Uncharted Territory

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Stephen Schwartz got off to a fast start with his first musical, Godspell, in 1971. Other shows such as Pippin and the cult favorite The Baker's Wife followed, but by the late '70s, he had moved to Hollywood, where he worked on Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, among others. Like fellow composer Cy Coleman, Schwartz has come up with a CD on which he performs his own tunes. But unlike Coleman's It Started with a Dream, this record is focused on recent pop material. As on 1997's Reluctant Pilgrim, the arrangements are low key, built mostly on piano and synths (played by Schwartz). They are well suited to the thoughtful nature of most of the songs, and Schwartz's surprisingly boyish tenor adds a touch of warmth and fragility to the material. Catchy pop tracks like "Worth Waiting For" will surprise only those who haven't paid much attention to Schwartz's film work. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Tracks:

Recurring Dream
Rewriting History
Worth Waiting For
Cold Enough To Snow
Toxic People
The Roads Untaken
Face Of A Stranger
The Line Forms On The Right
Since I Gave My Heart Away
Boy On The Roof
Forgiveness' Embrace

Amazon.com

Stephen Schwartz got off to a fast start with his first musical, Godspell, in 1971. Other shows such as Pippin and the cult favorite The Baker's Wife followed, but by the late '70s, he had moved to Hollywood, where he worked on Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, among others. Like fellow composer Cy Coleman, Schwartz has come up with a CD on which he performs his own tunes. But unlike Coleman's It Started with a Dream, this record is focused on recent pop material. As on 1997's Reluctant Pilgrim, the arrangements are low key, built mostly on piano and synths (played by Schwartz). They are well suited to the thoughtful nature of most of the songs, and Schwartz's surprisingly boyish tenor adds a touch of warmth and fragility to the material. Catchy pop tracks like "Worth Waiting For" will surprise only those who haven't paid much attention to Schwartz's film work. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Customer Reviews:

Stephen Schwartz....himself.......2002-04-11

I was skeptical when I bought this recording. Often composers have no right to be singing in public! However, what a gem that opened before me. Schwartz is no vocal superstar, but his sincere delivery of such a wide array of musica styles is baffling. The closing track "Forgiveness' Embrace" should have you sobbing like a baby. Thank you Mr. Schwartz!

Brilliance.......2002-02-13

All I can say is that each and every song to which I have listened, Stephen Schwartz manages to fill them with an honest, compassionate and loving spirit. He views life from every angle and writes of experiences in the truest form, especially insightful with matters of the heart. His music is unembellished and pure.
Not spoiled by his material successes, he maintains an empathetic and powerfully expressive view of life.
He is my hero!!

Stephen Schwartz Ventures Onto Roads Untaken.......2002-01-31

If there is a song title that summarizes the overall feeling one has after listening to Stephen Schwartz's second `pop' album, Uncharted Territory, it most certainly would be track number three, "Worth Waiting For".

Since the release of Stephen's first pop CD Reluctant Pilgrim in 1997, fans have anxiously waited to discover more of his consistently outstanding music and lyrics; they will, undoubtedly, not be disappointed. Indeed, the album lives up to its name as Stephen, musically speaking, ventures into new areas.

Like much of Stephen's previous work it's well produced, contains smart, insightful life observations and is composed in his catchy pop-influenced musical style. However, several of the songs are a musical departure and, in particular, their arrangements.

"Toxic People" for example has a funky R & B groove, which relies heavily on percussion and electronics. As well, the clever and witty lyrics are sure to provoke a laugh-out-loud response from the listener.

The opening song, "Recurring Dream" (co-written by Mary Fahl) moves in yet another musical direction. . It's an unusually understated song, building slowly but consistently subtle throughout, with an accompaniment figure that could be described as sparse and atmospheric.

"Face of a Stranger", written for Australian performer Phillip Quast, is poignant and gorgeously articulates the longing to find one's true home and place of belonging. The music has a driving yet flowing keyboard accompaniment (harpsichord-like) that's somehow reminiscent of other songs by Stephen ("Hardest Part of Love" and "Lost in the Wilderness" from Children of Eden come to mind)

"Boy on the Roof" has a smooth Latin flavor enhanced by the use of guitar and mandolin in the arrangement. Its descriptive story, played out in the mind's eye, tells of the protagonist's life-long state of emotional detachment and how, without warning, the force of love breaks through changing him forever.

Stephen has collaborated with a number of outstanding writers on this album including cabaret artist Steven Lutvak on "Rewriting History", the amazing John Bucchino on the frank and humorous "The Line Forms On the Right", Alan Menken (Stephen's collaborator on Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame) on the bluesy "Cold Enough To Snow" from the 1993 movie Life With Mikey and Lindy Robbins (one time member of the vocal group "The Tonics") on "The Roads Untaken". Robbins' bittersweet lyric will ring true for anyone who's ever looked back on his or her life and wondered "what if".

Other gems to discover include: "Forgiveness' Embrace" written for Cass Morgan and published in "The Stephen Schwartz Songbook", a lovely heart-felt-acoustic-based version of "Since I Gave My Heart Away" from the TV musical Geppetto.

Though several of these songs might fit comfortably on an album called "Reluctant Pilgram Part II" Stephen doesn't play it safe by simply producing more of the same. Instead he opts for taking some risks, stretching himself as an artist, providing us all further proof of his seemingly limitless talent.

Tracks:

theLullabadeer
OneTwoThree
Banter For The Common Man
Julio
Christopher
Graduation Day
I Got Some Moves
So You Tell Me
Always The Weekend
Tawny Tail
Skinny's Theme
Pachabel's Pistol
Tromboner

Product Description

From Jim Lundstrom/Gannett: Think of singer/songwriters and you get the image of solemn, earnest folk played on an acoustic guitar in a tiny, quiet coffeehouse. Don't nod off yet. "The Lullabadeer" will dispel that particular notion. Appleton, Wisconsin native Sam Winch, The Lullabadeer, pushes the singer/songwriter thing into uncharted territory with the release debut "The Lullabadeer," featuring Winch's heartfelt and heartbreaking vocals in front of a 10-piece band that includes traditional drums/bass/guitars/piano, as well as umbrellas, megaphones, skeletons and trombones. Winch pushes his supple voice like a master instrumentalist on a well-tuned instrument through the 13 songs on this beautifully crafted CD. Standout tracks include the rip-roaring opening tune "theLullabadeer," the guitar-driven rocker "Banter for the Common Man," the funny and sad "Graduation Day,"the melancholy "I Got Some Moves," the sunny "Always the Weekend," the ode to marriage called "Pachabel's Pistol" and...well...they're all standout tracks.

Customer Reviews:

Why not run away and join the circus?.......2007-07-07

With this mind blowing album Sam Winch will paint vivid pictures in your imagination. The music is unlike anything you've heard before; it's is experimental without being cacophonous. I would not take the time to review this album if I didn't love it.

Excellent Music For All Occasions.......2005-07-14

Got this cd from a friend. Winch does not fall into any standard category. Post modern circus folk with heavy influences from 70s heavy metal and acid pop. You can even dance to it.

Seriously, this is fun music that get better with each listen. My daughter loves it too. Check out his live act.

Average customer rating:

Uncharted Territory
Stephen Schwartz
Manufacturer: Lml Music
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Musicals | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music

Traditional Vocal Pop | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music

General | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music

Contemporary | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music

Traditional Pop | Oldies | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Reluctant Pilgrim
Working (Original 1978 Broadway Cast)
The Baker's Wife (Members of the 1976 Original Cast)
Children Of Eden (1998 New Jersey Cast)
The Stephen Schwartz Album

ASIN: B0009NCPTM
Release Date: 2005-06-14

Tracks:

Recurring Dream
Rewriting History
Worth Waiting For
Cold Enough To Snow
Toxic People
The Roads Untaken
Face Of A Stranger
The Line Forms On The Right
Since I Gave My Heart Away
Boy On The Roof
Forgiveness

Average customer rating:

A Spiritual Journey That No One Should Miss!

The Pomegranate Seed
Cosy Sheridan
Manufacturer: Wind River
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

Singer-Songwriters | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

General | Folk | Styles | Music

Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Anthymn

ASIN: B00029RTMQ
Release Date: 2004-06-01

Tracks:

Pomegranate Seed
Dorothy and Eve
Little Train
All Alone With a Bathingsuit
Barbie
Iphigenia
Cordelia
Losing Game
Demeter's Lost Daughter
Underworld
Sharp Objects (A Letter Home)
Bad Clich
Survivor
Flower from Inside Eden
My Mother's House
You Can Always Go Home

Customer Reviews:

A Spiritual Journey That No One Should Miss!.......2004-07-01

The Pomegranate Seed once again showcases Cosy Sheridan's ability to bring the listener through an unforgettable experience. From Barbie dolls to fad diets, from Eve to the tragi-comic experience of bathing suit shopping, Cosy becomes Everywoman and comes to grips with her body, her self-image and all that it implies, and in the end, finding a way to joyfully inhabit her own body.
Consider this a concept album that can be broken into individual songs that stand, all by themselves, as works of art.

Cosy's guitar work and voice are beautifully augmented by Kent Allyn's harmonies and virtuoso bass and guitar, not to mention his stylized keyboard work. Steve Schuch breathes an added dimension with his violin work, John Faggiano's percussion is a strong, yet not overpowering, presence in "Survivor" and "My Mother's House",and Eric Holter's harmonies add a soulful touch to "My Mother's House". If there was an album whose creation I would like to have witnessed this would be the one. Some of the songs here have been recorded before by Cosy, but "The Little Train", "The Losing Game", "Sharp Objects" and "Bad Cliche" are painstakingly reworked and transformed to blend into this beautiful and sometimes dark journey. In the end as we discover in "You Can Always Go Home", "..there are more ways over the rainbow than just sorrow,loss and pain.."
This cd is also the soundtrack to Cosy's One-Woman Musicalogue and when she performs it in your area, be in the audience but bring a box of tissues..you will be transfixed and transformed.

Overwhelming Majority
Average customer rating:
Overwhelming Majority

Manufacturer: Cathexis
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
General | Classic Rock | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000CA496O
Release Date: 2004-08-03

Church of Dreams
Average customer rating:
Church of Dreams

Manufacturer: Reptile House
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Psychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music
Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000CAAIHS
Release Date: 2004-01-20

Based on a True Story
Average customer rating:
Based on a True Story
Wild Oscar N D Kraazy
Manufacturer: The Orchard
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music
Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
Pop Rock | Pop | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00013WWO8
Release Date: 2003-12-09