I’m happy to announce that I’ll be playing guitar for West Valley Light Opera’s spring production of Jesus Christ Superstar.  This musical has an awesome score and the guitar part is fun and challenging!

If you are looking for a fresh take on this classic soundtrack, continue reading for reviews of recordings I discovered while preparing for the show.  I’ll post my notes on the score and info on my guitar rig once I get it dialed in.

JCS Recordings

I’ve listened to the “concept” recording for years and years and only recently went in search of newer recordings of this classic show.  To my delight, I found quite a few:

Original Concept Album – Remastered (View on iTunes)

First up is the original, newly remastered by Andrew Lloyd Webber himself.  It has a much more forward sound and improves greatly on the original recording which was showing its age along side the newer recordings in my library.

Vienna Live Concert Performance (View on iTunes)

This is my hand’s-down favorite of the bunch.  It has a guitar-heavy arrangement and Drew Sarich and Mischa Mang belt out the songs the way they were meant to be performed.  The Temple == goosebumps!  Get ooooooooooout!

1996 London Cast Recording (View on iTunes)

I like this recording for its modern sound and good vocal performances.  The vocals aren’t as raw as the Vienna recording above, but this is a more orchestral arrangement, similar to the concept album.

Live Arena Tour Video (View on iTunes)

This was a surprisingly good production of the show in concert form.  Good musical and vocal performances and an interesting modern setting – gotta love the social media integration!