As much as I'm glad it's out, and I really am enjoying it...I just feel like they could have used this opportunity to record the intro music and the tracks from the encore.
I really would have loved if they had done this. It just feels a tad incomplete to me.
"I love talking about nothing. It is the only thing I know anything about." - Oscar Wilde
I bought the CD last Wednesday at WalMart and I gotta say...I'm not thrilled with it. I hate to be a negative nancy, but even though Meryl Streep CAN belt fairly well, her lower register is awfully unstable. If you don't cringe while listening to her "The Winner Takes It All", either something is wrong with your hearing or you truly believe she's "acting" to sound that bad (which could totally be the case...I haven't seen the movie yet). Baranski was quite a hoot, summoning some Liza-esque moments. Amanda Seyfriend can sing and I'm looking forward to seeing her in this part, but her vibrato is just a little too spastic for me.
Anyway, despite it's early flaws, I'm giving the album the benefit of the doubt and won't judge anything concretely until I see the film.
Wow. This is actually the most heartfelt "The Winner Takes It All" I've heard performed. I've yet to see it but the raw emotion in Streep's voice gets me all choked up. And I think her singing it top notch.
"I love talking about nothing. It is the only thing I know anything about." - Oscar Wilde
I don't disagree that it's not heartfelt compared to the original cast recording and the times I've seen it live. That it is. It's just that I can't get past how off-key Meryl Streep is on some of those notes. If it's an acting decision, that's great and it probably works in the film when you can actually see her. If not, it's just bad singing. My opinion...which, like I said, is pretty loose until I actually see the film.
I thought the same thing about Streep's voice - and not just on The Winner Takes It All. With the rants about the uh-may-zing voice she has, I was expecting a little more. I did think it could be a character thing, but I was suprised and how thin and reedy she is when she's not belting.
I've only heard the 30-sec previews on Itunes but I also noticed that Amanda Seyfriend has spastic vibrato. It gets to me sometimes, but otherwise her voice is fine. And I wasn't a fan of Pierce Brosnan's voice... does anyone else agree?
Its a bland recording with average vocals, they really could have used this opportunity to re orchestrate and give it a fresh kick...but alas, they haven't.
Namo i love u but we get it already....you don't like Madonna
Hey JHARTNOW...the opening of WTIA is supposed to be that way...she is acting the song...when I first heard it I was like ewwww..... but I have seen the clip and she crying at the opening of that song, that is why it sounds the way it does...
"In the U.S.A.
You can have your say,
You can set you goals
And seize the day,
You've been given the freedom
To work your way
To the head of the line-
To the head of the line!"
---Stephen Sondheim
Mind you I haven't seen the movie yet and I'm sure, just like Michelle Pfeiffer, it's even worse seeing her sing than it is to listen to it (in my opinion), but given how he talks what do you want him to sound like?
Colin Firth has a gorgeous voice...and I honestly love Meryl in "The Winner Takes it All", although her "Slipping Through My Fingers" beats it by a mile, it's stunning!
Seyfreid is a classically trained singer. She stated this in Entertainment Weekly. She said from the ages of 11 to 17 she trained. It shows...she is the best vocally of the cast.
I recently revisited MM on Broadway & was totally blown away when Carolee Carmello sang THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL. It gave me chills! I was so impressed I msg'd Andy Kelso (he plays Skye in the show) on Facebook and told him how lucky he was to get to hear her sing it 8 times a week. He said "She IS pretty AMAZING."
Then I heard Meryl sing it on this recording and I thought it was so painful I had to turn it off. But then I saw a clip of her 'acting' the song on the film. It's very emotional & comes off much better visually than vocally. That said, I would just stay away from the new recording & watch the movie.
< Patty Duke (the original Neely O'Hara) & me (March 8, 2010)
I just listened to it for the first time and I like it! Better than I thought it was going to be and far superior to the so-called cast album. I'm still a little mad at B & B for never doing a Broadway cast album.
Amanda's songs were definitely the highlights...and I thought Meryl rocked the last half of "Winner." Otherwise, I thought her voice was pleasant but lacked, for lack of a better word, heft.
Surprised how good Julie Walters was.
And Pierce...poor Pierce...all I could think of was a constipated Peter Frampton. He sounded better on "When All Is Said and Done," but given that's one of my top 10 ABBA songs (as is "SOS"), I do wish someone else had sung it.
Very interested to see how it sells....the constant promotion has put ABBA Gold back into the top 20 of Billboard's catalog album charts.
On hitsdailydouble's building sales chart, it's currently at #7 with sales of 31,700 and that's with only 55% of sales totals reported.
Final figures tomorrow...they don't match Billboard and Soundscan figures exactly, but give an approximate indication of actual sales and chart position.