You mean soundtrack of course
I think it's cuz this release was originally planned for over two years back, and more recently this Spring. It woulda got to the songs first (you'll notice they use slightly different recordings--no dialogue like the soundtrack, and the officially release private recording it's from, did, no "speaker effect" on parts of World, etc).
I wish we'd get a recording of Happily Ever After sung with the full Tunick orchestrations used in Boston and by a real singer (sorta like how we got all those great cut Follies songs on the Papermill recording in their full orchestration as an apendix). I love hearing Sondheim sing, but his take on Happily Ever After has been floating around here for eons--and the version by Craig Lucas on Marry me a Little isn't vocally all that better (and is still with piano). We did get a tiny bit of it on the great 1973 Tribute album by Larry Kert of course but not enough *grumpy*
I was going to hold off getting it till Christmas but couldn't resist--I found it new on an Amazon marketplace seller for abour 32 bucks, which really isn't bad at all.
I have to say 10 years ago when I ws a teenaged obsessed fan I woulda been in Heaven. I'm a bit more jaded now lol. It's a great set, but I agree with Suskin's review on Playbill--who is it for? It seems to want to tap into the newbie fan market AND the collector fan market who has all the cds--and in the current market I can't blame them for wanting both, but it may put some people off.
Even disc four a lot of stuff is familiar. I've LOVED the recordings of Invitation and Enclave's incidental music from Unsung Sondheim for YEARS--and it's great to finally have the actual recordings, but they aren't very different.
I understand why they used the only Sony owned Follies concert, although Mark I don't quite buy your argument. Angel is part of EMI which is owned by Sony... It couldn't have been that hard to lease the originals could it? Were they asking much more than what they asked for the Forum tracks? I was expecting to hear the Nathan Lane Forum for the same reason.
I'm fine with that although the Concert recording is by far my least fave Follies recording--I admit I play it so little I had forgotten how great Carol Burnett was on it. It's also great that they didn't repeat the demos and bonus tracks from the remastered individual CDs--ie we get Hero is Coming for Whistle which isn't one of the several bonus demos on the Whistle CD, it's great to have Poems from PO too (and to have two PO tracks *remastered*--the only older Sondheim cast album that badly needs remastering but doesn't seem poised to get one).
Of special note for me is we get three more tracks for Into the Woods for that fabled "special TV version demo" which are actually earlier versions of songs from the workshop! the ITW OBC remaster has the other songs from this demo so now we have a complete set it seems (I still wish we knew the full story behind them--why would a LATER tv version use the earlier workshop versions with some of the vocalists from the workshop production? Seems fishy to me).
And great to have all of the Dick Tracy songs though I dunno why More is a shorter take than on I'm Breathless without the introduction verses, and Sooner or Later says it's an unreleased version but is the same from Madonna's CD and not the version in the film... Where's Nathan Lane's song from Birdcage? (which he mentions in the booklet)
The booklet is GORGEOUS. So many handsome pics of Sondheim too--I love the red and black and white ones of him smoking at the front--PHWOAR. I wish it was attached to the CD box the way my Bacharach box set (with a similar sized booklet) is, but oh well.
Oh and great to have another of the Night Music soundtrack songs on CD (I have the vinyl soundtrack and for all that film's faults, and all the songs completely dropped, it's my most played Night Music. The songs they DO record I think are recorde din their best versions--and I stand by that).
So it's a very good set, I'm glad I have it (but I'm a Sondheim fanatic) but there are a few things I'm weird about--including the mix of so many demos. I love hearing Sondheim sing but for a newbie it probably could be off putting (on the other hand when I sing along I actually hit the notes and have a BETTER range than him so for once me singing along to a Sondheim recording sounds arguably better than the original
)
Now all we need is that other thing promised way back when this was for his 75th Anniversary--Image's release of the Pacific Overtures OBCR DVD. NOW.
(Oh and yeah this is bascially a better version of Collector's Sondheim in many ways--I miss the disco Sweeney Todd though I agree it's awful, and I'm a HUGE obscure disco fan--Festival's disco Evita is great I think. But this reeks, but is fun to have. I do think this set shoulda included some pop Sondheim like Judy Collins' Send in the CLowns)
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