OK, first of all - my French? Not that good. (I want lyrics and translations!! I wonder if there are any... I guess it's just an obsessive thing, but I love slightly different wordings and stuff you get with translations! XD) Anyway, it's interesting anyway cos of the language -- some rhymes for instance are in different places (e.g. there don't seem to be an abundance of words that rhyme with "Macavité" in French, so that's had to be switched around a bit....) Anyway. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeee. I love I love. This is a great recording...
SOo.
Overall: This is a 1989 recording, so it seems to make sense that there are some similarities to the OLC, stylistically speaking, but also the production has clearly 'progressed' more since then (...meaning actually I think I like this better than the OLC CD!) -- and new Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer! ALSO. Excellently-- Growltiger. Pekes and Pols. It's all there!! And I mean all -- that's what this recording really really has going for it. It's a full recording, all the music and the tracks continuous... just like watching a whole performance with your eyes closed..... not that you would watch a whole performance of CATS with your eyes closed...
OK! Notes on a few random tracks ^^ Just so you get the idea of how coool this is.
Overture/Ouverture - Again quiet like OLC - lots of synth, not the 70 piece orchestra or whatever from the vid XD Still very exciting and mysterioso and anticipatory... and abundantly coool drums.
Rum Tum Tugger/Rocky Tam Tam - yeess I know we're skipping on a bit, but I just had to mention this one IN A BIG WAY. EEEEEEEEeeeeeee~~ (And, yes, I LOVE TUGGER just whatever wherever...) OK. First off -- love the name, 'Rocky'! XD The first thing you hear from The Sexy Maned One is not 'meow' but this amazing little purr/snarl thing! I'm already smitten. His singing voice doesn't immediately necessarily stun or anything, but it has wow moments, and the character comes across more clearly than in the OLC in my opinion. (I love the Bomba-dropping moment - "...dîner..... non!" hee.) There seem also to be a lot more consonants that have to be fit in that in English... and especially when they actually add more words per beat, I was amazed just that he could do all that without tripping or indeed passing out from lack of oxygen. And the ending. OH MY. It's a bit of shame that the first time I heard this was on my iPod in rather a public place, because I really really wanted to squee my litle heart out at maximum volume - like Etcy does so effectively. RTT is soo funny - though I really don't (want to) know what the kittens were to do make him make one particular noise... ^^;; The final "...comme ça!" was perfect, and the little outro wildly energetic and gwaaaaa do I NEED more reasons to love this song and this guy??? OK. I'm done. ...At least until Misto's song XD
Les deux complices (added 24th Sept ^^): Ooooooh, just listening to this again, how could I have neglected to mention it?? They're brilliant!! Teazer's giggle is the most infectious wonderful thing ever!! And OH MY, Mungo's falsetto! (...imitating one of the household XD) *just listens lovingly for a bit* Reminds me a lot of video, this one (partly cos of course- new tune!) except, obviously, in French, and....... dare I say maybe.... better!?!? I really, really like this one.
...and, oh dear, I'm keeping on listening and wanting to just write more and more about for e.g. I love love love the way they all say: "Mathusalem..?" and Munkustrap (I assume) answers in such a beautiful way "Mathusalem"....... buut I really must stop at this point and return you to the previously written short review, at least for now :) Now read on!
Macavity/Le Sinistre Macavity: The wonderfulness of COMPLETE RECORDING needs to be highlighted again here. We have the whole introduction sequence AND the whole fight scene and a smooth transition straight into Misto's song. Demeter's "MACAVITY!" sounded genuinely terrified. When she sang, it sounded less scared- more determinedly defiant. I like. Bomba's too was great.... And just eeeeee, the ENERGY in this song is fantastic~ I wanted to daaance. And, yeah, the first is pretty dramatic and edgy even if the visuals are all necessarily imaginary!
Mister Mistoffelees/Le Magicien Mister Mistoffelees: MORE REASONS TO LOVE TUGGER EEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeee~ Ahem. Anyway. I love this whole song and I rejoice once again in complete-recordingness but especially TUGGER!!!!!! To the ensemble's "Il faut chercher le vieux Matheusalem" ("We must look for Old D."), he responds with a gorgeously, spine-tinglingly sultry and casual "Alors, cherchez Mister... Mistoffelees. Mmhm?!" ("Soo, look for Mister ("Mister" in English - just one of the wonderful touches to this number) Mistoffelees... Mmhm?!") Eee, well, obviously this song always makes me happy like whoa and this is no exception. I just wish I could have SEEN it so I could tell you how amazing the Misto was - he had a really nice long dance in the middle there! I can just picture RTT, strutting around the stage... "Maaagique!" And then, possibly my favourite bit of the whole thing, after Old D's safe return, RTT sings the "Oh well... I never..." with all the tenderness of a love song... ....ok, so make of that what you will- I thought it was just incredibly sweet and squee-making, especially when after the ever-so-gentle "magicien.." the singing built in strength through "Mister... Mistoffelees! WHOOO!!!" like "YEAH!! YOU DID IT!!" Eeeeeeee. Happy Jesta. And then the lovely, random, quiet-then-loud chorus near the end... AND, oh my, Tugger's high-on-happy laugh - "I give you... the magical... Mister- Hahaha!! MISTOFFELEES!! ^___^" Ohhh this song just made me feel again so straongly all the love love love that it's all about! ♥
Memory/La Chanson de Grisabelle: (YAY FOR COMPLETE RECORDING. ...OK, last time, I promise.) Jem's little solo is actually included at the end of Mr. Mistoffelees. Sweeeeeet. She has such a distinctive voice... sounds very young and sweet... very French somehow too XD This actually seems a pretty close translation "like a flower..." The last line is a bit different, something like: "j'attends y je vais"? Not sure. That's cool though... Eeee, Munk's narration! ^_^ Griz... lovely. Starts quiet and gentle and grows in strength and passion. Soo pretty :')
The End, and Random Things: I loveee iiit~ ..."Félinosphère" (I'm guessing at the spelling...) is the COOLEST word ever. Old D.! (Or "Vieux M.! I suppose!) ... has a wonderful, wonderful rich, deep voice... and very sweeeet~ Heee, and it always makes me very happy indeed to hear a full choir proclaiming grandly that "A Cat is NOT a Dog!" in whatever language -- well, especially since that was one sentence I could understand without any difficulty! "Addressing" in general is soo beautiful and squeee-making; I don't think I've appreciated it enough!
Soo, there you have it, people! Well, at least some of it. I only wrote up a couple songs in any kind of detail- take it from me, they're ALL great. Some more random highlights? The barking in the Pekes and the Pols. The whole of the Prologue, as ALWAYS XD Skimbleshanks/Edgar! Whenever the adorable Jemi opens her mouth. Gus. - and Growltiger (and a recording of the Italian aria thingy! I love Billy McCaw, but this is great too, especially Growltiger's hilarious high notes!! ^^;;)
PS: Lyrics can be found: here, here.
And also most of them here at an actual French site! (Click on "Chansons" on the menu) Cool site, btw-- looks like someone put on their own production, which is always an insanely cool thing to do.