DogAndPanda: Jesus Christ Superstar
I consider the original concept recording of Jesus Christ Superstar (from 1970) to be something of a musical landmark for rock music - for many reasons. I also consider it to be a great album.
JC Supes is a really heavy album - the Deep Purple like powerful chords with whammy bar action in the Overture at the beginning are amongst the heaviest things going on at the time. The whole album isn't heavy - but there are very heavy parts.
Another rare thing about this recording is its energy - there is no well-practiced perfectionism often associated with Broadway style musicals. Bruce Rowland (of Fairport Convention) supplies some of the funkiest beats around at the time, full of his usual style of snare fills that would pop up on Tippler's Tales later. The bass, likewise, is full of improvisation (the bassline for What's The Buzz doesn't really repeat at all), and both guitar tracks have tons of little embellishments. This album could stand on its own as an instrumental piece.
The vocal performances, again, are not standard Broadway fare - they are dirty. Judas' lines are always incredibly pained - he sounds lik ehe's about to cry most of the time. Jesus (Ian Gillan of Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, etc) shines in songs like Gethsemane (Jesus alone pondering his future, and his relationship with God). Caiaphas has one of the deepest voices known to man (I sometimes think Avery Brooks' singing must be similar).
Musically, there is great use and reuse of the many themes - but also interesting is that a lot of this 'rock opera' is in 5/4 or 7/8.
Coming soon: in detail listening
Overture http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9pdWQT1_8E
Heaven On Their Minds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3vtAjHvhHA
0:00 Note the percussive pick sounds in the guitar riff, right at the beginning.
0:08 The vocals and droning piano come in to up the atmosphere.
0:23 Second line of vocals - a second guitar line comes in playing a variation on the first guitar theme.
0:27 Note the drum beat changes from just snare to snare and bass drum.
0:39 Third line of vocals - the second guitarist starts to improvise more on what he's playing.
1:02 The horns start fading in to emphasize the theme.
1:10 Break to a different verse style - just vocals. Pay attention to all of the drum and piano embellishments in this part.
1:34 Note the change to 3/4 time.
2:03 3/4 time again
2:07 7/8 time
2:20 back to 4/4
2:33 Judas's singing starts getting more pained.
2:50 Reprise 7/8 theme with different instrumentation
3:05 Another verse - with string embellishments
3:18 Impressive vocal work
3:30 Judas does a very impressive ascending piece of singing. Note how he uses all of the voice cracks to his advantage, all the way up until the end. Also note the piano embellishments at 4:00.
What's The Buzz http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3LM2iQ8p7A
Gethsemane http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Azawb907Bjg
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