Spring Awakening
Original Cast Recording
Music by Duncan Sheik
Book and lyrics by Steven Sater |
Issued 2007
Running time 60 minutes - 19 tracks
Packaged with notes, synopsis, lyrics and 18 photos
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Carries a parental advisory for some strongly sexual lyrics (Note that this
review does too)
List Price $18.98
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review of the Play |
Click here to buy the CD
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The most impressive rock style stage music since Rent, this recording
captures the inner turmoil in the minds of teenagers going through what
teenagers everywhere have apparently always gone through. In this case they are teenagers from a small provincial town in Germany in the
last half of the nineteenth century. Why, then, are they singing rock songs?
Because all the songs are the thoughts in their heads, and they are
delivered in the idiom that today's youth can understand. When life's
pressures are too much, they break into "The Bitch of Living." When they got
caught and have no possibility of escape, they admit that they are "Totally
Fucked." The fixation of young love is summed up in "We've all got our junk
. . . and my junk is you." When a couple finally couples, they end up
feeling/singing "Now our bodies are the guilty ones." |
Storyline: The score of a rock
musical about the teenagers of a small German town in 1891 who experience
the same turmoil that modern youth have when sexuality awakens. This tale of
two couples and their successes and failures in the transition from
childhood to adulthood is based on a play banned in its day and still
considered scandalous in many circles for its frank representation of
masturbation, extra-marital teen pregnancy, abortion, homosexuality and
suicide.
The echoes of Jonathan Larson's Rent is strong
here, but it is not the only source of inspiration. Some of the more
adventurous material could well be the work of a mature John Lennon and
other elements are unique - standing on their own without seeming to be
derivative of any predecessor. The common thread through all the songs is
their strong melodic structure matched to thoughtful and thought provoking
words. This is a disc you may play while you are doing something else or
even when you are entertaining some friends. But it is also a disc you will
sit and concentrate on for at least the first few times you hear it. Each
time will be a rewarding experience.
The score stands as a fine piece of work all on its own.
This is not just a souvenir of a good evening in a theater, although, if you
have seen the show in person, you will want to own this recording. An
additional violin and viola were added for the recording, giving it a lusher
sound. In fact, if you already know the score from the recording you may
find the sound in the theater just a bit thin. It might have been better if
they had added yet another cello for the recording and then used all three
additional musicians in the theater.
The packaging includes over a dozen photos of the
production without really giving you a feel for what the show looks like on
stage. The photos are too dark and too many of them are close ups. You don't
experience a live musical show in close up, so why should the photos be like
this? The booklet does, however, have both a synopsis and the lyrics which makes
it a quite effective aid in studying the subtleties of the score. Subtleties
in a rock score? Yes - both musically and lyrically, there are layers upon
layers to be savored.
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