Ghost - Cast Album Stream

[Mark_E]

Posted: 7/12/11 at 7:02am

The full cast album is now available to listen to on the official facebook page of Ghost the Musical! Just started listening to it and the quality of the sound is wonderful!

[binau]

Posted: 7/12/11 at 7:17am

It bothers me that whoever is paid to run this Facebook page doesn't appear to know the difference between it's and its

"Ghost the Musical is giving it's fans the exclusive chance to listen to the BRAND NEW Ghost Cast Album in it's entirety before it's release on the 18th July!"

I find the poor english even funnier considering the show is in England too :P.

For the 'haters', yes, I know that this is not the most important thing in the word, perhaps even more trivial than the 'cast album vs soundtrack' debate – but I don't care.

Updated On: 7/12/11 at 07:17 AM

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 7/12/11 at 8:07am

Loves it
Best tracks are Here Right Now, Three Little Words, Sams Death, Are You a Beliver?, With You, Suspend my Disbelief/I Had a Life (Incredible), With You, Rain/Hold On, Focus, Nothing Stops Another Day.

[ohjustjake]

Posted: 7/12/11 at 12:12pm

I'm only halfway through right now but I'm absolutely in love with everything about this score. And from watching the trailer, it looks like a spectacular production. I can't wait to see more!

[LegallyBroadway2]

Posted: 7/12/11 at 12:40pm

FANTASTIC. just started it a couple minutes ago. In love.

[dreaming]

Posted: 7/12/11 at 12:59pm

Someone tell me that this might make it to Broadway sooner rather than later.

This movie really gets me and the music is really beautiful.

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/12/11 at 2:02pm

My initial thoughts ...

The music is a LOT stronger than I thought it was from that (badly edited) trailer. There are a million better cues, melodies, and phrases to use and grab people than the ones in that teaser clip. Very solid music throughout.

The lyrics, on the other hand, are SERIOUSLY ordinary. So disappointing. Way too many "together forever" rhymes. Also a lot of weird narrative lyrics ... like "This is the part where ... this is the time ... this is the moment when ... "

Who talks like that? Who even thinks like that?

"I stand here ... I sit here ..." That's not a lyric, it's a stage direction.

The voices are really good. So are the orchestrations. So are the vocal arrangements. Some excellent moments.

That lead guy totally BUTCHERS "Unchained Melody," sucking the very soul right out of this classic American song in the name of riffy, show-offy American Idol singing. Terrible, terrible, terrible. Even if he's being playful, why sing it that way? He craps all over it.

Not crazy about Oda Mae Brown's big psychic medium number. Generic gospel music with a forgettable melody. It "sounds" right, but is pretty thin and, well, generic.

Best song: With You -- best lyrics in the whole show, too. Finally, they rise to the quality of the music. Sung beautifully, too.

Ultimately, I think there is enough talent shining through here to overcome most of the faults and have a nice, healthy run on Broadway with decent enough reviews. If the lyrics were better, this could really be one for the ages.

But OH ... those amateurish lyrics! They drag things WAY down. Together with the music, it's a pretty good score, but it could have been great. There are also far too many rock-power-ballads, especially toward the end. It becomes ponderous. Cut one or five. Have more moody-action music, or, even better, let the dialog and acting shine. Sometimes a great score is knowing when NOT to have music (see Maria's final scene in West Side Story).

Updated On: 7/12/11 at 02:02 PM

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 7/12/11 at 2:08pm

Best13bars that would be my only critiscim of the show, the lyrics, some are great but some are very clunky.

As for Unchained Melody hes singing it like that for a reason, its done as a joke, hes trying to make Molly smile, its a very cute moment, im sure he would not normally sing it like that.

I think With You is great but by far the best moment in the show is Suspend My Disbelief/I Had a Life (it;s the act 1 finale). I got shivers when i watched that played on stage and shivers again listening to the music.

As for Broadway, yes they want to move it to Broadway and have already spoke about it.

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/12/11 at 2:19pm

Thanks for the explanation about Unchanged Melody. It helps to know that, and I thought he might be joking. Maybe it would be better if toward the end of it, he dropped the crap and just sang it simply. I guess that would be my other complaint. The leading guy doesn't seem to have any really strong character-defining songs in the show. Not like she does. Maybe they flesh him out in the dialogue or staging. But he felt thinly-drawn, especially next to her.

I definitely enjoyed the Act I finale, but again, the lyrics were so-so there. Seeing it in context with the staging, and everything that comes before it, surely helps.

All in all, it's still a better show than I expected, especially after seeing that trailer. They should pull that and cut a better one. It does the show a great disservice, IMO. Particularly after hearing the score.

[PopAria]

Posted: 7/12/11 at 3:40pm

I'm in love with this.
It's definitely Pop-Rock amazingness.

This is way better than Next To Normal, and hopefully the staging and the sets will be too.

[trentsketch]

Posted: 7/12/11 at 3:50pm

Wow. Ball of Wax even sounds out of place on the album. What's that old-fashioned vaudeville-like ditty doing in the middle of a pop show? They couldn't have accomplished it with just a really intense scene?

Otherwise, I really like this. I especially like where the original scoring takes a phrase or two from Unchained Melody to create something new. Great vocal performances, too. I can only imagine the songs that seemed a bit long work much better with all the effects onstage.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 7/12/11 at 4:23pm

Ball of Wax is the song that won't die, everyone has told them the song does not work but they dont seem to listen.

Re Sam's role being thinly drawn. You get to really like Sam very early on but he dies within 20 mins and is a Ghost just trying to warn Molly about the danger she is in. He works very well though, his scenes are great.

Im glad people are liking this, the show is brilliant.

trentsketch - The longest song is the act 1 finale (Suspend my Disbelief/I Had a Life) and the staging and stroy move it along very well (it's the best monent in the show in my opinion)

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/12/11 at 5:54pm

I really like the score! I agree that the lyrics need a lot of work. I doubt they'll get the attention they need.

"Ball of Wax" sort of reminds me of the way "King Herod's Song" is just randomly tossed into the score of Jesus Christ Superstar, and I think that's what they may have been going for, but surprisingly it works better in Superstar than it does here.

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/12/11 at 6:29pm

I actually love Ball of Wax, if for no other reason than it changes things up musically and gives us something other than a "pretty ballad" to listen to. There are about six too many of those already in this show. Not that they're bad, just that there are WAY too many of them.

They need some variety in the second act, too. So keep Ball of Wax and work on giving Act II a few musical surprises as well.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 7/12/11 at 7:25pm

I think you are the only person in the world who likes that song lol
The song is not awful it just does not fit, the music is smart, modern, and emotional and keeping in style with the production, this one is like listening to a song from another show. On top of that the placement is AWFUL.

*Spoilers*
It comes right after Sam is shot, a breathtaking scene to look at and musically, then all of a sudden as the music to Sam's Death has barely finished this song comes in.
*end of spoiler*

To me the show is a romantic drama with aspects of a thriller and some comedy moments thrown in thanks to Oda, the music reflects that style. The music may get ballad heavy or rock heavy at times but it suite the mood perfect, the music should match the tone of the show and be recognisable as from that show.

Rent uses many musical genres but you can tell the songs are from Rent, Ball of Wax does not sound like it's from Ghost.

Act 2 does not need any songs removed or added, i would say out of the 2 acts it’s the second act that’s pretty perfect.

[DeNada]

Posted: 7/12/11 at 7:33pm

I have just become incredibly irritated by I'm Outta Here. More so than I was already from having seen the show (the staging is completely ADHD and you can't hear any of the lyrics over the band), but from listening to the beginning of it multiple times because it follows my favourite song in the score, Nothing Stops Another Day.

The very first line is "My momma's always saying". Except in the show it's very clear that Oda Mae's mother is dead! She says "my mother had the gift..." at one point, and one of Sam's final lines is something like "Your mother would have been proud". The song is completely disconnected from the show it's in, really, and exists purely to have a big crowd-pleaser number.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 7/12/11 at 7:36pm

Yeah it is there to be a big crowd pleasing number, i agree about that lyric though it does not bother me. If i let things like that bother me from every musical i saw i would have gone in to another profession.

I agree Nothing Stops Another Day is stunning

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/12/11 at 7:40pm

You've seen the show, and I haven't, songanddanceman3, so I certainly can't argue about placement or the jarring nature of the song in the context of the show.

But I can tell you that there are way too many ballads (mostly in Act II but throughout) whether I've seen the show or not. I don't need to see it to do the simple math, and no plot in any musical justifies such a power-ballad-heavy score. It's ponderous, especially by the time you get to Act II. They've shot their wad already with "heartfelt numbers."

And based on your own assessment of the show above, I wish they had emphasized comedy a little more than that. The film had some real laugh out loud moments (mostly from Whoopi, but not entirely). That was the thing about the film: it was a good film without Goldberg. But it became a MUCH better film whenever she was on screen. Everything bumped up a few notches. That's what made it spark, and that's why she won a well-deserved Supporting Actress Oscar.

If the musical focuses on the two leads with a DOZEN heartfelt ballads and very little comedy or anything resembling a "star turn" from Oda Mae, then they're off-track with the focus. They've lost a lot of what was special in the film.

Again, haven't seen it. I'm going from the score, which I have heard now, and your own recounting and impressions of what is on stage.

Updated On: 7/12/11 at 07:40 PM

[MelissaF]

Posted: 7/12/11 at 7:40pm

Ill be in London for the first time in October, and already purchased my tickets to Ghost, can't wait!!

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 7/12/11 at 9:17pm

The comedy in the show comes in the book scenes and are mainly with Oda (she is incedible but i agree he big number is not the best, though its fun to watch).
Act 2 does not have many ballads in really. The act 2 opener is very much a rock number and then it has Life Turns on the Dime, Nothing Stops Another Day (which is broken up with some very funny scenes with Oda and Sam going to the bank) and the finale. The other songs are Talking Bout A Miracle (gospel uptempo), Focus (Rap) and Im Outta Here (Uptempo).

[kyl3fong2]

Posted: 7/12/11 at 9:24pm

A beautiful cast recording. I look forward to seeing this show in the fall!

[MelissaF]

Posted: 7/12/11 at 11:09pm

Just ordered the Cast Recording on Amazon!!

[fingerlakessinger]

Posted: 7/13/11 at 12:45pm

OMGF I love this...I know that is fanboyish but I dont care. Sure some of the lyrics are clunky, but the music and most of the other lyrics outshine them!

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/13/11 at 1:06pm

The high quality of the music is what will make this show a hit. I wish the lyrics were better, but I think you're right that people will really be drawn to this because of the beautiful music.

EDIT: I still can't stop listening to "With You." It breaks my heart. Such a hauntingly beautiful song.

Updated On: 7/13/11 at 01:06 PM

[RagzJr]

Posted: 7/13/11 at 1:51pm

I bought the iTunes benefit single of "With You" a week or two ago and haven't stopped listening to it... That track is BEEEEEAUTIFUL!

That said, I was so incredibly excited to hear the rest of the music from the show. I agree with best12bars, while the lyrics border on painful at times and it does seem a bit power-ballad heavy, the music is all-in-all pretty fantastic. I'm REALLY curious to see what will happen with this show (i.e. will the London critics take to it, will it make the trip to Broadway and, if so, what changes will be made, etc).