Review Summary: And every word you say, gets twisted round some other way...
Religion is one hell of a story. On one hand, the whole idea of it holds more merit and power in its own following than anything else in the world could only dream of, and has divided people so sharply and is the source of great angst of man against man: expect to find religious groups of people who will either praise products dealing with religion, and there are those who will deny it. Religion is, to put it simply, the whole 'Us and Them' situation, the Haves and Have-Nots, my gods and your gods, whoever you are. As George Carlin stated, "religion is the biggest bull*** story ever told". I'll admit I'm as guilty as the next guy for saying this - I've never been a religious man myself and I don't wish to pursue it. Not to say I've never come across something dealing with Christianity or Judaism that has affected me in some way - I remember first reading the Book of Revelations (and the bible), and staying up for hours, reflecting in the intensity that I had just witnessed; yet while it is interesting in its own right - each man to his own - I feel no need to pursue anything religious, and find the idea of arguing over your religion and the other everyman's religion ridiculous. For those that would agree with me, I direct you to
Jesus Christ Superstar, probably the single musical that seems comfortable with its own controversial topic.
Working under the story that has been passed around from century to century, JCS tells the story of the rise and fall of Jesus Christ, mostly through the perspective of Judas Iscariot. The whole thing is sprinkled with very loose references to twentieth century modernism, an irony and a hard-hitting metaphor. Take for example the track
Herod's Song - in the track, the vocalist taunts "
Prove to me that you're no fool / walk across my swimming pool"; matter of fact, almost all of Jesus Christ Superstar is a dark, anachronistic story. As a side note, Jesus Christ Superstar is NOT a Broadway production - before the play could even see the light of day (rhyme far from intended), it was turned into a rock opera by the brilliant Andrew Lloyd Webber, the composer of modern day classics like
Cats and
Phantom of the Opera.
The vocalists and lyrics featured here give the entire album its power, in respect to its rocking genre.
Murray Head and
Ian Gillian are remarkably excellent in their respective roles of Judas and Jesus Christ, and are able to express the emotion of the characters through their vocal ranges (though, personally, Carl Anderson and Ted Neeley did a better revision). The solo song and highlight
Gethesmane shows Gillian's power to reach high, throat-scorching wails that some men could ever hope to conjure, and tracks such as
Heaven on their Minds and
Damned for All Time show Head's power to hold a powerful pitch and is able to portray Judas precisely: a frustrated man, beset by doubt and worry.
Musically, Webber doesn't fail to entertain or give one real disappointment throughout the whole LP - Superstar's apparent genre is free flowing and contains influences and elements of numerous genres: the haunting use of guitars, drum, and piano - intermixed with numerous time signature changes give a nod to progressive rock; the heavy bass guitar and crisp synthesizers reminiscent of blues; and the loud build-ups of multiple instruments are also reminiscent of more classic metal. Each song never feels too recycled, and there is usually something entirely different in each track - despite the odd composition, each track flows smoothly straight into the next; even the odd ragtime sound of
Herod's Song ascending into
Judas' Death. All in all, the whole album is a very addicting soundscape, each one leading brilliantly into closer and hit track
Superstar.
The whole album of
Jesus Christ Superstar can sometimes come off as sacrilegious - to those who believe that, to each his own. But this is an album that isn't afraid to give a highly discussed issue and twists the rudimentary foundation of it into a far more interpersonal and modern process. It carves out more new ground with its own expansive nature, the flavor of it much different from any other 'opera hits' that have come to light. It isn't perfect - it isn't the most conceptually amazing piece of work Webber has ever done, but nor is it his worse. It's a flawed listen, but it's in the flaws that we can see just how many positive aspects it has. So no matter how long religion will be fought over and both scorned and praised in modern society, this album is a good example of why the whole story has still stood the test of time.
