best Judas, and the 2000 recording has the best Judas and Pharisees.
If there’s one single performance that I think is the best version of Jesus Christ Superstar, it’s this community theater production on YouTube. They completely reimagine the show and went above and beyond what most amateur theaters do with a show like JCS.
https://youtu.be/CQCtYW68MmQ
If there’s one single performance that I think is the best version of Jesus Christ Superstar, it’s this community theater production on YouTube. They completely reimagine the show and went above and beyond what most amateur theaters do with a show like JCS.
https://youtu.be/CQCtYW68MmQ
#3
Posted: 4/4/21 at 9:22am
...the 2000 recording has the best Judas? If you want to root for him to take himself out, then I suppose he's fine. I'd rather take someone who can sing it, if you please, instead of that painful, piercing, squeaky wail Jerome Pradon does. (Nice choice with Castaway, though; I'm a nitpicker, but for the most part they do exactly what I'd like more productions of JCS to do.)
As for my favorite album... though it sounds like it was recorded in a tin can in a hole at the bottom of the sea, with some twine and baling wire, the movie soundtrack is the winner for me, hands down. Many of the rhythm tracks from the concept recording (albeit with Hollywood embellishment), the most complete version of the score at the time, some of Yvonne Elliman and Barry Dennen's best work once they'd grown into their roles, the singular brilliance of Carl Anderson, and -- by far -- the definitive "Gethsemane."
Formerly gvendo2005
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joined: 5/1/05
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Broadway Legend
joined: 5/1/05
Blocked: After Eight, suestorm, david_fick, emlodik, lovebwy, Dave28282, joevitus, BorisTomashevsky, Seb28
#4
Posted: 4/4/21 at 9:52am
Oh shoot, I made a typo. I meant that the 2000 version has the best Pharisees and Pilate. Drew Sarich is the best Judas from the Vienna production.
#5
Posted: 4/4/21 at 11:10am
The original 1970 concept album and the 1973 original motion picture soundtrack.
Side bar: I love Sarah Brightman's recording of "Everything's Alright" on her "Sarah Brightman Sings the Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber" album.
#6
Posted: 4/4/21 at 11:28am
The Overture on the 20th Anniversary recording starring Keith Burns and Paul Nicholas is epic. Burns gives an incredible performance as Judas.
#7
Posted: 4/4/21 at 12:05pm
I do like the 96 london revival but it was my first exposure to to show though
#8
Posted: 4/4/21 at 12:32pm
The original album is the best. I find the fade out tracks irritating but most JCS albums have fade out tracks.
#9
Posted: 4/4/21 at 3:14pm
For me, it's the 1973 OMPS, probably because it's the one I first heard as a child and therefore most familiar with. Plus, I saw Ted Neely in the tour (back in the 90s?) and loved his portrayal of Jesus both live and on film.
#10
Posted: 4/4/21 at 4:45pm
It's probably the concept album, but for a while, I had quite an obsession with the Spanish Jesucristo Superstar (it's interesting to me that the final word isn't Superestrella as in Mexico--I wonder if keeping the word in English was a way of treading lightly on governmental toes, even in already post-Franco Spain). The orchestrations are so interesting, and Angela Carrasco is, imo, the only Mary Magdalene that can hold a candle to Yvonne Elliman.
I like some things about the soundtrack, but "Hosanna" is my favorite song, and the orchestrations are so terrible for that--especially on the album (not bad on the actual film track; as we fans so often point out, the actual movie sounds much better than the released recording).
I listen to the Original Broadway cast often enough, though it feels rushed. And not because of the fact that it's only excerpts. The pacing is often rushed, and some of the individual voices in the chorus (the other High Priests in "This Jesus Must Die," for instance) sound bad and/or intentionally campy where the material doesn't need to be.
Updated On: 4/5/21 at 04:45 PM
#11
Posted: 4/4/21 at 7:23pm
It's a toss up for me between the 1996 London revival (my fav Jesus/Judas/Mary combo tbh) and the Indigo Girls' JCS RESURRECTION with Amy Ray as Jesus because she's just incredible (with a fantastic Gethsemane) and the more guitar-heavy and rock concert style arrangements are great fun.
#12
Posted: 4/4/21 at 10:03pm
I second the Indigo Girls’ RESURRECTION take as well. It’s the only modern recording that returns to its rock roots. While beautiful, the typical orchestrations are a bit overdone and this fresh take was a delight.
The guitar opening of Simon Zealots is something I could loop for weeks and be a happy listener.
The guitar opening of Simon Zealots is something I could loop for weeks and be a happy listener.
#13
Posted: 4/5/21 at 9:25am
greensgreens said: "I second the Indigo Girls’ RESURRECTION take as well. It’s the only modern recording that returns to its rock roots. While beautiful, the typical orchestrations are a bit overdone and this fresh take was a delight.
The guitar opening of Simon Zealots is something I could loop for weeks and be a happy listener."
The guitar opening of Simon Zealots is something I could loop for weeks and be a happy listener."
I had no idea this existed. I just found it on YouTube and am LOVING it.
Agree, I've always loved the original orchestrations, but hearing these more-rock arrangements really free it from the 70s. So exciting. Shame there isn't an album available on streaming.
#14
Posted: 4/5/21 at 12:22pm
There is, just not on typical streaming services. You can listen track by track on the label's website.
Also, the live appearance at SXSW '95 (which I assume are the YouTube clips you mean) was a hoot. I own the original on video, from that time when it was briefly sold commercially. (The video's distributor -- an Austin-based online sponsor of music events and host of many an indie band site -- went bust, and the master disappeared along with it, which is why the record label has quietly hand-waved any rips being posted anywhere.)
Formerly gvendo2005
Broadway Legend
joined: 5/1/05
Blocked: After Eight, suestorm, david_fick, emlodik, lovebwy, Dave28282, joevitus, BorisTomashevsky, Seb28
Broadway Legend
joined: 5/1/05
Blocked: After Eight, suestorm, david_fick, emlodik, lovebwy, Dave28282, joevitus, BorisTomashevsky, Seb28
Updated On: 4/5/21 at 12:22 PM
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