Posted: 5/19/17 at 10:01am
This recording really cements my opinion that Great Comet has the strongest female ensemble on Broadway right now. Each of these ladies is giving a star turn.
Posted: 5/19/17 at 10:06am
Goodness, I love the new recording! (and I was a pretty big fan of the original one!)
Posted: 5/19/17 at 2:45pm
Listening again. The last two tracks are the most beautiful thing I've heard this year, I think. I'm going to weep when I see this live. I loved those songs already but these new versions are just wrecking me (at work).
Posted: 5/19/17 at 2:49pm
the new recording is just wonderful. The only thing I miss from the previous version is Philippa Soo, but Denee Benton sounds great. Really impressed by Groban!
Posted: 5/19/17 at 5:38pm
Skimbleshanks2 said: "DENEE's "No One Else" is sooo beautiful -- better than PHILLIPA SOO's nasally version."
lol yeah right
Posted: 5/19/17 at 11:57pm
Skimbleshanks2 said: "DENEE's "No One Else" is sooo beautiful -- better than PHILLIPA SOO's nasally version."
I love both versions but I'm never surprised when someone really prefers Soo or Benton. Here's a great video mash-up of the two of them singing No One Else live side-by-side. Check it out: Soo and Benton No One Else
Posted: 5/20/17 at 1:41am
I definitely miss Soo's acting choices in her vocal performance but Denée has such a pure voice that I can hardly complain.
Posted: 5/20/17 at 11:24am
The only Off Broadway tracks I prefer at this point are The Private and Intimate Life of the House, Natasha & Bolkonskys, and Pierre & Andrey. The two former because I like the intensity and I always laugh during the "my poor girl" part (not sure if that's their intention...but I don't care for "says the mean old man!" maybe it will grow on me)
I also just really really love the way Andrey sounds on the original Pierre & Andrey. It almost sounds like a different person on the new track.
Posted: 5/20/17 at 11:28am
That's because it is a different actor. I personally prefer Blake Delong on the original recording, his Bolkonsky was more scary while Nicholas Belton's is played more for laughs. And I just prefer his Andrey as well.
Updated On: 5/21/17 at 11:28 AM
Posted: 5/20/17 at 2:52pm
willep said: "That's because it is a different actor. I personally prefer Blake Delong on the original recording, his Bolkonsky was more scary while Nicholas Belton's is played more for laughs. And I just prefer his Andrew as well.
"
I'm pretty sure they intended to soften Bolkonsky into a more comedic character, hence all the lyric changes in "Natasha and the Bolkonskys" that seem more obviously to be fishing for a laugh (ex. "Said the mean old man in his underthings...) I actually prefer the new version of "Pierre and Andrey" though; the acting seems a lot more raw to me.
Posted: 5/20/17 at 5:29pm
Oh, yeah, I totally agree that it was their intention to make him more comedic.
Posted: 5/20/17 at 8:05pm
Woland said: "Skimbleshanks2 said: "DENEE's "No One Else" is sooo beautiful -- better than PHILLIPA SOO's nasally version."
I love both versions but I'm never surprised when someone really prefers Soo or Benton. Here's a great video mash-up of the two of them singing No One Else live side-by-side. Check it out: Soo and Benton No One Else
"
Interesting! I prefer DENEE... PHILLIPA's voice is very nasally and not my cup of tea tbh... I felt this way about her in HAMILTON too...
DENEE can hit the high notes in "No One Else" better
Posted: 5/20/17 at 11:25pm
willep said: "That's because it is a different actor. I personally prefer Blake Delong on the original recording, his Bolkonsky was more scary while Nicholas Belton's is played more for laughs. And I just prefer his Andrew as well.
"
Oops! For some reason, I thought Denee and Josh Groban were the only new principals. Thanks.
Posted: 5/21/17 at 4:56pm
How many superlatives can I think of?
The sound quality, artistry, orchestrations and voices... are sublime. Just completed listening...imo, there won't be any competition, at least, for the Grammy this year for cast recording. Bravo to all.
Posted: 5/21/17 at 5:03pm
Steve, yeah, I agree that The Great Comet should win the Grammy, but, unfortunately, I think that it will probably go to Hello, Dolly! simply due to Bette Midler. Frankly, the Grammy race should really be between Falsettos and The Great Comet with a nomination for Dear Evan Hansen and Hello, Dolly! or maybe the new Sitpwg album (we'll have to wait to hear it). The absence of the full finale on the Dolly album really hurts it for me.
Posted: 5/22/17 at 4:36am
Phillipa has a stunning voice that i've never felt was too nasal. TBH Denee's vocal performance seems much too "studio" for me...like you can just feel her standing there staring blankly while she's singing. Everyone else is vocally acting circles around her.
also anyone know the T on why Natasha Lost was cut from the show? i liked that moment of seeing Natasha...lost
Updated On: 5/22/17 at 04:36 AM
Posted: 5/22/17 at 6:58am
gypsy101 said: "also anyone know the T on why Natasha Lost was cut from the show? i liked that moment of seeing Natasha...lost"
As far as I understand it, with Dust and Ashes going in, something from Act I had to go out. I saw the show *with* Natasha Lost during an early preview. Though I love and miss the song, for pacing purposes cutting the song made sense since some of its ideas are already in Natasha and Anatole just before.
I was hoping against hope we'd get either one or both of Natasha Lost sung by Denée and Dust and Ashes sung by Dave Malloy as bonus tracks.
Posted: 5/22/17 at 9:51am
I love DEH, but this is an amazing piece of art. Would be hugely disappointed if Comet doesn't win this year.
Posted: 5/22/17 at 10:22am
I love the quality of the new album. Of course, it was much higher budget and so on, but it really adds so much. As for Denee or Pippa, I honestly love both of them. For me, Denee seems to play Natasha as a more naive teen, than an elegant young woman. However I feel that the way she pronounces her words are a little bit too American? I'm sure thats not the correct word but she just feels like she isn't using tall vowels and it throws me off, compared to everyone else who is doing at least a small "accent". Both are amazing, though.
Posted: 5/22/17 at 3:04pm
the quality really is making this new album a great listen but i simply wish Phillipa hadn't passed on this for Amelie. Denee is nothing compared to Phillipa vocally in my opinion.
Posted: 5/22/17 at 3:14pm
Phillipa and I have mutual friends and I heard from her that the show was cast while she was still in Hamilton and that she kind of wanted to just do something entirely new. I don't blame her. She was in Comet for a while and just wanted to originate another role, even if the show wasn't a complete success.
Posted: 5/22/17 at 3:16pm
I too, really hope "Comet" will win the Tony. DEH should be acknowledged and rewarded too. This production is a true milestone for the Broadway theater business and community. This recording is "gloriously theatrical". You can feel being there.
Also, why does iTunes or the CD catalog system list the CD as "Pop" as opposed to "Cast Album or Soundtrack"? Yes, it's "pop" music I guess. (I guess I shouldn't be so OCD with my music filing system!)
Posted: 5/22/17 at 4:54pm
I like the new recording overall, but I find the intensity of the background from the off broadway recording to be way better. I feel like they have softened the instrumentals and that they have lost the brightness to their sound, which had initially given them the feel of chandeliers if that makes sense. If I didn't have the off broadway version to compare, I think I would have absolutely loved this album. But because a better version of it already exists I just don't understand why they had to tone the instruments down so much and make it sound more uniform and produced. Though the ensemble sounds so much fuller and better, I guess it's just the mixing choices for the instruments that brought the energy down. Dave Malloy's orchestrations deserve so much more 
I love Groban as Pierre but I don't think Denee gets anywhere close to conveying the emotion that Philippa had brought with her vocals. Denee still sounds good but I can't vividly picture a facial expression of her while she is singing even the most distressing lines.
Posted: 5/22/17 at 5:41pm
A reminder that Malloy is one of the album producers, so.. I think this is definitely how he wants people to hear his score/orchestrations. Also, if it's too "soft" for you, turn up the volume... Honestly, they've added more instruments
Also, I SO disagree about Denee/Phillipa. If anything, I was a little annoyed w the Phillipa version because I felt she was overdoing it.
Posted: 5/22/17 at 5:44pm
A friendly reminder, though, that we now have TWO recordings, something most shows do not have... We should be celebrating that!
