SCARLET PIMPERNEL ORIGINAL BROADWAY CAST RECORDING (1998)

ORIGINAL POSTING DATE: December 31, 2011

"The Taming Of The Shrew", "Legally Blonde", "The Little Mermaid", "Seven Wives For Seven Brothers", then most recently, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show"—just musing on about all of the wonderful theater productions I've watched live this year. Perhaps "Scarlet Pimpernel" will be next on the list? Just as long as I'd known about "Rocky Horror", I'd been aware of, or at least had a vague recalling of "The Scarlet Pimpernel" musical for quite some time before I even got this soundtrack to the original Broadway recordings. But I've yet to see it, although I suspect my friend Kim has, and probably more than once. Read up about it a little; the theme of superheroes battling in some adventurous tale certainly grabbed my attention. There isn't any kind of drama or theater production I won't see; I tend to love them more than watching movies. Think it's because the acting is always top-notch—a skill that must be especially perfect when dealing with a live audience. Plus the fact that they're live, which makes them seem more realistic despite the artificial props and costumes. But most of all—and I'm sure most of you already know this—the accompanying musical scores in these drama productions are always outstanding; what show would be a success without great music? Theater music sounds so nice.....makes me feel like I'm lost in a faraway, magical storybook land I've never been to before (ha, there's even a song from the musical called "Storybook"). Definitely something I like to tune into when I feel like drifting away from reality for a while. And the voices—wow! Spectacular performances all throughout, but I have to highlight a couple that blew my mind: Track #5's "Prayer" by the male soloist and Track #17's "Only Love" my the female soloist. Then you have those little tunes with the funny voices that makes you laugh, such as the title track itself, "The Scarlet Pimpernel", and "The Creation Of Man". I'd like to match the voices with the actors' facial expressions as they're singing. Broadway instrumentals are always a cool thing to hear; the "Overture" at the beginning features an excellent classical score while "The Duel" found near the end is epic in every way. The only thing you don't get with these audio soundtracks—unless that soundtrack happens to be on DVD—is the impressive visuals. Not just the costumes and the stage props, but the choreography of the actors dancing to the music:

1. Overture - Instrumental
2. Madame Guillotine
3. Believe
4. Vivez
5. Prayer
6. Into The Fire
7. Falcon Into The Dive
8. When I Look At You
9. The Scarlet Pimpernel
10. Where's The Girl?
11. When I Look At You - Reprise
12. The Creation Of Man
13. Marguerite's Dilemma - Instrumental
14. The Riddle
15. Entr'acte - Instrumental
16. They Seek Him Here
17. Only Love
18. She Was There
19. Storybook
20. Where's The Girl - Reprise
21. Lullaby
22. You Are My Home
23. The Duel - Instrumental
24. Believe [Reprise]
25. Into The Fire - Reprise

Rod Stewart-The Day Will Come (2007)

ORIGINAL POSTING DATE: December 31, 2011

"Seven Days Of Christmas" will pretty soon become "The Twelve Days Of Christmas", as some requested music I planned to post hasn't been completed as of yet, and won't be before the New Year. So for the seventh day, I would like to present a special album that's sure to be an instant catch—Rod Stewart's "The Day Will Come". An excellent addition to your music collection if you're a long-time fan of the legendary British rocker.....and a good place to start for my very first feature on him. "The Day Will Come" is a remastered collection of selected recordings from the 1960's (boy doesn't that sound like a long time ago!). I may not be old enough to remember any of them—once again, I'm a child of the 80's, and I can more readily discuss his music from that time period—but I'd always wanted to hear what he sounded like before I came to embrace hits like "Forever Young", "Ooh La La", "Young Turks", "The Motown Song" and his cover of "It Takes Two" that he performed with my favorite rock diva, Tina Turner. Younger Rod Stewart's voice is noticeably more deeper than the strainy, raspy voice I've become accustomed to—it's gonna take me a while to get used to it—but I can tell that it's him singing. I estimate he was about 20-something when he did these songs. His style back then sounds as if it was classic rock with elements of honky-tonk blues and gospel—kinda like the style of Elvis Presley. He must've been just as popular with the ladies back then, too. "Sparky Rides" and the lively church-inspired "Can I Get A Witness?" and "Baby Take Me" are my personal picks, but I spent more time concentrating on reliving the earliest moments of Rod's music career than trying to decide which song was better than the other:

1. I Just Got Some
2. Bright Lights, Big City
3. Ain't That Lovin' You Baby
4. Mopper's Blues
5. Why Does It Go On?
6. Shake
7. The Way Will Come
8. Little Miss Understood
9. Come Home Baby
10. Sparky Rides
11. Can I Get A Witness?
12. Baby Take Me
13. Keep Your Hands Off Her
14. Don't You Tell Nobody
15. Just Like I Treat You