Andrew Lloyd Webber – The Phantom Of The Opera

my mom gifted me this vinyl knowing that i love the phantom of the opera. she found it at a thrift store for .99 cents. it was in pretty decent condition too!

Say what you will.
It's excessive.
It's over the top.
It's sickly baroque.
And some of its characters and lyrics are nearly caricatures, with the depth of your average whimsical teenager.
But then, there's the music.
And the arrangements, some of them incredibly lascivious, working like clockwork and matching the true nature of the background plot.
In any case, yours truly grew up during the eighties with an older sister that was (is!) in love with Broadway and musicals and played this on repeat when I was just getting into music.
The timing.
Anyway, Webber's score got engraved in my brain at a tender age and I suspect it played a part in the later development of my taste for the over the top, baroque, crazily scripted music, and rock and metal operas later when I got into these genres.
In any case, and despite its (IMHO) formal flaws (that are easily understood when you think that this was crafted in the eighties) "The Phantom Of The Opera" is overall a lusciously beautiful score, with some sections that are specially thrilling and moving, and an undeniable touchstone of popular music and culture for over thirty years now.
Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford are still unmatched as Christine Daaé and The Phantom respectively, even after so many incarnations the script has known on stages and cinemas all over the world.
It's also funny to see how some of the eighties' rock, drenched in synths and electric guitars made its way into the title song, and songs like "Think Of Me", "Angel Of Music", "The Music Of The Night", "All I Ask Of You", "Wishing You Were Somehow Again"... are never too far away from my memory.
Because "You alone could make my song take flight"

Phantom sounds so epic on vinyl!!! One of my fave shows ever. So sad is closing on Broadway forever 😔

I bought this title from a record fair for only £2, I didn't know much about it but I thought I'd give it a go after being so impressed with Evita (Both the film and original versions) and I am go glad that I did! This concept album is just brilliant from start to finish. Even the booklet and disc labels are totally magnificent! I tried to see the musical live and it was about three months beforehand and the tickets were all sold out. This tends to happen each time this musical is performed. It really is that good. If you like classical music with a rough drama then this really is for you. It is such a shame that a few cuts were made to accommodate the whole performance on 2 LPs. I would have happily listened to the whole thing even if it was on 3, 4 or even more discs.

I wish I could stop buying this version of it. I love this album, but having each CD as 1 long track kinda sucks when you want to play a song over again. I think I need to find an all silver ring version of this for the Canadian version to be cut into tracks. That may be on of the easiest ways to find a correct copy. Or is there any other tips to avoid always picking up this version.

The Cover Photo should be changed. It is a CD photo. Need Proof? Look at the TOP center of the Photo Posted and you will see a clip mark dent - from the clip that holds the Paperwork into the CD Case. As far as I know, (I've been collecting records 45 years) and can find out, the US flag on the cover only exists on the CD and maybe cassette tapes. as if anyone has those anymore... LOL - Can someone with some authority Please check into this matter. SPC is a pressing plant, but I've found no info on it having pressed this album, or this cover (with the flag) being from there. the 1 I had submitted was correct, and it was taken off.

Why is there a US Flag on this Cover? My Original cover has a Sticker with info about the Album BUT NO FLAG. My Run out is here and other information listed on this item is the same as my copy, But I have never seen this cover in all the times I bought LPs since I bought this copy back in 1987. Please let me know if there are 2 different album covers or someone got sloppy and put a CD or re-issue cover on here as a picture for the Original. Thanks

Andrew Lloyd webber is a genius.. Sweet and well orchestred versions of the pieces

I haven't seen the back of the album for the Canadian specific release, however, all other releases from different countries have specific songs as the track listing, not just "ACT ... Scenes...".