Favorite Cast Recording(s) of the 16/17 Season?

[Cfried]

What's your favorite OBCR of the 16/17 season? 

I think my favorite is probably Bandstand. It sounds absolutely fantastic. 

[Call_me_jorge]

Haven't listened to all of them, but my top four are Dear Evan Hansen, Natasha Pierre, Hello Dolly and Come From Away.

[Mr. Nowack]

FALSETTOS definitely. That's the one I've listened to most, and I have heard about all of them.

close second, WAR PAINT.

[kofler22]

Natasha, Pierre and the 1812 comet!Excellent sound, great performances! Much better than the original. 

The second best is Groundhog day! Great score, great fun! 

Dolly is dissaponting!! ??

[JBroadway]

I don't know if it's the BEST, but I'd like to give Anastasia an honorable mention. I had really mixed feeling about the show, but I'm loving the cast recording.The old songs sound gorgeous and the new songs are, for some reason, more enjoyable on the cast recording than they were in the actual show. 

EDIT: Just realized the OP didn't ask for the best, just our favorites. So yes, Anastasia is my favorite that I've listened to so far. 

[PurpleSummerHathaway]

DEH and Falsettos. I can't even make it through the whole TGC soundtrack, I dislike it that much. 

[10086Sundays]

Groundhog Day is the only one I've listened to/purchased after seeing the show this season.  

I expected to love Anastasia, but none of the new music did it for me and I already own the movie soundtrack.

Haven't seen/heard CFA, War Paint or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

[Cat Guy]

"Dolly".  Listen to it often.  Love it.

[froote]

Great Comet and Anastasia. I think My Petersburg is one of the best songs of the season and the show deserved a score nomination.

[ebontoyan]

Groundhog Day and Come from Away

[leighmiserables]

Great Comet, followed distantly by Falsettos. 

[bryan32]

the only two I can say are dear evan hasen and come from away because I have to buy the others

 

[GavestonPS]

I've played DEAR EVAN HANSEN far more often than the others.

Which is tough to admit because FALSETTOS is my second favorite musical of all time (speaking subjectively) and Stephanie J. Block and Andrew Rannells are the new gold standard for their roles. But Christian Borle, talented as he is, leaves a hole in the center with a tepid vocal performance. (Perhaps I'll feel different in a few weeks when I see the show on film.) Granted, Michael Rupert left big shoes to fill; but the Marvin musicals without Marvin seem curiously bland.

THE GREAT COMET has really grown on me (I had to listen to it a few times), and I was shocked to discover I like the lush score of ANASTASIA. Despite the horror of some here, I really like the score of COME FROM AWAY; there's nothing wrong with honest, heartfelt sentiment. And I'm very happy to have a recording of HELLO, DOLLY! where the supporting cast sings so well.

BANDSTAND falls short of the great music of the 40s, perhaps because almost all of the songs are sung by the same two people, and I have no idea what anybody likes about GROUNDHOG DAY. I try not to be a snob about imperfect rhyming; such rhymes are common in pop music and don't bother today's audiences. But when you introduce your leading man with three rhymed couplets in a row, you might take note that erection/reception, ideas/big rears, clock/cop DO NOT FRIGGIN' RHYME!

Still waiting for SITPWG...

Oops. A later poster reminded me I forgot WAR PAINT. I'm still warming up to it, which isn't surprising: those guys don't write "easy" scores. It is an amazing vocal display from two women who shouldn't be able to sing so well at their ages!

What an amazing season for Broadway musicals and OBCRs!

[uncageg]

Come From Away and War Paint. Have been listening to War Paint a lot in the past week.

[DAME]

Dolly and Evan.  Everything else has bored me.  I have not listened to Bandstand yet,  

[thattreegurl]

I really do love Dolly and Falsettos for revivals. New musicals, I think my favorites are Comet and DEH.

[RippedMan]

Guess I'm in the minority, but I love the Amelie recording. I listen to it at least once a week. So haunting and beautiful. I went into the show thinking eh, this will be boring, but I was really taken with it. Def. not a big Broadway show, but I hope it has a healthy regional life. I think the music is at times really gorgeous. 

I can't get into Dear Evan Hansen. Maybe the hype is too big for me, but I just don't find anything in the album all that interesting. "Waving Through A Window" basically says the same sentiment for 4 minutes. It doesn't built on itself, doesn't really propel the story, etc. I overheard a girl talking to her friend saying "You can listen to the (DEH) album, and it won't ruin the show. It doesn't give the plot away." Which seems odd? So it's a bunch of pop songs strung together? I don't know. Glad people love it, not mad about it, just didn't do anything for me. I found the song "Pink" from War Paint to say so much about its character in 4 minutes, and yet people are going crazy for "Waving Through A Window" which just seems to repeat itself. 

[GavestonPS]

I'm not trying to change your mind, RM, but the girl who said the DEH OBCR "doesn't give away the plot" is wrong. I had a couple of questions about plot details, but the overall action of the musical play is quite clear in the recording.

[Emmaloucbway]

Great Comet, Come From Away, Groundhog Day, and War Paint!

[BroadwayConcierge]

Great Comet, without question—followed by select tracks from Anastasia and Come from Away.

Strangely enough, as much as I ADORED Groundhog Day in the theatre and consider it one of my very favorite shows of the season, I just can't get into the recording. 

[MichelleCraig]

DEAR EVAN HANSEN for me. Looking forward to BANDSTAND and ANASTASIA. I did like GREAT COMET, but the new DOLLY always has me running for the Pearl Bailey recording...

[Mr. Nowack]

What an amazing season for Broadway musicals and OBCRs!

Here here (hear hear??) Gaveston! So rarely we have a season where just about every single show was recorded (though it's becoming more common), and for the most part really beautiful recordings.

I will admit that upon first listen I wasn't impressed with the DEH album, but one certain night when I was going through a particularly rocky patch emotionally it just CLICKED and I found it really moving. Definitely not a score that popped to the top of my list but I finally got the appeal and hype, and kinda wished I saw the show before the hype hit (I was between TGC and DEH and picked COMET).

[karen24]

@BroadwayConcierge, I was just thinking this today. I too loved the show and I love some of the songs on the album individually, but overall I think the album makes the show seem repetitive (ha ha) although onstage live it didn't seem that way to me (except in a good way).

I also notice things that irritate me in some songs that didn't bother me live, like the way the ensemble sings "T'morrow" or "Tuh-morrow" instead of "To-morrow" in the first song, and the way Minchin rhymes "Groundhog-ese " with "ease."

To get back to the thread, I love the Falsettos album, and am eagerly awaiting the one for "Sunday in the Park."

[GeorgeandDot]

Falsettos

Dear Evan Hansen 

The Great Comet of 1812

Hello Dolly 

War Paint

[danny10086]

I know ... how good is this season for cast recordings.  I've been loving the strong and enjoyable scores!
- Dear Evan Hansen (has been played more times than any)

- Anastasia (I love Ahrens & Flaherty so much, their scores are always so enjoyable)

- Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (this, surprisingly, has grown on me a lot - Charming is so much fun)

- War Paint (how awesome to have Patti & Christine in one show, with a score playing to their strengths)