Songs From Jesus Christ Superstar Live In Concert on iTunes Now!!!

[jonah3500]

Overture, Gethsemane, and Superstar are on Apple Music!

They all sound incredible. So excited for Sunday!!!!

Thoughts?

[Sondheimite]

jonah3500 said: "Overture, Gethsemane, and Superstar are on Apple Music!

They all sound incredible. So excited for Sunday!!!!

Thoughts?"

Also popping up on Spotify!

https://open.spotify.com/track/1JGdz5J9HRVf1SF32VDbw4?si=99UAIWEBQmy06gCnLsx5LA

[jonah3500]

Listened to all three:

Overture: Incredible, sounds more like rock than ever before.

Gethsemane: They made some changes for John Legend's voice. For example, "All right, I'll die" was lowered to match "But if I die."

Superstar: Brandon Victor Dixon is an incredible singer and Superstar will be amazing live. This is going to be the best "Superstar" in a long time.

My son is on the verge of tears because he cannot see it live, as they have a minimum age of 18, and he is 12.

[Sondheimite]

https://open.spotify.com/track/6O5G8Rm6zJt7HaukQTQVNe?si=P6-5VdMLREK1poazfQpE9Q

I think Brandon is going to be the highlight of the night

[jonah3500]

"I Don't Know How to Love Him" was just released!

[thirtythirtyninety]

I was pretty baffled by those folks who were concerned that Dixon lacked the range to sing Judas.  Huh???

[Elfuhbuh]

Wow! Could this finally be a good NBC live event???

[IdinaBellFoster]

Bareilles's voice just has that storyteller quality. I'm loving "I Don't Know How to Love Him".

[Deena Jones]

So, they previously recorded it while Sunday night will be live?

[IdinaBellFoster]

Deena Jones said: "So, they previously recorded it while Sunday night will be live?"

Yes. NBC has typically recorded the album prior to the broadcast.

[Miles2Go2]

Gethsemane (I Only Want to Say) just knocks the wind out of me. I’m agnostic, but it almost moves me to tears every time. It evokes so much for me (a gay man who is old enough to remember the beginning of the AIDS epidemic and has struggled with depression and suicidal thoughts in the past) outside of the storyline. For me it evokes so much:

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

The original JCS fan™ weighing in:

Overture -- No major issues with this one, though I wish the drummer was a little more daring and loose. The guitarist sounds alright, but repeats himself a lot during his soloing. Get creative on the night, for the love of God.

Gethsemane -- Okay, well, let's be honest: John Legend was never gonna surprise us with hidden rock edge. There's no screamed High G, which is literally the best part of the show for fans of classic JCS, but since about 1996, I've come to expect that not showing up (besides, the high note is optional, and I've heard singers give great performances of the song without it). Instead, we get the typical Balsamo-ized "falsetto G5 leading into the 5/4 break." Whatever. The weird ranting that follows it is pretty interesting, though. The lyric change in the last verse is unnecessary. Could it have been better if Legend spent more time developing and rehearsing the part instead of treating this gig like a side trip to his career and waiting for the last couple weeks before the show to shape it? Probably. Hopefully it's better by Sunday. Otherwise, it's one more A-list artist NBC will live to regret hiring.

Superstar -- Brandon Victor Dixon is talented, but believe it or not, I'm a little annoyed that, rock screams at the end aside, he's basically doing by-the-numbers Carl Anderson. Granted, I hate it when people depart too much from what I love about that role (cough Josh Young cough), but this is playing it too safe. I will say this, though: when I heard him sing this, I thought to myself, "This dude has the right range to pull off Jesus. Why didn't they cast him as Jesus, ride the wave of his speaking truth to power with the Pence speech melodrama, and stick a star in as Judas for insurance?" Ah well, the saddest words e'er writ by pen are these four words: it might have been...

[gypsy101]

IdinaBellFoster said: "Deena Jones said: "So, they previously recorded it while Sunday night will be live?"

Yes. NBC has typically recorded the album prior to the broadcast."

well strictly speaking they recorded The Sound of Music and Hairspray's albums before the broadcast but The Wiz and Peter Pan both used the live vocals from the night (though I think both also got some editing afterward, specifically I recall Uzo Aduba's Believe in Yourself getting some cleanup). I'm surprised they aren't releasing this one as a live album simply because it's being so advertised as being a concert.

[willep]

jonah3500 said: "Listened to all three:

Overture: Incredible, sounds more like rock than ever before.”

 

That’s what you call more rock than ever before? Don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad, but I have absolutely heard many versions that sounded more like rock than that.

[Miles2Go2]

As a newby to the show (have never seen the show in any format and have never heard any entire cast recording), these songs sound great to me. With no previous performances to compare these to, I’m loving John’s take on Gethsemane. This has me quite excited for Sunday night. If this lives up to expectations, maybe they should try doing live concerts rather than live recreations of the shows, which never seem to completely work.

[Gizmo6]

I’m a fan of John Legend but I don’t like his Gethsemene. It’s not how I’d like it sung and there’s no acting. I don’t like the lyric change, I’m not religious but I always thought the line God Thy Will Is Hard but you hold all the cards was a fantastic piece of social commentary. 

From these songs it seems very pop rather than a rock opera. 

[curel1]

Wow, these all sound fantastic! I'm even more hyped for tomorrow

[CATSNYrevival]

They all sound much better than I was expecting, I'll give them that. I still say the original brown album is the only album anyone needs to own.

[greenifyme2]

Gizmo6 said: "I’m a fan of John Legend but I don’t like his Gethsemene. It’s not howI’d like it sung andthere’s no acting. I don’t like the lyric change, I’m not religious but I always thought the line God Thy Will Is Hard but you hold all the cards was a fantastic piece of social commentary.

From these songs it seems very pop rather than a rock opera."

Gethsemene definitely sounded much better in person. I teared up and gave him a standing ovation (as did many). I was not a John Legend fan and he converted me tonight.

[Danielle49]

I purposefully didn't listen to the songs before attending the rehearsal tonight so I could be surprised. Gethsemene 100% sounded better in person. Count me as one of the people who gave John Legend a standing ovation tonight - something I never expected I'd do. After the song, I was actually shaking. (That sounds so stupid and dramatic, I know.) That's never happened to me before. I hope tomorrow he's as amazing as he was tonight so everyone can see what he's capable of.

Also, these must've been recorded much before the cast dug into their characters. I see what some people are saying: the recordings just sound like singers singing JCS songs, not fully playing the roles or telling the story. That definitely wasn't the case at tonight's performance.

[greenifyme2]

Not stupid at all. I am not religious, and although I’m familiar with the show from a community theater production when I was a kid, I did not expect at all to be as moved tonight as I was! It far surpassed any possible expectation I could have had.

I’m not sure this will translate as well to tv. I hope so. What a privilege it was to be there.

I am looking forward to the release of the full recording!

[bear88]

Danielle49 said: "I purposefully didn't listen to the songs before attending the rehearsal tonight so I could be surprised. Gethsemene 100% sounded better in person. Count me as one of the people who gave John Legenda standing ovation tonight - something I never expected I'd do. After the song, I was actually shaking. (That sounds so stupid and dramatic, I know.) That's never happened to me before. I hope tomorrow he's as amazing as he was tonight so everyone can see what he's capable of.

Also, these must've been recorded much before the cast dug into their characters. I see what some people are saying:the recordings just sound like singers singing JCS songs, not fully playing the roles or telling the story. That definitely wasn't the case attonight's performance."

Now you're getting my hopes up.

I mostly agreed with g.d.e.l.g.i.'s take on the recordings. The overture seemed bland (with a near-absent drummer or lousy production). The Gethsemene arrangement, lyric changes, and Legend's performance did little for me on the recording, but I will reserve judgment - because live performances can be a very different animal. (And I assume the recordings were done early in the process.) Dixon and Bareilles were fine, but if does feel like they're singing the songs rather than playing the characters. Having heard his version of King Herod's Song, I'm intrigued by Cooper's different take.

As an evening of concert/theatre, it sounds like you and greenifyme2 enjoyed it live. Any other highlights?

[gypsy101]

could have sworn i saw an ad during the show that the soundtrack is available now but can’t find it on itunes...anyone know where to find it?

[Miles2Go2]

It’s available for pre-order (“Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert) with four songs available upon pre-ordering.

[IdinaBellFoster]

I find it very strange that they didn't just release the cast recording today. Why wait until the 6th?