5 comments about The Music Man (1962 Film Soundtrack).

1. I purchased this DVD because I have been cast as Mrs. Paroo in a local production of "Music Man" and wanted to re-acquaint myself with it. I had forgotten that Hollywood was capable of creating something so entertaining and free of sex, violence, and dirty words. It was so refreshing.



2. This arrived pretty quickly considering it was from the US.Unable to purchase it in this country so pleased to get a copy as a present for my Mum



3. When I was a kid my family had The Music Man on video. I don't remember when I saw it last, but I got this soundtrack yesterday and played through it a couple times. I always enjoyed the movie and this CD captures all the fun I remember.
   
   Robert Preston is excellent as the fast-talking con man Harold Hill (reprising the role he originated on Broadway) and Shirley Jones is good as Marian the Librarian. The songs (with some dialogue cues) are pulled right out of the movie, so the sound may not be as crisp and clear as a Broadway cast recording may be. But the sound is decent nonetheless and the music is wonderful.
   
   The CD includes (as far as I can remember) all the songs from the movie. The first track is actually three songs back-to-back-to-back (the orchestral theme, the salesmen on the train, and the people of Iowa). I'm not sure why they couldn't separate these songs so they could be listened to individually, but it's not that big a deal.
   
   The Music Man 1957 Broadway recording is also available, but the 1962 film version is the one I grew up with, so I opted for this particular recording. But Robert Preston was in the stage version, too, so it's probably just as good. (Although the song "My White Knight" from the Broadway show was replaced with "Being In Love" in the movie, if that makes a difference to you.)
   
   The CD was released nearly twenty years ago (I reckon), so the jewel case isn't as sturdy as those of newer releases. No big deal. The liner notes are scant, with a backstory by Meredith Willson (the man who wrote the musical) but no song lyrics. But the CD content is great and the price can't be beat. If you haven't seen the play or the movie, I highly recommend it!



4. The music is fun but a bit "raw" sounding. I thought it was going to sound more studio edited like other soundtracks I own. I still enjoy the CD though. My kids enjoy it too.



5. Robert Preston's version of The Music Man is the ONLY version - Matthew Broderick is NOT the Music Man!!!

5 comments about Disney's Beauty and the Beast: The Broadway Musical (Original Broadway Cast Recording).

1. We saw this show on Broadway in 1994 and even my then nine year old son loved the music. There are nine songs here that were not in the animated Disney movie. David Ogden Stiers (Winchester from MASH, Cogsworth in the animated movie) narrates the prologue and his voice is extremely sensuous! The cast works perfectly together and the magic comes through in the music. I am a little surprised that The Transformation (Home reprise) didn't become more popular as a wedding song:
   "We are home
   We are where we shall be forever
   Trust in me
   For you know I wont run away
   From today
   This is all that I need
   And all that I need to say is...
   Don't you know how you've changed me
   Strange how I fin'lly see
   I found home
   You're my home
   Stay with me"



2. It's a nice album with some beautiful songs, ideal for kids and young girls. If you've seen the movie or the show, you'll make it one of your favourite. The sound is flawless, so be sure your're getting a technically perfect recording



3. Thank you for the Beauty and the Beast (Broadway original cast) CD. Although I ordered it a few days before Christmas, the CD arrived on Christmas Eve. Thank you for making it a special Gift for my daughter.



4. I didn't get the part. Shoot. Oh, well, the CD has been a blast to listen too.



5. I bought this so that my daughter would have the music to practice with when she was cast in "Beauty and the Beast". There are additional songs that aren't in the Disney movie version and this helped her to put in extra practice. Actually, one of her favorite songs from the production was one that was in the play that wasn't in the movie. She still listens to this CD, even though the play was over with months ago.

5 comments about Love Songs.

1. I sent this product as a gift and it has been such a joy for the recipient. The transaction went perfectly..no complaints at all.



2. I recently bought this CD and one other-'The Best Of Nat "King" Cole'- out of curiosity, really. From my childhood, I remember seeing Nat King Cole records-"vinyls"-in my grandmothers' record collection. Now, years later, my curiosity aroused, I recently started doing a little research on the Internet about him, finding out that he died in 1965 at 45 of lung cancer(I was born in 1966), that he compared very closely to greats such as Dean Martin & Frank Sinatra, as well as others I can't think of at the moment. Well, after playing this CD, I would say he didn't ONLY compare to, but SURPASSED the names I mentioned-he definitely is an artist to add to my list of favorites. His voice is so easy on the ears, and you can understand every word he sings. Not that Sinatra and Martin weren't great-they were- but Nat King Coles' singing just has a special quality about it that I can't put my finger on. First Class!!!!!



3. Nat King Cole sings the best love songs with sweet, soothing voice that conveys the feelings of love and takes the words to your heart and makes one to want to fall in love for the first time or all over again. Also anyone who has fallen in love can identify with "The Very Thought Of You" These feelings are so tender and Nat make them come alive. Simply great music for all time by one of the best.



4. Nat King Cole always had a smooth, relaxing tone in his voice. This CD contains the best selections, enough for anyone to fall in love again!



5. I have loved Nat's music almost all my life, for that velvet voice of his, and also, the beautiful songs, and they are all here on this CD. I recommend it for anyone who is a fan of Nat King Cole.

5 comments about Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1992 Canadian Cast).

1. The advertising was listed the cast of the movie version, while it actually contains only Donny Osmond from the movie everyone else is not from the movie version with Maria Friedman as it states on the website. Sent it back, since this copy was improperly advertised.



2. I actually got to see this cast perform live in Canada. While they made changes in production when adapting for the movie, the basic feeling of the play remains. It is just like watching it live. I highly recommend this if you enjoyed any of Sir Andrew Lloyd Weber's other plays: Phantom of the Opera, Les Mis., etc.



3. I purchased this cd to give to my child along with the dvd "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Overcoat." This cd is a recording of the Canadian cast which produced Joseph in 1992. It is not the audio recording of the dvd production starring Maria Friedman, Sir Richard Attenborough and Donny Osmond as advertised.
   Donny Osmond shows the amazing vocal skill and talent he possesses as a performer in this audio production. The production is well done, however the only criticism I have is that I do not care for Janet Metz as the Narrator. Her voice is to high and does not blend well with Osmond's.
   I would like to see the dvd movie version of the "Joseph" soundtrack released on cd. With the vocal talents, musical arrangements and full orchestra it would be a cd well worth purchasing.



4. I also have been searching for the ORIGINAL Joseph for years. Scepter Records number SPS 588X. I have the vinyl album right in front of me - and no way to play it or record it to disc. It is too scratched and old. Doesn't anyone out there have a decent recording of this? Why is it not on CD? I have also heard all the other versions out there...and none can compare to the original recording by the Joseph Consortium.



5. There are many CDs available with different casts, but there isn't one that is better than this one.

5 comments about Camelot (Original Broadway Cast).

1. Very pleased with the selections I received. Arrived in very good condition and enjoying them.



2. I absolutely loved the music and the voices of Julie Andrews, Richard Burton and Robert Goulet. Everyone should have this in their music library.



3. Richard Burton, Julie Andrews and Robert Goulet. How could you go wrong? They really don't make them like this anymore. Jay Lerner's fantastic songs and a wonderful treatment of T.H. White's "The Once and Future King", one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century, this cd is a must have for any fan of great musicals and probably all of us baby-boomers who still remember our country's own Camelot.
   "Don't let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment That was known as Camelot."



4. CD arrived promptly and was in perfect condition...
   Would order from, this person again....



5. I had this LP years ago. This digitally remastered CD has a better sound. The words to the songs are crisp and clear. The music is wonderful. The songs are romantic and listening to them really lifts your spirits. Robert Goulet's performance is at its best. I would highly recommend this CD to anyone who enjoys good music.

5 comments about The Very Best of Linda Ronstadt.

1. I'm actually relieved that "how do i make you" was left off this album. that was a song that i always fast forwarded through...probably the worst song she ever recorded. (simply obnoxious to my ears and a waste of her voice).
   
   i had this album many years, and listen to it every once in a while...i just came here to get a replacement because mine got scratched.
   
   i always wondered why she recorded it...recently i read an interview with linda and she said she never really felt comfortable in the rock genre, and loves exploring other styles.



2. Great stocking stuffer from Santa. Granddaughter loves the song Blue Bayou. Great with her karaoke machine.



3. Great CD. Contains all the classics that Linda Ronstadt created. A must have for 70's music fans.



4. This is the album to get if you must only buy one Linda Ronstadt album. Her voice is truly incredible and I can't think of anyone else who sings with such emotion. She really has a special voice. Constantly, she's giving us everything she has, and it's really an enjoyable experience getting the chance to hear that amazing voice of hers. Her talent especially shines through on songs like "Different Drum" and "Long Long Time". Those are two songs that floor me every time I hear them. The whole album is great and you really need to own it.



5. "Isn't she lov-e-ly!" For the past three decades, I've loved everything she's recorded, and I've loved every move she makes. She is simply beyond compare.
   This recording is a magnificent compilation...my wife get's very upset when I play 'Blue Bayou' five + times in a row...and that's a great compliment.

5 comments about Miracle.

1. What a great way to share words and emotions with your daughters and daughter in-laws, not to mention great value in price.



2. I have not been a big Celine Dion fan, but I watched her sing the title song, "Miracle" on a tv show. I bought my original CD from a local store after watching the performance. The songs are absolutely wonderful! My personal favorites are Miracle, Come To Me, and If I Could, but all of the songs are great. I bought this CD as a gift to my niece, who is pregnant with her second child. She loves these songs, as well. I used the music to put together a slideshow of pictures of my children growing up. These are songs from a mother to her child (or about her child), and describe the unconditional love of a mother. I highly recommend it if you are looking for this type of music.



3. I loved it. Celine has a hit. It is a wonderfull baby shower gift. JM



4. This is a great CD, I have it and ordered it for a friend that just had a baby and she loves it as well. It brings tears to my eyes everytime I listen to it.



5. Very happy with this CD. I'm not a huge Celene fan, but I purchased this for my 2 month old son. It lulls him to sleep just fine. Her voice is flawless.

5 comments about Magic: The Very Best of Olivia Newton-John.

1. As soon as GREASE was released, it screamed Instant Classic and sealed Olivia's legend status. But she is a whole lot more, as this collection shows.
   
   In today's pop era of female singers battling for a shopworn "diva" crown and muscular, over-dramatic vocal acrobatics plastered over insipid, nu-soul stylings, it's good to remember a whisper can ring louder than a shout.
   
   Olivia's voice was always a beguiling instrument, crafty in its facility to blend shimmering, understated innocence with a subtle allure. Her character Sandy in Grease, seems in fact a metaphor for this transformative gift -- comparing her ingenue 70's persona with the glorious coming-out which would soon follow.
   
   While I was not so inspired by the countrified vanilla of some of her early Nashville leanings, it had its simple charm. And I've frankly never liked "Physical", a throw away as dated as her video's work out duds and sadly one of her biggest hits.
   
   One star downgrade for leaving off her cover of Dylan's "If Not For You" (and which George Harrison also did so wonderfully on All Things Must Pass), and some of her later 80's material maybe didn't age so well. (OK, "Make A Move on Me" is pretty damn catchy - gotta admit.)
   
   BUT....that leaves a small bevy of killer songs, the likes of which any singer worth her salt would have cheerfully given her right vocal cord to have a shot at...and ample reason to buy this cd: the fun, unforgettable numbers from Grease; the lilting "Sam"; "Suddenly", with Cliff Richard (one of the greatest duets ever IMHO); the bewitching "Magic" and "A Little More Love"; and ELO's spectacular "Xanadu", a luscious pop confection with a finale which gives goose bumps (those incredible notes!)
   
   Olivia hit more homeruns in a decade than most recording artists will have in a lifetime. I'm so glad I finally got this!



2. Getting my hands on this cd has been a long search that finally paid off. Olivia Newton John a actress, singer who I have always loved watching her in movies and loved hearing her music . This cd has 21 tracks Let Me Be There, I Honestly Love You, all the way to A Little More Love from Make A Move On Me to Twist Of Fate + a bonus track with John Travolta. If you have her greatest hits then you have most of the favorites but if you like to collect everything the artist puts out like me then this is something to own and to enjoy. So own the Magic of Olivia from a true fan.



3. i love this cd i love the music of olivia newton john it has all the music that she had on all her albums



4. What a voice and what a woman, so gracious and grateful for her abilities and her ability to help others, to perform for us all. A major mark in out musical history.



5. Have You Never Been Mellow is the first pop hit I remember loving and playing over and over again on a crappy 45 record player (it only played 45s). I was all of 8 years old and I wanted to be Olivia Newton John. I haven't heard that song in over 30 years and I have to say it is as beautiful as I remember, and the lyrics now mean something to me as an adult which makes it even more appreciated.
   
   Olivia Newton John has a beautiful voice and has a significant repertoire of hits. I was so happy to have purchased this disc.

5 comments about A Wonderful World.

1. I love the duet concept records and I am a big k.d. Lang fan and when I heard this record was coming out I was very excited. A wonderful combination of voices singing classics, and the title track makes this record perfect. I was not a big Tony Bennett fan beforehand, but became one because of this.



2. "A Wonderful World,"(2002), a collection of duets by Tony Bennett and K.D. Lang, to songs inspired by the legendary New Orleans trumpeter Louis Armstrong, included "What a Wonderful World," "Exactly Like You," and "You Can Depend on Me." It was produced by the near-legendary T Bone Burnett, and includes trumpet work by Scott Hamilton. Of course, in 2002, the New York-born crooner was 76 years old; and his voice was not what it once was: but still, the embers of it, with its liquidity, smoothness, intonation and phrasing are enough to cast his light upon the world. Critic Howard Garwood wrote of him, "He has the face you'd want on your neighborhood bar owner - seamed, rumpled, and infinitely kind.... It's the face of a man who has seen life and triumphed, and who proclaims his joy of living through one of the best sets of pipes in the business."
   
   And as for K.D. Lang's voice, 2002 found it still in top form. It's a thing of unearthly, silken beauty, a voice that comes along only once in a generation: in her case, from Alberta, Canada. I remember seeing her once on late night television, early in her career, wearing the silliest cowgirl outfit and hopping up and down, and wishing I could tell her that with her voice, she didn't need to hop, she could leave that to Herman's Hermits. Of course, I couldn't, but she seems to have figured it out, anyway.
   
   The title song, as done by this pair, boasts all the colors of the rainbow. And some of the quieter ballads are still waters running deep, indeed. Just listen, to say, "La Vie En Rose," or "If We Never Meet Again."
   
   I am lucky enough to have seen this pair present this repertory in person, at New York's Radio City Music Hall, in the most striking of circumstances, to wit: late September, 2001, about two weeks after the 9/11 destruction of the World Trade Center, and so much of downtown Manhattan. I already had my ticket, and anxiously watched the paper to see if they would keep the date: they did, and so did I. So did most of the ticket holders, I believe: there were empty seats, but not that many. Took ages to get through security, of course. You can believe that emotions ran high in that theater, on stage and in the audience: you could describe it as a love-in. And as for the music that came from that stage - it was simply blessed, and unforgettable. Lucky for all of us, the music, so evanescent in live performance, stays with us on this cd.



3. Listening to Bennett on this CD is like listening to post-1965 Sinatra. They're both just faking it, but, due to their iconic status, they get away with it. On this CD, Lang just plain carries Tony, which is the only reason I gave it 2 stars.
   
   Take a pass on this one and the 'Duets' album; age has caught up with Bennett. Instead, give a listen to 'Fifty Years: The Artistry of Tony Bennett'. Hearing his early material will make the deterioration in Bennett's voice quite obvious and make you wonder if it's really the same vocalist.
   
   Time marches on and it's cruel what it has done to Bennett's range, but, thankfully, the great work of his early and middle years is still around....



4. I ordered this CD thinking it would be as good as the 49th Parallel Cd of hers-it is not-I was disappointed-did not care for Tony Bennett that much-



5. The voices of Tony and KD go so well together. What an absolute pleasure to listen to the songs on this CD!

5 comments about Disney's Princess Collection: The Music of Hopes, Dreams and Happy Endings.

1. Bought as a gift for my 4-year old niece for her birthday, this CD stays in my car for her use when I'm driving. She loves it and asks for individual princesses and we sing along. I don't know how many times we've listened to it already (4 or 5, I imagine), but I anticipate many more. It's a heck of a lot easier than trying to remember the words on my own. :)



2. I want to start off by saying that if you're looking to buy only one Disney Princess CD, this is the one to get. This CD contains 12 tracks featuring 7 princesses (at the time that this CD was made, Mulan did not yet exist, in fact, the Disney Princess line itself did not exist). Unlike many other Disney Princess CDs, this one contains a *complete* collection of princess songs. That means that all the songs that any Princess actually sings is on this CD. No, not every song from every Princess movie is on here, but I wouldn't expect them to be, nor do I think that they'd even fit onto this CD. Something that's nice about this CD compared to some of the other Disney Princess CDs is that there is no subversive advertising. That means no mediocre songs from Cinderella V or the Little Mermaid X are on it. There aren't even any songs sung by non-Princesses, all the songs that are sung partly by others are at least partially sung by a Princess as well. One of the most interesting things about the album, in my opinion, is that it contains 'Home' by Susan Egan as Belle. In Beauty and the Beast, Belle has no large solo songs of her own, so they included this track from the original 1994 cast recording of the Beauty and the Beast Broadway musical. This addition makes the CD more interesting and does not at all detract from the quality of the CD.
   Again, if you are looking to buy only one Disney Princess CD or just find the best one, I would encourage you to buy this one. The selection of songs is complete and there isn't any annoying, mediocre album filler. I highly recommend this Disney Princess CD.



3. Bought this CD for Christmas for my 5 year old and we love it!! A great buy!!!!!



4. i love this cd! my dad got it for me for my birthday 3 years ago and i still love it



5. I bought this cd for my daughter's 3rd birthday. She LOVES it! She asks me to play it every day and we both sing along to all of the songs. She has even picked up on the songs that she didn't know before she received it. I love it because now she is more interested in listening to the cd and dancing with me in the house than watching a video. In quiet times, she likes to sit on my lap and look at the pictures in the liner notes. The recordings are beautiful, it is the one children's cd that I can listen to over and over. If you have a little girl who loves princesses, this is definitely worth the money.