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The Scarlet Pimpernel
Concept Album
Studio Cast
Starring Linda Eder, Chuck Wagner, and Dave Clemmons
Music by Frank Wildhorn
Lyrics by Nan Knighton
18 Tracks
Read my Synopsis of the show.
I enjoy this recording. It's a great look at the evolution of one of my favorite shows, and has a lot of great songs that were unfortunately cut. It features the vocals of Linda Eder, Chuck Wagner, and Dave Clemmons. It is arranged in a sort of pop style, which I have heard people complain about. IMHO I don't mind it on most of the songs – Wildhorn's music is half-pop in a way anyway, sometimes, so it doesn't sound bad. A few songs didn't make the change too well – including "You Are My Home" and "I'll Forget You." One thing about this album: it is about 90% Linda Eder, which sometimes gets annoying, but she's got such a great voice that you can usually forget about it. If it gets too bad, just skip to the songs you like. :-)
This version of "I'll Forget You" is too jazzy for me. I didn't like it; I much prefer Rachel York's version. The one song I really hate on this album is "You Are My Home." It is just so inferior to the OBC version that I skip it every time. But one bad song doesn't make a bad album. I like "Now When the Rain Falls" a lot. I love "Marguerite" – it's an awesome song, and Dave Clemmons has a really cool voice. Too bad Chauvelin couldn't sing this and "Where's the Girl"… but I guess it'd be a bit redundant, wouldn't it? And I do prefer "Where's the Girl" in the show. Oh well. The other song I really love is "There Never Was A Time," the duet at the end between Chuck Wagner and Linda Eder. It's really beautiful. All of Chuck Wagner's numbers are fabulous; he has a really gorgeous voice. As a show, I will always prefer the way Douglas Sills sings these songs; but if you just think of it as music, it'd be hard to top Chuck.
Scarlet Pimpernel fans definitely want to get this. And I highly recommend that everybody check it out!
Also see my reviews of The Scarlet Pimpernel OBC and Encore CDs.
