New CD: Jekyll & Hyde

I've been a fan of Frank Wildhorn and Leslie Briccuse's Jekyll & Hyde for a very, very long time. I discovered it when a concept "highlights" CD was released in 1990, with Colm Wilkinson as Jekyll and an unknown Linda Eder as Lucy, the doomed prostitute. It was a magical recording. Wilkinson was famous for recently playing Jean Valjean in Les Miserables, and Eder had been a contestant on "Star Search." But it was the music that was remarkable, the otherworldly melodies, the emotions as high-pitched as the notes they floated on. Then, in 1994, there was another concept CD, this time with two discs. Once again Eder was Lucy, but now there was another Jekyll, Anthony Warlow. This set featured even more music, a more fully realized telling of the tale. It been retooled a bit, and it worked even better than the original highlights CD. Anyone who had doubts about a musical of this story were assured. It was one powerful recording. Then came Broadway in 1997, and things changed. Eder played her role on the stage, and Robert Cuccioli's take on Jekyll was rather lightweight. He sang it well enough, but the acting was a bit thin. And the direction was horrible. The unfortunate problem was that the second recording had been so lush, the Broadway production seemed like an imitation, and not a good one. It ran for a good while, but no one I know thought it delivered on the musical's promise. Since then, there have been other productions and other recordings. David Hasselhoff played Jekyll in Europe. There was a touring company, if memory serves. And now, in preparation for a new Broadway production starring "American Idol" veteran Constanine Maroulis and Deborah Cox, yet another concept CD. And the result? Unfortunately, the whole thing is getting worse. Exponentially. Every time the musical gets a new life, it gets further and further away from what makes it so great. The new recording offers yet another reorganization of the songs, but it isn't a better version. And this time around, the voices themselves are problematic. Maroulis isn't up to the task of Jekyll. He might look right, but really he doesn't. The thing is, casting Jekyll and Hyde is like casting Bruce Wayne and Batman. You have to cast the guy, not the alter-ego. What I mean is, anyone can be Hyde with the right makeup and the right menace, but it takes more than a voice to play Jekyll. It takes acting. And this time around, Lucy is all but destroyed. Cox just about kills the part, but not in a good way. Instead of performing the songs in character, especially her signature anthem, "Someone Like You," she sings it as though she's on "American Idol," with totally unnecessary flourishes that make it sound like a contemporary ballad, not the character study that it is. And I won't even go into the whole heavy-metal orchestration that's present; doing so would be a waste of pixels, to be honest. I will say this: composer Frank Wildhorn should have left well enough alone. Jekyll & Hyde doesn't need more concept albums. It's had two or three two many at this point. What it needs is someone who understands the brilliance of the two-CD set from 1994. It needs someone who gets it -- not what it could be, but what what it already was.

New CD: Music from the Dark Knight Trilogy

I don't mean to sound jaded, but I'm starting to wonder why some music labels insist upon re-recording music that film score fans already own. Case in point, the new "Music from the Batman Trilogy" CD. Fifteen tracks of moody, dark, pulsating, sometimes thrilling, always bombastic music from the trilogy that began with Batman Begins, then went onto The Dark Knight, and recently concluded with The Dark Knight Rises. What I don't get is why anyone thinks we need (or want) this CD. I mean, the soundtracks are readily available, and there's even an expanded album of Dark Knight music. At any rate, this CD clocks in at 73 minutes of music to fight crime in Gotham by. It's got a pretty good selection of themes composed by James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer. At moments it's thoughtful. At others, it's over the top. Presented in chronological order, these tracks tell the story of the movies musically, and it's a fairly satisfying program. I wish the music itself were more interesting, though. I've never been a fan of this kind of themeless, percussive scoring. I couldn't discern a theme that runs through the series; if anything its tone is set by heavy electronic orchestration, a sort of musical violence that propels the action relentlessly forward. It's as if the music is a newfangled Batmobile; nothing will stand in its way. As performed by London Music Works and the City of Prague Philaharmonic Orchestra, the whole affair comes off as an exercise in how to score something in a decidedly sinister style in which something always seems about to happen but never quite does. Here's to hoping this is all the Batman music we see for a while. It's plenty, and it may even be too much.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: a new recording

The only word for it is "inspired." Casting Megan Hilty in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is about as close as one can get to casting Marilyn Monroe. After all, Megan just finished season one of Smash, the TV series about the making of a Marilyn musical, and she was amazing. The cliffhanger ending notwithstanding, Megan delivered every week, whether she was singing or speaking. Anyway, in addition to playing Marilyn, now she's played one of Marilyn's iconic roles in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and the new cast recording is a wonderful bit of nostalgia. Jules Styne's music and Leo Robin's rhyme-happy lyrics are almost too much fun. With the spectacular Rachel York in the cast, as well, this can't be beat. The CD features singing and lots of dancing, even down to the tapping. It's one of the frothiest CDs I've heard in a long time, and it's clear with every number how much a labor of love this was to produce. Every actor is locked into the point, which is to tell a fun story in a fun, memorable way. Megan Hilty is a knock-out in a part that made Marilyn famous, and she brings the same breathy, almost over-pronounced style that was Marilyn's signature. This isn't a huge, chandelier-falling, housekeeper-flying musical. It's old style. Classic. Fun. That's part of its charm. Don't miss this recording -- it's a keeper.

Ramin Karimloo's New Solo CD

British theater star Ramin Karimloo is mesmerizing on a stage. In particular his turn as the Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera is a show-stopping interpretation that brings to the role all the raw emotion and masculine swagger that original Phantom Michael Crawford didn't. You can see Karimloo's take on the role in the new Phantom 25th Anniversary DVD. It's a startling reinterpretation of the role, truly a star-making performance. So I was thrilled to see a new CD of solo performances. Thrilled...but cautious. Because, after all, how many theater stars have faltered when the time came to make their own CD? Unfortunately, all the presence Karimloo has on the stage is lost on this effort, "Human Heart." This is not to say that it's worthless. Not at all. There are some good performances, but nothing that'll light the world on fire. Most disappointingly, placed next to his work on stage, the work here just doesn't make it. It's like the difference between being and acting. On stage, ironically, he seems to be; on CD, he seems to be acting. And it should be the other way around, if at all. I wish I understood what happened. Wrong songs? Wrong producers? One great example is his solo take on "Till I Hear You Sing," from the Phantom sequel Love Never Dies. On the cast recording, his vocal soars, and he embodies the sorrow and passion expertly, as if it had been written for him. But here, singing the same song, at a moment when he could bring everything in his own soul to the performance, it falls flat. The same thing happens on "Music of the Night," Phantom's signature song. Not only is it overproduced, when stacked against the hundreds (maybe even thousands) of other solo recordings of the song, this one doesn't register in the least. Why include it here at all? Clearly, it was an attempt to make the song his now, since he's new Phantom. Yet the song seems old now, and while Karimloo might have wanted to make it vital and contemporary, it's anything but. While listening to this CD, and wanting so very much to like it, I kept thinking about Simon Cowell. When he was still a judge on American Idol, he used to make a real distinction between pop singers and Broadway singers. I never quite got it, believing a good singer could sing in both areas (witness Katharine McPhee, who's brilliant on her own CDs as well as on TV's Smash). For better or worse, I find Simon to be right, certainly as his thought pertains to Ramin Karimloo and this CD. The guy's brilliant on stage and in cast recordings. But his own CD withers in comparison.

Ramone on Ramone

The year before he died of prostrate cancer in 2004, Johnny Ramone appeared in 16th place on the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time list in Rolling Stone and was listed on Time magazine’s 10 Greatest Electric-Guitar Players of all time. Eight years after his death, the autobiography of punk band The Ramones guitarist will be released. From The Wall Street Journal:

Commando: The Autobiography of Johnny Ramone is set for release April 2 by Abrams Image. In an interview Tuesday, his widow, Linda, described the book as "kind of his last word that he knew would be out."

"It is a really powerful book because his whole life has gone before him and he knows it's going to come to an end, and he really needs to tell everybody what he's feeling inside, so that's what makes it so amazing," she added later. "That is the biggest, most powerful thing, writing a book when you know you're dying."

So just what took so long in publishing Johnny Romone’s final words?

She said several factors were responsible for the delay in the book's release, including lawsuits involving the band after Ramone died and other projects she was undertaking for his fans.

"Between all those years of doing different things for his legacy, I always had the book. But there was never the right time for the book," she said.

Linda said her husband never stopped working on the book, even during chemotherapy treatments.

"He wasn't feeling well all the time, but that never stopped Johnny," she said. "Johnny was indestructible."

Stop SOPA and PIPA

The ramifications of the proposed Internet Blacklist Legislation are numerous and potentially dire. The Electronic Frontier Foundation boils it down most succinctly:

The Internet blacklist legislation -- known as PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House -- invites Internet security risks, threatens online speech, and hampers Internet innovation. Urge your members of Congress to reject this Internet blacklist campaign in both its forms!

As the EFF points out, though it’s possible to spin both bits of legislation in a positive way, but the deeper implications require serious study:

Big media and its allies in Congress are billing the Internet blacklist legislation as a new way to battle online infringement. But innovation and free speech advocates know that this initiative will do little to stop infringement online. What it will do is compromise Internet security, inhibit online expression, and slow growth in the technology sector.

Today Blue Coupe joins much of the Web in a day of study and reflection about what these twinned Bills might mean. So much has been written on the topic already, with more being added every minute, rather than add to the noise, we offer a series of links and a day of quiet.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation covers the matter here.

Wikipedia explains in some detail here.

The National Post does its usual great job of coverage here.

Ditto Strombo here.

CNN covers the basics here.

Elton John Book Will Fight AIDS

On Monday publisher Little, Brown announced that they will publish a book by pop icon Elton John later this year. Proceeds of the book, Love is the Cure: Ending the Global AIDS Epidemic, will go to the Elton John AIDS Foundation, an organization that has, over the last two decades, raised almost a quarter of a billion dollars towards fighting the disease.

The Little, Brown announcement said that the book will be “the very personal story of Sir Elton’s life during the AIDS epidemic, including his agony at seeing friend after friend perish needlessly. Through his stories of close encounters with people like Ryan White, Freddie Mercury, and many others, he will convey the personal toll AIDS has taken on his life -- and his infinite determination to stop its spread.”

In the release, Sir Elton added that the disease “must be cured not by a miraculous vaccine, but by changing hearts and minds, and through a collective effort to break down social barriers and to build bridges of compassion. Why are we not doing more? This is a question I have thought deeply about, and wish to answer -- and to help change -- by writing this book.”

Love is the Cure will go on sale this coming July. The publication date is meant to coincide with the 2012 XIX International AIDS Conference in Washington, DC.

War Horse: New from John Williams

It has been three years since John Williams scored a movie, and this holiday season brings us two new scores, both for films directed by Steven Spielberg: The Adventures of Tintin and War Horse.

War Horse, based on the same book as the currently running play on Broadway, is about a horse who's separated from his owner during World War I. The score is beyond lush and beyond rich. Many themes are woven throughout, from the mysterious yet beautiful opening track "Dartmoor, 1912" to the building drama and highly emotional crescendo of "Plowing." So much of this score is heartbreaking, and yet somehow celebratory at the same time.

Many of the tracks here are classic Williams, with a main theme as a base, with strings cross-crossing atop it, building emotion and expectation to a fever pitch, until he releases us in a fit of massive melodic seduction. Later, in "The Reunion," the horse's apparent return is scored with a loving tentativeness, seemingly as he and his owner meet each other again. (As of this writing, I have not seen the film.)

For those used to the John Williams of Star Wars and the like, you'll find a different composer here, one more along the lines of lush romantic scores like Far and Away and even The Terminal. Like those films, the score for War Horse contains lighter, almost amusing cues, as well as those that dive deeply into your heart. Williams is a master at using a single color, such as the piano, to present all one needs, and then using a layering spray of strings to punctuate the smile of a soul. There is yearning here, the true and powerful yearning of love set to melody.

For those, like me, who have anticipated a new Williams work, the drought is over. The wait for War Horse was well worth it.

Holiday Gift Guide: Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven and Hell With Black Sabbath by Tony Iommi

When it comes to rocker biographies, the 2011 winner is former Black Sabbath lead guitarist, Tony Iommi’s Iron Man (Da Capo). This is the whole package: Iommi is candid, engaging and celebrated and that’s exactly the right combo for this sort of book.

Though it’s Iommi’s autobiography, this is also the story of Black Sabbath, one of the most celebrated and seminal rock outfits of all time. And on this journey we take with him we discover that our wildest imaginings about sixties and seventies rock n’ roller behavior were only scratching the service. The biggest mystery of Iron Man soon comes to be: how did these guys manage to even live through these adventures, let alone finally get inducted into the rock n’ roll hall of fame.

Early on Iommi tells a story of waking up in a hotel room in Adelaide in 1971 with producer/manager Patrick Meehan and a girl.

Meehan went: “She’s dead.”

Oh, fucking hell, I thought, Christ, she’s dead. She’s dead!

I could see the headlines: “Girl found dead in hotel room with two guys.” I just thought: they’ll think it’s us!

Meehan went: “We got to get rid of her! We got to get rid of her!”

His idea was to throw her off the balcony and say that she had fallen off it. We were really high up. The thought of it now is absolutely frightening, but in my panic I went along with it. We got her to the balcony, we were trying to pick her up and then… she came round.

“Bloody hell, she’s alive!”

She was probably high on drugs, but, we could quite easy have just tossed her off of there and I would have become a twenty-two-year-old murderer.

“But your honor, she was dead already!”

I bet that girl doesn’t even know what happened. I’ll probably be arrested now. She will read this book and come out of the woodwork: “Yes, there he is!”

“It was Meehan! It was Meehan!”

This pace and verve as well as the sense of reckless endangerment of self and anyone who crossed his path at a certain time in his life permeates Iron Man. And somehow, even the worst stories, like that one, are a lark: youthful high-spirited high jinks aided by the sort of luck one never recognizes at the time.

Trashed hotel rooms, dismembered sharks and Ozzy Osbourne mooning everyone all the time (“I’ve seen Ozzy’s are more times than I’ve seen my own!”) Iommi writes with a sort of breathless intensity (and an awful lot of exclamation marks!) and we end up panting on the sidelines, just reading to catch up.

Despite the near-murder described above, Iommi is a likable correspondent and you don’t mind spending time in his presence for the duration of the book. If you only buy one rock biography this season, for so many reasons, it should be this one. ◊

Lincoln Cho is a freelance writer and editor. He lives in the Chicago area, where he works in the high-tech industry. He is currently working on a his first novel, a science-fiction thriller set in the world of telecommunications.

Art & Culture: Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge by Mark Yarm

Reviewed by David Middleton

Twenty years after Nirvana’s Nevermind and Pearl Jam’s debut, Ten, Blender senior editor, Mark Yarm, delivers Everybody Loves Our Town (Crown), the perfect remembrance/celebration/recollection of an era that some would say never was and others say never left us. After all, as Yarm tells us early on, even the grunge label itself is entirely subjective:

We could argue forever … about what bands are grunge, because the label is entirely subjective. Are Alice in Chains grunge or heavy metal or both? Were 7 Year Bitch punk or grunge or Riot Grrrl? How about contemporary Canadian arena rockers Nickelback: Post-grunge? Neo-grunge?

But whatever grunge is -- or isn’t -- no one has ever examined it with as much depth and affection as former Blender senior editor Yarm does in Everybody Loves Our Town.

To create the book, Yarm conducted interviews with grunge’s key players and contributors: over 250 musicians, producers, managers, journalists, and many others. Even wives and ex-lovers have not been left out and Courtney Love appears in several places with startling -- though not always credible -- revelations.

If you remember grunge or, like Chuck Palahniuk offers in a blurb for the book, your “memories of the era [are] a little hazy,” Everybody Loves Our Town brings it back, in some ways larger than life: a moment in time when Seattle erupted as the center of the universe… and the music industry was never quite the same. ◊


David Middleton is art director and art & culture editor of January Magazine.