Grease Enters Billboard Cast Album Chart

Eris · Guru

Grease Enters Billboard Cast Album Chart

Ray · Senior Member

Number 4!!!! That's fantastic!!!!

It has a '00s rock edge and should continue to sell. It's an album full of hit songs, performed in exemplary fashion. My only reservation is "Greased Lightening", which would benefit from the kind of forward projection and expressive delivery that Jeb Brown gives to "Hand Jive". Probably nobody will notice, much less agree.

Maxismylove · Senior Member

Eris wrote:
Grease Enters Billboard Cast Album Chart

How do you check each week as to where it stands and on which day? Thanks honey.

Eris · Guru

Maxismylove wrote:
How do you check each week as to where it stands and on which day? Thanks honey.

Here ya go

Maxismylove · Senior Member

What day does it update on and reflect that it has been out 2 weeks?

Eris · Guru

Maxismylove wrote:
What day does it update on and reflect that it has been out 2 weeks?

Well, the date on that is 10/20 which is this coming Saturday which makes me think that the new list will be out Sunday or Monday.

Maxismylove · Senior Member

Thank you my dear. I will be checking.

Ray · Senior Member

Good news!!!!!!
"Grease" has moved back into 4th place (up from 5th) after 3 weeks on the market.
Use one of the links above.

NYC9758 · Veteran Member

Love this cast recording...Like Mr. E noted, the orchestration is really done very well. Some of the songs actually sound better on the recording than they do live, but some of the numbers didn't translate as well...I think Robyn sounds huskier when she sings Freddy My Love live - I love her stage rendition...the one on the album is lovely too, but hearing her live is just fantastic. I didn't care too much for Rock 'N Roll Party Queen on the stage, but I like it on the album...not sure what the difference is - maybe it's just louder than it is on stage?

Max and Laura do sound superb...they both sound fantastic live but with the recording, I guess you can really pick up on some subtleties in their delivery that might be harder to hear from up in the balcony :) You're the One that I Want in particular will probably never sound as good live as it does on the album since the two of them are running around jumping and leaping and rolling all over the place on stage while hitting those high notes.

But boy, Max and Laura really do a knock out job with their solos - dare I say it, but I think they've made it impossible (for me at least) to listen to the original John Travolta and Olivia Newton John versions of Sandy and Hopelesly Devoted without a little voice in the back of my head saying, no no that's not how it's done! ;) They've managed to wring out more emotion than I thought possible from these two little pop songs. I can't wait to hear what future recordings these two will be making someday. I think they've both raised the bar for what to expect vocally from future Sandys and Dannys.

Stephen Buntrock - what a vast improvement over the R&B version of Beauty School Dropout from the last revival...and while Frankie Avalon's version will always have its own little nostalgic charm, it's just fun to hear the song done with a wink and some huge high notes that belong up there with that malt shop in the sky. :)

greatwhiteway · Senior Member

First let me say that they all sounded great both live nd on the CD. but some sounde better live...some sounded better on the CD. I imagine it could be due to many things but could it be like photographs? Some people who are pretty in person do not photograph well, and some who may not be striking in real life, photograph really well. Buntrock sounded great in both arena in my humble opinion.

MrE1111 · Guru

See, the thing is (be prepared for long statement)...

Album recordings capture one day in time. It's incredibly expensive to record an album (upwards of $200-400 grand). Recordings have to be scheduled weeks, if not months, in advance, and cannot be cancelled, unless you want to pay even more. Performers MUST go into the studio on the scheduled day, even if they're, well, incredibly ill.

There's a famous theater story...Tyne Daly, whose Tony winning performance as Momma Rose in one of the Gypsy revivals is very highly acclaimed, was forced to go into the studio to record the cast album when she was battling a throat infection. It wasn't her best day, and she obviously disliked the way it came out and the circumstances around it, as she still to this day politely disavows the album.

Bringing this back to Grease...my biggest problem is that the mixing is horrible. It makes the orchestrations sound great (I'm a sucker for nice, driving rock), while sacrificing some of the vocals. Just listen to numbers like "Grease is the Word" and you'll hear how poorly some of the background vocals came out.

Ray · Senior Member

MrE1111 wrote:

Bringing this back to Grease...my biggest problem is that the mixing is horrible. It makes the orchestrations sound great (I'm a sucker for nice, driving rock), while sacrificing some of the vocals. Just listen to numbers like "Grease is the Word" and you'll hear how poorly some of the background vocals came out.

In "Grease is the Word", the vocals and the band each sound fine, as far as I can tell, the problem being a matter of location. The band is in front of the singers, instead of behind. The bass and snare are especially annoying. The band moves back in the next number, "Summer Nights", and stays there, for the most part, coming forward for solo sections.

Another mixing problem is with Matt's voice in "Greased Lightening". Surely, they could have reduced the bass, increased the treble, and brought it forward, so that it would stand out against the band.

For me, "Mooning" remains the marvel of this album.

Ray · Senior Member

Eris wrote:

Here ya go

The link doesn't work anymore. You have to be a subscriber.
Is there any way to find out how the album is doing?

Ray · Senior Member

Bumpity-bump..........

Apparently, nobody knows how to find out how the album is doing.