The Stephen Schwartz Album [Soundtrack]

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
It'd be easy to excuse anyone for thinking that Stephen Schwartz only writes religious musicals. After all, his most famous show is still Godspell, and his works surfacing most prominently in 1998 were the revival of Children of Eden and the DreamWorks film The Prince of Egypt. The Stephen Schwartz Album covers a wide range of work, however, including all of the above, earlier major works (Pippin, The Magic Show, and The Baker's Wife), and his Disney films with composer Alan Menken, Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. (The Disney films and Rags are the only shows represented for which Schwartz wrote lyrics but not music.) This all-new 1999 recording features a number of talented artists from the Varèse Sarabande stable, including Christiane Noll, Susan Egan, Kristin Chenoweth, and Guy Haines. While many of these songs might be heard to better effect elsewhere, the album is a consistently good 65-minute package of gems, and especially noteworthy is the composer's own moving rendition of "Fathers and Sons." Schwartz also provides the song-by-song liner notes--a nice touch. --David Horiuchi

The Stephen Schwartz Album, Music, Stephen Schwartz, Pop, Show Tunes, Showtunes / B'way, Soundtrack, Traditional Pop

Wicked (Karaoke)
Average customer rating:

High Cost, Little Quality

i'm 13, and i need help. (by the way, GO WICKED! luv it.)

Don't waste your money

"well-sung, theatrical vocals..." What cast did they listen to!?

I could play it better myself on a kazoo

Wicked (Karaoke)

Manufacturer: Stage Stars
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Wicked - Piano/Vocal Arrangement

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Sing The Songs of Wicked

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Wicked: A New Musical - Easy Piano Selections

ASIN: B0002KQOLM
Release Date: 2004-08-01

No One Mourns the Wicked
The Wizard and I
What is This Feeling?
Something Bad
Dancing Through Life
Popular
I'm Not That Girl
One Short Day
A Sentimental Man
Defying Gravity
Thank Goodness
Wonderful
As Long As You're Mine
No Good Deed
For Good

Album Description

Featured at the annual celebration of the show's Broadway anniversary, this is the only karaoke recording of songs from Wicked with on-screen lyrics and a lyric booklet.

This is a new recording with a great cast, under the direction of Michael Lavine, of the Tony Award winning musical Wicked.This album contains two CDs. The first disc has a complete recording of each song, the second disc has fully-orchestrated accompaniment tracks.

All songs are in the original show key, and show tempo. Intros to the songs from the Broadway show are provided. Several live musicians are featured on this album.

On-Screen lyrics will appear when this CD+G is played in a karaoke machine. No lyrics will appear when the album is played in a regular CD player, however, a lyric booklet is provided.

Customer Reviews:

High Cost, Little Quality.......2007-06-07

This CD is such a disappointment! I sing with a traveling theater group and thought I could practice to this karaoke disc. Not a chance! The quality is poor-synthesized instruments & wrong notes and chords all over the place!Don't even get me started on the sample vocal tracks! I actually discarded this part of the pack as it was painfule to listen to. The vocals are horribly off key. Please, save your money. I know it's exciting to find this wonderful musical in a karaoke version but keep looking. Don't waste your cash on this one!!!

i'm 13, and i need help. (by the way, GO WICKED! luv it.).......2007-05-29

Hey ya'll.
i'm giving this 5 stars because i love wicked a lot (and it's not my top 1, but top 3.so i'm not biased) but i really need to know if the karaoke part is worth buying. i don't care about the instructional singers, just the music. i want to perform this, but plz tell me if it's worth the MUCHO money? thnx!

Don't waste your money.......2007-02-01

My daughter needed the karaoke version to perform one of the songs for a show at her school. This version is absolutely horrible. Neither one of us can even stand (or sit)to listen to this cd. What a terrible waste of good hard earned money. Everyone who has purchased this should receive their money back plus 10% and an apology for being subjected to hearing this. Shame on the people who produced this cd and are making money from it.

"well-sung, theatrical vocals..." What cast did they listen to!?.......2007-01-07

I bought this CD from the local Wal-Mart for a hefty sum. I was a little nervous, as I always am when I purchase something without listening to it first, but figured what the hey, it's Wicked, it CAN'T be bad. I really just wanted an alternate take on some of my favorite songs, since I can't afford to go see the musical in person yet.

I was wrong. I was very, very wrong. I realized I wasn't going to be getting the same level of performance as in the OCR release. But, after reading the reviews when I got home, I opened it. I popped it into my CD player, and my ears were immediately assaulted by their Gahlinda's warbling. Yes, Gah-linda. No other name fits so well. It's plain the group assembled to sing was trying, in part, to emulate the original cast's performance, and sadly, they failed miserably. Gah-linda's voice was off pitch and screetchy, frequently. Thinking perhaps I was merely comparing her unfairly to other performers, I played it for a friend, who all but begged me to turn it off. It was plain to us both that she was trying to sing far above her natural range. The other cast members, save their Fiyero, were decent. Their Elphaba was amateur good, and their Nessarose was surprisingly talented for the few moments time she got.

On to the music itself.

I have a reasonably high quality speaker system, yet the background music sounded like a midi file someone had made of the real music. Like something out of an old 16 bit game, or perhaps a talented teen trying to coax music out of an old keyboard. Thinking perhaps it WAS the sound system, I tried it in another media player. Same sound. Realizing that perhaps the guide CD might have simplified music apart from the karaoke CD itself, I swiftly switched to CD2. But wait. There was no CD2, because I had recieved two copies of CD1.

This was the final insult, for me. I contacted Stage-Stars and asked for my money back, explaining the variety of reasons I thought I deserved it. The woman I spoke with was polite and understanding, and, after getting my address, overnighted me a new copy of the title, shrink wrapped. It went immediately back to the store, and I got my money back.

On another note, on hearing the samples given on various sites of the CD2 music, I must conclude that it is the same quality on both CDs. In all honesty, you'd have more fun just setting the money on fire. Don't waste it on this purchase.

I could play it better myself on a kazoo.......2006-12-13

I bought this karaoke cd because I was told it was the only one available for the musical and even though I had heard it was bad I figured it couldn't be all THAT bad. I was wrong. It's so bad that it hurts the ears of anyone with an ear for music and can throw off even the best trained singer - even when watching the cd+g graphics. I don't know what solution to offer instead since it's the only karaoke track that I know of... but you may be better off just going without.

The Stephen Schwartz Album

Average customer rating:

Amazing!
Oh... It's time to start livin'!
you'll love it in just no time at all
Every Song A Hit...and More
Wonderful Compilation

The Stephen Schwartz Album
Stephen Schwartz
Manufacturer: Varese Sarabande
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Musicals | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music

Traditional Vocal Pop | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music

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Reluctant Pilgrim
The Baker's Wife (Members of the 1976 Original Cast)
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Pippin (1972 Original Broadway Cast)
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ASIN: B00000JNO8
Release Date: 1999-07-27

Tracks:

Godspell: Beautiful City/Day By Day - Laura Benanti
Pippin: Corner Of The Sky - Guy Haines
The Magic Show: Lion Tamer - Kristin Chenoweth
Pocahontas: Just Around The Riverbend - Christiane Noll
The Magic Show: West End Avenue - Alice Ripley
Rags: Blame It On The Summer Night - Michelle Pawk
Pocahontas: Colors Of The Wind - Sara Ramirez
Pippin: No Time At All - Dorothy Loudon
Pippin/The Baker's Wife: With You/Gifts Of Love - Marin Mazzie
Children Of Eden: Stranger To The Rain - Jennifer Leigh Warren
The Baker's Wife: Meadowlark - Susan Egan
Working: Fathers And Sons - Stephen Schwartz
The Baker's Wife: Chanson - Emily Skinner
Children Of Eden: In Whatever Time We Have - Brian D'Arcy James/Luba Mason
The Hunchback Of Notre Dame: Out There - Jason Daniely
Prince Of Egypt: When You Believe - Anne Marie Milazzo

Amazon.com

It'd be easy to excuse anyone for thinking that Stephen Schwartz only writes religious musicals. After all, his most famous show is still Godspell, and his works surfacing most prominently in 1998 were the revival of Children of Eden and the DreamWorks film The Prince of Egypt. The Stephen Schwartz Album covers a wide range of work, however, including all of the above, earlier major works (Pippin, The Magic Show, and The Baker's Wife), and his Disney films with composer Alan Menken, Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. (The Disney films and Rags are the only shows represented for which Schwartz wrote lyrics but not music.) This all-new 1999 recording features a number of talented artists from the Varèse Sarabande stable, including Christiane Noll, Susan Egan, Kristin Chenoweth, and Guy Haines. While many of these songs might be heard to better effect elsewhere, the album is a consistently good 65-minute package of gems, and especially noteworthy is the composer's own moving rendition of "Fathers and Sons." Schwartz also provides the song-by-song liner notes--a nice touch. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews:

Amazing!.......2005-01-14

I am so sad that this title is unavailable new at this time, because it really is a gem. I found this on a whim and I am glad I did. In listening to it for the first time, I couldn't help but listen to it again, and again--three times in a row! I can see myself listening to it over and over as such, and there was no track I didn't enjoy. I am glad that this compilation was done in 1999 when "Wicked" didn't exist....it gives his other wonderful works a chance to shine, whereas now everything would be overshadowed by "Wicked" (which, by the way, I do enjoy). The vocals on this CD are amazing and I was introduced to some singers I really enjoyed like Christiane Noll and Larua Benanti that I had heard before but never really appreciated. I am now interested to pick up more works by all of these performers. This CD is great by itself, but it has also lead me to find new prospective favorite vocalists. If you can find it, please do pick it up! Worth every penny!

Oh... It's time to start livin'!.......2004-10-07

It's very rare when I find a compilation CD in which I like every song presented. Stephen Schwartz is brilliant! I love everything he does. This CD best represents his wide range of musical talent, including his surprisingly good vocals on the song Fathers and Sons which he performs excellently. I never knew he could sing! Highlight songs for me are the magnificent yet tender Lion Tamer by the always amazing Kristin Chenoweth, the wonderful rendition of Meadowlark by Susan Egan (I love her!) with its subtle, beautiful lyrics, the utterly fantastic duet In Whatever Time We Have, and my personal favorite: Dorothy Loudon's sassy version of No Time At All in which she owns the stage. The Disney songs sung by different performers is also a treat, Out There being a real stand out from what was [and still is] an overlooked movie. It's just too bad this CD was released before Wicked came out so it doesn't include any songs from that show. But be sure to check out Wicked for some more Stephen Schwartz (and what I feel is one of his best works).

you'll love it in just no time at all.......2001-12-31

The work of the brilliant Stephen Schwartz is celebrated on this enjoyable compilation CD. Stand-out tracks include Laura Benanti's vibrant rendition of "Beautiful City/Day By Day" from GODSPELL, Alice Ripley's phenomenal "West End Avenue" from THE MAGIC SHOW, and Susan Egan's soaring performance of the powerful "Meadowlark" from THE BAKER'S WIFE. The CD also features the talents of Broadway newcomers of veterans alike - the seasoned Dorothy Loudon, THE FULL MONTY star Emily Skinner, Tony winner Kristin Chenoweth, the husband and wife team of Marin Mazzie and Jason Daniely, and the famed composer himself. The reason I have this CD 4 stars was due to the poor arrangement of "Corner of the Sky" - normally a powerful song, hear it simply drags. Still, one track should not discourage anyone from purchasing this incredible collection of the some of the best songs ever written.

Every Song A Hit...and More.......2000-12-28

This CD is one of the best compilations I have ever heard. Not only are all of the artists stars in their own right, but you know most of the songs already without hearing them. You know "Beautiful City" and "Day by Day" from "Godspell", you know "Corner of the Sky" from Pippin, your kids introduced you to "Colors of the Wind" from "Pocahontas", "Out There" from "Hunchback of Notre Dame", and "When You Believe" from "The Prince of Egypt". Get the picture? There are also some gems that are not quite as well known but are certainly just as good. Songs like "In Whatever Time We Have" from "Children of Eden" and two songs, "Chanson" and "Meadowlark" both of whom I enjoyed so much that I went out and bought the cast album of the show that they came from ("The Baker's Wife"). This is one of my favorite albums and, if you are like me, it is one that will not be far away from your CD player. Enjoy!

Wonderful Compilation.......2000-10-03

Varese Sarabande has a wonderful history of compilation albums of Broadway composers. Sadly, Varese Sarabande itself is now history (but look for Bruce Kimmel, VS producer, and his new label, Fynsworth Alley). While many of Kimmel's albums are noteworthy, none quite reach the heights attained by the Stephen Schwartz album. Nearly every song on this wonderful CD is perfect. I specifically enjoyed Christiane Noll's incredible version of "Just Around the Riverbend" from Pocahontas, Jason Danieley's impressive "Out There" from the Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Marin Mazzie's beautiful medley "With You/Gifts of Love." On the whole, this CD is a winner, from the performers to the musical arrangements. And special credit must be given to the CDs tributee, Stephen Schwartz, for writing such beautiful music and lyrics.

Stephen Schwartz Album

Average customer rating:

Stephen Schwartz Album

Manufacturer: Varese Sarabande
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Compilations | Rock | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000777YO6
Release Date: 2001-07-10

Music: