Simply the Songs of Andrew Lloyd Webber - Various Artists

Simply the Songs of Andrew Lloyd Webber is a box set of four CDs which contain fifty-five songs from fourteen different musicals. You should expect plenty of variety then.

Lloyd Webber has written a huge number of musicals on a variety of topics. He's written some based on religion (Jesus Christ Superstar), some about historical figures (Evita) and some that are just collections of songs (Cats).

If you like musicals, ...
...price guide, I've just spotted it on HMV.co.uk for £5.99 delivered. Clearly I need to take more care when buying things.

Given the amount of music you get for your money, I would definitely recommend Simply the Songs to any fans of musicals.
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Simply the Songs of Andrew Lloyd Webber is a box set of four CDs which contain fifty-five songs from fourteen different musicals. You should expect plenty of variety then.

Lloyd Webber has written a huge number of musicals on a variety of topics. He's written some based on religion (Jesus Christ Superstar), some about historical figures (Evita) and some that are just collections of songs (Cats).

If you like musicals, the chances are you will have seen some by him. If you don't like musicals, you're probably not going to go out and buy these CDs whatever I say about them.

Some Lloyd Webber songs are fairly predictable. They follow a standard pattern of verses, so you can see the rhymes coming a mile off. Others are well-constructed, beautiful pieces of music. Since this box set is a 'best of' with such a large number of musicals to choose from, there are a lot more of the second type than the first.

The style of his songs is usually quite mild. That is, there's no rock, nothing too loud and nothing that would offend anyone. That's not to say it's boring. The songs usually have a well-constructed instrumental line and beautiful and/or entertaining lyrics. I know very little about music (my sister inherited all the talent in that direction) but I will describe these songs as pleasant and not at all pop-ish. If you're a fan of metal, rock or dance, go look elsewhere.

One very good thing about these CDs is that they will play on the computer. I've bought CDs without checking and found I can't play them on my computer, which is how I tend to listen to music when I'm working, and therefore I can't rip them and put the songs on my MP3 player. These CDs, rip perfectly happily. The problem is, the songs on the first CD are called track 1, track 2, track 3, etc. And the songs on disk two are called track 1, track 2, track 3, etc. And so on. Windows Media Player will rip them all into the same folder, which means you'll have to rename the first CD otherwise the second will write over it, and so on. This is an irritation, but the songs are all happily on my computer and MP3 player now, and play without any problems.

~~~ The Tracks ~~~
~ Disc 1 ~
With One Look - Sunset Boulevard
Another Suitcase in Another Hall - Evita
All I Ask of You - The Phantom of the Opera
Heaven On their Minds - Jesus Christ Superstar
Half a Moment - By Jeeves
Whistle Down the Wind - Whistle Down the Wind
I Believe My Heart - The Woman in White
Only You - Starlight Express
Anything But Lonely - Aspects of Love
Any Dream Will Do - Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Starlight Express - Starlight Express (Broadway Version)
Buenos Aires - Evita
The Point of No Return - The Phantom of the Opera
Gethsemane - Jesus Chris Superstar

~ Disc 2 ~
Hosanna - Jesus Christ Superstar
Don't Cry for me Argentina - Evita
Think of My - The Phantom of the Opera
All the Love I Have - The Beautiful Game
Seeing is Believing - Aspects of Love
Sunset Boulevard - Sunset Boulevard
U-N-C-O-U-P-L-E-D - Starlight Express
High Flying Adored - Evita
Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again - The Phantom of the Opera
Starlight Express - Starlight Express (London Version)
Tell Me On A Sunday - Tell Me On a Sunday
There's Me - Starlight Express
Masquerade - The Phantom of the Opera
Love Changes Everything - Aspects of Love

~ Disc 3 ~
Evermore Without You - The Woman in White
Could We Start Again Please - Jesus Christ Superstar
Pie Jesu - Requiem
The First Man you Remember - Aspects of Love
Rainbow High - Evita
Angel of Music - The Phantom of the Opera
Mr Mistoffelees - Cats
Unexpected Song - Tell Me on a Sunday
Close Every Door - Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Prima Donna - The Phantom of the Opera
The Last Man in my Life - Tell Me on a Sunday
On this Night of a Thousand Stars - Evita
Pilate's Dream - Jesus Chris Superstar
As if we Never said Goodbye - Sunset Boulevard

~ Disc 4 ~
The Phantom of the Opera - The Phantom of the Opera
Memory - Cats
Oh What a Circus - Evita
Music of the Night- The Phantom of the Opera
The Perfect Year - Sunset Boulevard
I Don't Know how to Love Him - Jesus Chris Superstar
Too Much in Love to Care - Sunset Boulevard
Macavity - Cats
There is More to Love - Aspects of Love
King Herod's Song - Jesus Christ Superstar
Rolling Stock - Starlight Express
Our Kind of Love - Beautiful Game
Jesus Christ Superstar - Jesus Christ Superstar

Wow, that's a lot of songs. Typing up the track list seemed like a good idea when I started. If you've seen musicals, there'll probably be some names in that list you recognise.

There is a huge variety in type of song. Some are amusing and entertaining (Macavity, King Herod's Song, U-N-C-O-U-P-L-E-D), some are sad and moving (Memory, Close Every Door, Wishing You were Somehow Here Again), others are touching love songs (All the Love I have, The Perfect Year, Love Changes Everything), others are lively and/or moving (Phantom of the Opera, Buenos Aires, Rolling Stock). You're not just getting one song followed by one much the same. These are sampled from a range of musicals, and taken from different parts in the action, so each one is unique.

I haven't seen all the musicals that are sampled here. I don't think I've even seen half of them. That doesn't stop me enjoying the music, although with some songs I do wonder about what's going on in the story at that point. It's not necessary to have watched the shows or know anything about the plot if you just want to enjoy them for beautiful songs. On the other hand, I wouldn't recommend it to someone who's never seen a Lloyd Webber musical in their life.

If you haven't seen a Lloyd Webber musical, I would reach the assumption that you're not all that interested in musicals. In that case, I don't think you should by this box set.

If you've seen a couple of the shows and enjoyed them, you may well enjoy this box set. I admit, listening to the music is a long way from watching people sing, dance and act on stage, but if you like the songs, you'll like this.

If you're a major Lloyd Webber fan, have seen every show at least once and own the movie adaptations, why haven't you bought this already?

I bought this box set for £8 from HMV, which is really good value for the amount of music you get. It's on Amazon at the moment for about £7, but you will have to pay postage as well. It's on Play.com for £9.99. Looking round to give the price guide, I've just spotted it on HMV.co.uk for £5.99 delivered. Clearly I need to take more care when buying things.

Given the amount of music you get for your money, I would definitely recommend Simply the Songs to any fans of musicals.
 

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