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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How does it compare to the artist's other releases
Outstanding
How does it rate alongside the competition
Outstanding
Cover / Inlay Design and Content
Satisfactory
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