POTO Soundtrack out - anyone have it?- Page 3

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 5:02pm

None of this is really new information, but here's what I liked and didn't like...


What I like:

I love that most of the dialogue seems to be included. Nice touch.

For the most part all of disc one is fine. The only REAL change made vs. the stage show is "Magical Lasso" being before the unmasking scene instead of after. A lot of the lyrical changes everyone is talking about are changes that were made to the stage show already and just not so on the London cast recording.

Patrick Wilson. Hello gorgeous.

The big breath everyone takes right before the final "once more!!!" at the end of "Prima Donna". Love it.

Disc two is okay. The entire sequence with Raoul and Mdm. Giry, the fairground, the "Learn to be Lonely" underscore, and the journey to the graveyard and then "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" is awesome.

I love that they included the "Seal my fate tonight..." sequence. It's one of my favorite lines on stage. It's nice to have it finally recorded.

"Learn to be Lonely" is great as the end credits. It's a touching song. I hope it wins cuz' that's the only reason it was written...


what I don't like:

Gerry sounds like sh*t on a stick, but whatever. It's a choice. At least he went with something.

The parts that are spoken instead of sung. They sound better sung. Now they're just talking in rhyme. What the hell??? Like "Little Lotte" for example or "Raul it scares me, don't make me do this..." talking it was a bad idea. Especially the later because "Raul it scares me" is a great composition.

"Notes/Prima Donna" is RUSHED like mad. I don't know why.

The second notes scene has been butchered and then placed after the sword fight. I don't understand why that scene is now taking place so late in the film. makes no sense to me. The second phantom note is tied in with "Why So Silent" and "Bravo Monsieur" is replaced with the sword fight no big whop. but, I suppose it aint that big of a deal.

The chandelier falls right before "Down Once More" and not after "All I Ask of You (reprise). I HATE that idea. but whatever.

Over all I like it. It's more frikin' complete than the London cast recording, but it's not going to be in my CD player as much as the London cast... Updated On: 11/24/04 at 05:02 PM

[Marquise]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 5:09pm

was at best buy today. had the special edition cd in my hands. i was contemplating on buying it, but from what i've heard and read gerard butler is the weakest link in this effort, and he shouldn't be because he's the lead character. it's saying alot when the other cast members are outshining the lead vocally. i'll reserve buying this soundtrack until i actually see the film.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 5:12pm

the phantom has never been the lead. he's on stage for a combined 35 minutes out of a 2 hour and 40 minute show. and that's being nice becasue technically he's not actually on stage for some of that. Christine is the lead... always has been. And Gerry isn't that bad. He just sounds like a rock star... granted, a bad one, although at times it's kinda like Adam Pascal. I mean, in a good way. Like when he says "to the seat of sweet music's throne"... sounds Adam like.... suddenly I was picturing Adam as the Phantom and it made me all tingly... Updated On: 11/24/04 at 05:12 PM

[secret-soul]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 5:24pm

Ok. Here's what I have to say:


WOW....
seriously WOW.
a good WOW.
Ok: Christine (Emmy Rossum)- a little iffy at times, but definitely more genuine than sarah brightman.
Raoul (Patrick Wilson)- Terrific, though I wish they would have sung the Little Lotte parts because it's so beautiful and instead they chose to whisper.
The Phantom (Gerard Butler)- well, well, well. At first I wad disappointed when "Insolent boy" didn't come out stronger...and at that moment I really started wishing that they had made Hugh Panaro or Howard McGillin the Phantom. Anyway...I ended up LOVING him. THere were certain parts that I wish they hadn't changed the register of but I know that they wanted GB and he had to learn how to sing..and sing well...for the role so I understand. He was kind of raspy at times, but that helped, as someone said, with the scary phantom parts. And they sped up the tempo at times so he wouldn't have to hold the notes as long. But that's ok. Overall he was amazing and made me cry just listening at the end (the only other phantom who's ever made me cry at the end was Hugh Panaro). I mean, I was on my floor bawling. Yeah.
The orchestra sounds INCREDIBLE. It was..I...uh....well...geezus...I just can't describe how amazing the overall project is. I'm so glad they included some of the dialogue and the "seal my fate" part. Some of the segues were interesting. Like, how at the beginning of "Act Two", if you will, the overture is of course shortened because it's not a break in the action, instead it's a segue into Masquerade. And then there are lines changed in Masquerade to reflect that the chandelier has not fallen (it has an intense falling sequence later on Disk 2)
As to Point of No Return, it sounded incredible emotionally, everything. THe only thing that bothered me is the same thing that bothers me about the OCR. The recording does not reflect when Christine realizes that it's the phantom under that costume or when she reveals him. I don't know it's just so much better onstage, but when I see the movie, I'll get it, I'm sure.
"Learn to be Lonely" is BEAUTIFUL and it had BETTER win the Oscar...it made me cry too. It was a crying day:)

So that's it....
Hey, I liked Gerard and didn't think he sounded like "sh*t on a stick" but I would always want Hugh Panaro to play the role no matter who it was. le sigh.
:)

Updated On: 11/24/04 at 05:24 PM

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 5:30pm

I like Gerry's rasp I just prefur someone with a voice that would make me swoon, instead of cough. Especially for the Phantom. Like I said it was a choice. They went there. I'm happy they went somewhere, at least. And now I can't get Adam as the Phantom out of my mind. That would make me swoon and turn my head and cough...

[LoringsGuy]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 5:39pm

Didn't care for the cd upon first listen this morning, but decided to give it another spin and now it hasn't left my player all day. It's definitely growing on me.

Sometimes Emmy sounds really pretty, and other times...not so much. WHAT is going on in "Think of Me" when she sings, "trying too hard to put you from my mind," specifically the word "my"? Did she burp just then?

Patrick Wilson sounds fantastic, but that goes without saying.

Gerard Butler reminds me sometimes of Antonio Banderas on this, and other times the sounds he makes are appalling. Can't stand the way he YELLS the word "hell" in "Down Once More." It comes across as, "There's no way I'm going to pull off that note, so I'm just going to scream really loudly to distract you from the fact I'm NOT ACTUALLY SINGING."

"Masquerade" is amazing! The orchestra sounds....well, amazing!

The collective gasp for air right before the final notes of "Prima Donna" is hilarious.

[secret-soul]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 5:50pm

The other thing about GB is that he has an EXTREMELY thick accent which is hard to get rid of and that's part of why his vocals aren't...perfect.
Oh, and Emmy sounds AMAZING in Point of No Return now that I'm revisiting it.

[LoringsGuy]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 5:55pm

Did anyone see Gerard in TOMB RAIDER? Yowza. I suppose seeing him shirtless in PHANTOM would be too much to hope for?

[secret-soul]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 6:06pm

one thing I've decided I don't like: Gerard singing "Go now, go now and leave me"....ick his voice sounds nice, but not for that line. shouting would have been so much better. Why couldn't he have shouted that line and sang some of the others with that voice.

[zepka102]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 6:22pm

best part sung by gerry? i think all i ask of you reprise... i love it.. especially from "you will curse the day..."

it took me some time to get used to his voice, but overall, i like it.

[bradwds]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 8:52pm

I really am enjoying the soundtrack.

A question: To anyone who has heard the Beautiful Game cast recording, some music in Journey to the Cemetery sounds exactly like the music in Beautiful Game, also composed by Lloyd Webber. Can anyone take a listen and let me know what you think? The music I am speaking of starts 1 min 35 sec into the track on the POTO soundtrack. It sounds just like the music in track one on the BG cd.It sounds as if ALW is recycling again.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 8:55pm

Um.......now you have perked my interest. I will go listen right now.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 9:08pm

Ok, I listened to both like 3 times each and I don't see any similarity.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 9:45pm

My biggest upset with the chandelier falling at the end of the film is that it strays further not only from the stage show, but the novel too. Whereas even in the novel the sequencing of events has the chandelier fall prior to the masked ball. Plus they miss the marvelous opportunity to explain a la the novel that the crash injures hundreds and kills a woman who had come to the opera for the first time in her life.... with the morning paper featuring the headline:

TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND KILOS ON
THE HEAD OF A CONCIERGE!

that's my favorite part of the whole book!!! it would have been so funny to have Firmin or Andre in the next scene reading a newspaper and ignoring that headline... Updated On: 11/24/04 at 09:45 PM

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 9:49pm

hahahaha. The thing I didn't like about the Chandelier falling in the middle of the show, is.....if they chandelier fell and possibly killed someone, why would they be throwing a party soon after? I think by putting the "falling" at the end, it adds to the "gasp" factor and makes more sense. Oh, and I love that part in the book too.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 9:54pm

well, the ball is months later. even the novel has a whole chapter between the falling of the chandelier and the masked ball...

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 9:56pm

Oh, yes. I know the book does, but I am talking about the musical itself. It doesn't really give notice that it is months later. Infact, it makes it sound like the next day of something. In th book it makes sense, in the musical it doesn't.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 10:02pm

Well, okay, I'm not gonna argue, the musical does say right at the beginning of "Masquerade" Andre yells "Six months of relief!", but yeah, it could be more clearly stated... ??? Updated On: 11/24/04 at 10:02 PM

[wickedfan]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 10:57pm

In my personal opinion, the musical either fabricated segments, left too vague, or just completely cut out parts of the book. Some things that were important. Making the show (in my opinion, NOT fact)rather, well, an embarassment of an adaptation. If it were a completely original idea I would have loved the show more. But the book was just so brilliant and the show destroyed it and made it this love triangle and never got any deeper than that. Anyways, the movie has kept true to the musical where needed, added parts fro mthe book where it is DESPERATELY needed, and has made it veyr movie-esque where it is needed. The Chandlier crashing at the end is an example of that, and in my opinion, was a good decision.

[Marquise]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 10:58pm

CATSNYRevival - - -

okay, the phantom is not the lead in a musical called "phantom of the opera"? the character may be on the "stage" a total of 35 minutes (according to you) but he's still the MALE lead of the show and as such he should kick ass vocally.

and besides we're not discussing the stage version here, we're discussing the movie version, i seriously doubt that gerard butler clocks in only 35 minutes of screen time in this movie.

it's pretty pathetic when a lead is giving a mediocre performance or a bad imitation of a rock star.

i really love this show and i just feel that they didn't choose the right person for "the phantom" and from what i'm reading his voice is not doing justice to the score. Updated On: 11/24/04 at 10:58 PM

[wickedfan]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 11:05pm

I love Gerard as the Phantom. He gives it a different turn which I love. He doesn't have a classic voice, which is controversial for him to have but if he is supposedly a genius who can do just about everything (except seduce women) i think he can train someone without having the greatets voice, but it has this raspy quality which is just...SEXY and makes him much more appealing. And he puts so much energy into his voice so he doesn't sound just like he's singing into a microphone which I love. But anyways, he definately has a voice that causes controversy over whether its good or bad or exceptional for a role this demanding.

[Marquise]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 11:14pm

well, i think i will be picking this up on friday after all. i'm going to have to judge for myself if gerard pulled this role off.

if it sucks ill just use the discs as coasters...LOL

[Sally]

Posted: 11/25/04 at 12:36am

<< okay, the phantom is not the lead in a musical called "phantom of the opera"? the character may be on the "stage" a total of 35 minutes (according to you) but he's still the MALE lead of the show and as such he should kick ass vocally.>>

About 35 minutes is correct, but as you say, the Phantom is the lead. The number of minutes is not as important as what happens during the time the character is on stage----and as you say, Butler will no doubt be on screen for longer.

I've seen the stage musical several times, and the quality of the Phantom's acting and singing can make or break the show.

[MagicToDo82]

Posted: 11/25/04 at 12:43am

I agree with the earlier post that said "Learn to be lonely" brought to mind images of Disney movies with deer and bunnies, or whatever. But, for me, I can't stop thinking of "God Help the Outcasts" from Hunchback of Notre Dame. Really not a fan of Gerard Butler, but the presence of Patrick Wilson will ensure that I will be seeing the movie regardless...at least once. And then owning the DVD, regardless...:)

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 11/25/04 at 1:43am

I think the best things about this CD are the orchestra and patrick wilson. I'm slightly disappointed with Gerard and Emmy, but it't not by any means BAD, I think. The only thing about the CD I truly dislike is "Learn to be Lonely." I don't think there's any way in hell that this song would win the Oscar for best song. It sounds like the new track added to the london revival of TELL ME ON A SUNDAY with Denise Van Outen (does anyone know what I'm talking about?) I really dislike it, and can't see it getting much praise. I'm so excited for this movie - I just hope usual movie goers don't dismiss it as being "boring opera" or "another stupid musical." But after CHICAGO, I think people have a restored interest in movie musicals (meaning those who weren't fans before.) I hope PHANTOM continues the trend.