What a bizarre concept. Let's get together a whole slew of folkies who, for some inexplicable reason, loved the soundtrack for the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar and rerecord all the songs. Why? To satisfy some childhoo... more »d obsession, it seems. This has to be the least relevant album of all time. Perhaps if those involved reinterpreted the opera, updated it, gave it some kind of new light or understanding. But that doesn't happen--the versions here offer nothing over the original. Remarkably, this is even worse than the soundtrack to the movie version, which featured the annoying vocals of Ted Neely as Jesus. How do you top that? How about enlisting Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls to play Jesus? Sheesh. --Tod Nelson« less
What a bizarre concept. Let's get together a whole slew of folkies who, for some inexplicable reason, loved the soundtrack for the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar and rerecord all the songs. Why? To satisfy some childhood obsession, it seems. This has to be the least relevant album of all time. Perhaps if those involved reinterpreted the opera, updated it, gave it some kind of new light or understanding. But that doesn't happen--the versions here offer nothing over the original. Remarkably, this is even worse than the soundtrack to the movie version, which featured the annoying vocals of Ted Neely as Jesus. How do you top that? How about enlisting Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls to play Jesus? Sheesh. --Tod Nelson
"As both a major fan of the Indigo Girls' music and Broadway musicals in general, I was curious to hear how this album would turn out. JCS is not one of my favorite shows -- I'm not much of an Andrew Lloyd Webber fan -- but I hoped the Indigo Girls' musical talents might at least make the album bearable.I was wrong; they made it sensational! To my utter shock, the album is wonderful! JCS *never* sounded so good; every song has been given a totally modern feel and each and every one of them improves upon the original versions greatly. And don't knock the unconventional casting until you've heard this CD's version of "Gethsemane"-- easily the best version I've ever heard, sung with total raw emotion. It still gives me chills whenever I hear it.Lloyd Webber should be down on his knees thanking Amy Ray and Emily Saliers for turning his derivative ho-hum musical-with-potential into a full-fledged tour-de-force. Brava!"
Great if you love the Indigo Girls.
F. Mercer | Phoenix, NY United States | 12/04/2003
(3 out of 5 stars)
"This truly sounds like a bunch of buds who love Jesus Christ Superstar got together and recorded their own version, with some 90's updates (including a rap of the title song, which is the worst part). The Indigo girls sound great, professional, as polished as they ever pull off, but the rest of the cast is pretty amateurish. I appreciate the enthusiasm, and it does make a nice change, but can't beat one of the cast recordings."
Simply the best next to the original cast recording.
10/25/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This recording is the most rocking version you'll ever hear of this material. The editorial review above missed the point altogether. What all of these "folkies" did was take all their life long devotion to this rock opera and made one big love letter to it .... and it shows. It's inspired and every single note speaks volumes of their attachment to Jesus Christ Superstar. It's never sounded better. Michael Lorant was a fantastic Judas and the fellow who plays Caiphas(sp) sounded great ... very much as if Tom Waits played the part and, boy, did it sound cool. Kelly Hogan makes a great Simon Zealotes and though I think that the Indigo Girls were a bizarre choice for Jesus and Mary Magdelane, the Jesus part comes off quite nicely, though Mary Magdelane comes off kind of thin ... which is the only criticism I could give at all. "Hosanna" was brilliantly staged as done by a high school marching band and .... well ... I could go on and on, but to give this less than the maximum stars would be a disservice to this remarkable staging of Jesus Christ Superstar. I've heard many versions of this play and this version very much sounds like it was done by people who loved it and not by someone collecting a paycheck. My hat is off to Michael Lorant who was the brainchild of this. I have no idea who he is or what he did before or since, but he did a good thing here."
Jesus Amy...how cool is that?!?
Howdy | Denver, CO United States | 04/06/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I'm a big musical fan and a big fan of the Indigo Girls. So this is a pretty great combination for me! I've seen Jesus Christ Superstar and heard various versions of the soundtrack and while this one may lack a little of the passion of some of the others, I still really like it and it is the version I like to listen to over any other. However, the reason to buy it is the novelty of having the Indigo Girls performing on some of the songs. You've got to love Amy as Jesus! I think more lesbians should play Jesus in this musical! ;-) If you are looking for a really solid JCS soundtrack and you're not a big Indigo's fan, your best bet is probably the Broadway soundtrack. But if you love the Indigo Girls, you really need to own this CD!"
Suprisingly fabulous and entertaining
Shelley Gammon | Kaufman, Texas USA | 07/10/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I got this CD simply because I was a fan of the Indigo Girls... I didn't expect that I'd like every song in this 2-disc set. Great sound, great instrumentals in the background, great voices and the work of Andrew Lloyd Webber. Outstanding!"