I'm glad I wasn't the only one who thought Next to Normal. It was the first show I thought of when I saw the title. I've never found myself wanting to skip certain songs when they come on, I can just listen to it through.
First you have to define "bad song." A non-hit? A song un-related to the plot?
Sometimes I see comments that indicate the writers do not understand the function of songs in a score and the placement of the songs in terms of pacing.
Someone complained about the song "Little Lamb" in GYPSY and thinks it should have been cut. He could not be more wrong. In fact, Jerome Robbins tried to cut the song but Jule Styne rightly insisted it be kept. While true it doesn't really advance the plot, it does help explain Louise's unhappy situation..ignored at her own birthday party, and unsure of her true age it is touching moment and without the song her character would lose much of its initial arc.
Even more important is its role in the pacing of the show. At this point in Act One we have had a lively (and noisy) Overture, a brief kiddie routine, Rose's introductory number "Some People" (with a lot of screaming leading into it and in the middle of it), a number of argument scenes, some noisy kiddie/vaudeville numbers and Ethel Merman blaring her way through 3 songs. We need that short quiet moment to reflect. If you took that song out the first act would become relentless. You may not like the song for personal reasons, but its role is very important to the success of GYPSY. I happen to think it has a lovely, plaintive melody and appreciate it. I think GYPSY is score without a single bad song barring, of course the purposely awful vaudeville bits which are more humorous than irritating.)
Other scores that I feel lack a single "bad" song: ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, BABES IN ARMS, BRIGADOON, CAMELOT, CAROUSEL, COMPANY, FINIAN'S RAINBOW, HELLO DOLLY!, THE KING AND I, MAME, MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG, OKLAHOMA!, NO STRINGS, NO NO NANETTE, OF THEE I SING, PETER PAN, SHOW BOAT, RAGTIME, SAIL AWAY, HIGH SPIRITS and SOUND OF MUSIC. (These are all scores I return to again and again, yet never tire of and never skip a track.)
Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks." Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!
I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com
FrontRowCentre2, I'm so glad you mentioned "Camelot." For me, that may be the only score that doesn't have a boring song. (That's how I'd define "bad.")
Even "My Fair Lady," which I adore, has a clunker. For me, it's not "Show Me," but the massively popular "On the Street Where You Live."
Many people have named "Les Mis" as a show without a bad song, but frankly, I think the middle is seriously boring. I don't even like "Bring Him Home" much. My mind quickly wanders off during "A Heart Full of Love" and "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables." "Red and Black" reminds me of fingernails on chalkboard. In fact, almost anything sung by Marius or the adult Cosette drives me crazy, and not in a good way. However, the beginning and the end of the show are dynamite. I always cry for the reprise of "Do You Hear the People Sing."
As for "The Phantom of the Opera," the only song that seriously annoys me is "Wishing You were Somehow Here Again," again because I find it boring. I used to feel the same way about "All I Ask of You," but I've grown to like it.
Easily the worst show I've seen in a decade. How anyone could like the score is beyond me. First, there wasn't one discernible melody, just random notes and constant, unrelenting percussion. Second, the lyrics were mostly incomprehensible, and the few lines I could understand had all the wit and cleverness of a grocery list.
Forgive my vulgarity, but IMHO, Richard Rodgers, with a stomach flu, could've farted a better score.
'Our whole family shouts. It comes from us livin' so close to the railroad tracks'
There are a lot of shows that I feel have a bad song, but not bad for the show itself. However, IMO, La Cage Aux Folles, Joseph...Dreamcoat, Pippin, Cabaret and The Music Man are the only shows I can put on without skipping any of the songs. It might also be because they're my favorite shows!
Into The Woods Gypsy (I like "Little Lamb") Carousel The King And I The Sound of Music My Fair Lady Legally Blonde (though I'm not a fan of "Serious") Les Miserables City of Angels Ragtime Lippa's The Wild Party (I like it - not ready for a debate on it!) Crazy for You Chicago
"I saw Pavarotti play Rodolfo on stage and with his girth I thought he was about to eat the whole table at the Cafe Momus." - Dollypop
Surprised to see La Cage on the lists of dreamcoat and lupone76.
Sure there are some great songs in that score, but "Masculinity" and "Cocktail Counterpoint" (that dreadful Act II quintet about soup bowls featuring boys playing leapfrog...)?? Really??
There aren't too many that I can listen to all the way through without skipping a song... A CHORUS LINE, PIPPIN, SIDE SHOW, LES MISERABLES, OKLAHOMA, IN THE HEIGHTS, FOLLIES, PASSION, RAGTIME.
My honorable mention would be THE COLOR PURPLE. I think it's a masterpiece.