Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Act 1. Overture
2. Act 1. Prologue. Jellicle Songs For Jellicle Cats
3. Act 1. The Naming Of Cats
4. Act 1. The Invitation To The Jellicle Ball
5. Act 1. The Old Gumbie Cat
6. Act 1. The Rum Tum Tugger
7. Act 1. Grizabella: The Glamour Cat
8. Act 1. Bustopher Jones
9. Act 1. Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer
10. Act 1. Old Deuteronomy
11. Act 1. The Jellicle Ball
12. Act 1. Grizabella: The Glamour Cat
13. Act 1. Memory

Disc 2:

1. Act 2. The Moments Of Happiness
2. Act 2. Gus: The Theatre Cat
3. Act 2. Growltiger's Last Stand including The Ballad Of Billy McCaw
4. Act 2. Skimbleshanks
5. Act 2. Macavity
6. Act 2. Mr. Mistoffelees
7. Cats/Act 2. Memory - Lloyd Webber, Andre
8. Cats/Act 2. Journey to the Heavyside Layer - Lloyd Webber, Andre
9. Cats/Act 2. The Ad-Dressing of Cats - Lloyd Webber, Andre
10. Act 2. Memory
11. Act 2. Journey To The Heavyside Layer
12. Act 2. The Ad-Dressing Of Cats

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #49540 in Music
• Released on: 2005-11-14
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: Cast Recording, Original recording remastered

Album Details
2005 Digitally Remastered Edition of One of the Best Loved Musicals of all Time and in the Lloyd Webber Canon.

Amazon.com
Since its debut in 1981, London's and the world's longest-running musical still fills seats in a dozen theaters worldwide. Uncountable recastings and reorchestrations later, Andrew Lloyd Webber's adaptation of T.S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats strives to please the ears of ever-new generations. This is the original cast recording, and it retains a freshness from the still-recent opening, its novelty untarnished by decades of success. Also, the abundance of "names"--both singers and musicians--makes this one of the high-class musical recordings of all time. Elaine Paige rose to stardom as Grizabella with the hit "Memory"; at the time, though, bigger names were Wayne Sleep, Paul Nicholas, and Brian Blessed. Sarah Brightman and Bonnie Langford are also on the cast list. Lloyd Webber himself plays keyboards and the impressive roster of session musicians includes Barbara Thompson and David Locke. Lloyd Webber, well versed in the practice of "auto-quotation," can always look back to this work for cat-chy material: the Overture, "Old Gumbie Cat," "Rum Tum Tugger," and "Mr. Mistoffelees"--the list of good tunes and themes goes on and on. This remains a fun listening experience, even for those few who still haven't caught the show. It's also available in a highlights version. --Yngvil V.G.

Customer Reviews

"MEMORY" DOES IT ALL
A good musical, yet not the greatest by Lloyd Webber. Actually, the song "Memory" is the only one in our memories. The rest seems to me quite average. We should have in mind that a few years later Webber wrote wonderful songs for each one of his musicals: PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, SUNSET BOULEVARD and the unfortunate WHISTLE DOWN THE WIND, besides his previous masterpiece, JESUSCHRIST SUPERSTAR, with almost an entire collection of classical and marvelous songs. I saw CATS in Broadway back in 1992 and I saw it again last year here in Chile: I guess some cats were left on the plane on their way down here because the southamerican tour production looked quite poor compared to the Broadway version. It was shown in a huge arena and in a frontal stage, quite different to the half-circled and smaller Winter Garden Stage.

A rather weak CATS recording that has its own merits and aura
I do not mean to ruffle anybody's feathers in my comments of this particular CATS recording, However, of all the official English-language recordings this recording sounds a little stilted and wanting in that littbe bit of energy. Part of it could be due to some of the performances, and part of it because this album uses the first version of CATS. Yet despite the lack of oomph, it is quite good and redeems itself by the aura it projects for being the world-premiere recording of the score.

This recording features the Grizabella of Elaine Paige, who can be considered a true Grizabella in her own right. It's true that this early recording doesn't allow her to nuance the role as she did in the video, but she conveys a strength and vulnerability in her portrayal. Paige's rendition of Memory is solid, but at this early stage she had yet to mature into the role. I guess that it's also because this recording used the single version of the song, and that's probably why it sounds stilted. Brian Blessed partners her with his sincere and benevolent portrayal of Old Deuteronomy, and the rest of the performers fare quite well. However, I found Paul Nicholas as The Rum Tum Tugger to be somewhat wanting in energy. He fares a little better in his rendition of Mr. Mistoffelees, but doesn't smoke it out in his standout number. I think this is pretty much the case for most of the performers here, as the performances of the cast as a whole sound solid yet stilted at the same time. The orchestrations are less flashy and somewhat weak but you can hear the sort of sound that Lloyd-Webber originally intended for the musical, and the variants. Yes, this West End cast recording is like a concept album of sorts, staying closer to the T.S. Eliot cat poems without cutting verses as in later productions.

The redeeming feature of this West End cast recording are the variants of numbers that were changed in lature productions. One variant, the duet for Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer is set to an unvarying and jazzy melody that Lloyd-Webber replaced with the vaudeville-like version as heard on the Broadway video and in the video. The other variant is the duet for Growltiger and Griddlebone during Growltiger's Last Stand. Before this duet number was replaced with the better-fitting Puccini spoof, Growltiger and Griddlebone sang a rather unromantic drinking song about a musically talented parrot named Billy M'Caw. Even if Lloyd-Webber admits to preferring Billy M'Caw I tend to like the Puccini spoof a little better as it better integrates itself into the scene. For those who are used to the later versions of these numbers and to the beefed-up orchestration of the Broadway and video versions, this recording can offer a nice contrast. Yet in my view they have only made the rewrites and revisions that Lloyd-Webber added to the score for the rest of the productions much better. Despite my feelings, at least the aura of this recording is enough to save it from being stilted, despite the solid performances from everyone concerned. And besides, it includes extra verses that were cut for the Broadway and subsequent productions of the show, so it makes this album feel closer to the T.S. Eliot poems.

It's good to see this recording in a reissue that treats it with respect. The 2 CDs come in a slimline double-disc case, packaged in a neat slipcase. The booklets are an improvement over those in the previous Polydor releases, as they have offered a better-print edition of the libretto and the production credits, including the musical numbers. However, I do admit that there isn't much of a difference in sound quality between this release and the original Polydor CD. The CDs appear to have been pressed from the original CD master rather than the better-sounding remastered version that was released in 1998. I know that if I were to recommend this West End cast recording I would recommend the 1998 remastered version, as it sounds less muffled compared to the sound on this release. Yet it would not be practical because that 1998 CD costs a whopping 65 dollars.

In short, even if CATS fans covet this recording I'm sorry to say I don't covet it as much as they do. I acknowledge its strengths, but yet I know it sounds a little stilted on the whole. Even so, this recording redeems itself with its solid performance and the aura of it representing the first thoughts of Andrew Lloyd-Webber and staying close to T.S. Eliot's source material before the show was tweaked and altered for Broadway. But my first choice for a CATS recording still lies with the Broadway cast Cats: Complete Original Broadway Cast Recording (1982 Original Broadway Cast)as it's got this energy that makes the show work, without destroying its spirit and nature.

Original CATS - and the best!
I have heard many different recordings of the show CATS and I still find the original London cast to be best. The songs are brilliant, the music fantastic and the singers magnificent. Elaine Paige is the original and the best Grizabella.