Recording Date: August 8, 2011
Label: PS Classics
Time: 70:33
Music and Lyrics: Maury Yeston
Main Singers: Jill Paice, Kevin Earley, Michael Siberry, Rebecca Luker
1. In the Middle of Your Life/Nothing Happened - 2/5 - Alright. The first thing I notice about this song is the shrillness of the females' voice. It stands out above everything. It literally made me cringe. The melody isn't that bad. The lyrics give an air of pretentiousness, though. Also I'm sure if you added sleigh bells, this song could pass as a Christmas carol.
2. Will I Know? - 2/5 - Jill Paice is really trying to make this song seem interesting and exciting and inspiring. It's a song about the future and what might happen. I know what will happen. If I keep listening to this song, I will fall asleep.
3. Centuries - 4/5 - Kevin Earley floats easily through this song. It's basically about how hard it is to be Death. Its slow tempo makes you kind of feel sorry for him. It's quite humorous, in my opinion.
4. Why Do All Men? - 4/5 - Yet another slow song, this song is about Death wanting to live in the world with people and experience what people do. The lyrics are clever and use examples of things we do that we take for granted, such as pushing a child on a swing. Feeling like a mix between Camelot (Camelot) and Heaven's Light (The Hunchback of Notre Dame), I feel like this song could get stuck in my head very easily.
5. Death is In The House - 1/5 - Finally! A fast song! Too bad it's barely hummable! It switches time signatures all over the place and Michael Siberry and Don Stephenson seem like they are growling at some points in the song. It's just an utter mess. The lyrics are funny at points, but most of the time annoying.
6. Alive! - 2/5 - A very upbeat song, Kevin Earley sings great. Too bad the song can't match his voice and pep. The song is about Death rejoicing about his first day off his job. The lyrics are very cheery, but yet we have another weird time signature. Can't really tap your foot to it.
7. Life's A Joy! - 3/5 - This album tends to have odd barrages of slow songs and then many peppy ones. This is one of the peppy ones. It's all about, you guessed it, how life is a joy. Live it up, is the message I get from this song. All in all, a forgetful number.
8. Who Is This Man? - 2/5 - Ah. Back the slow tunes, are we? Jill Paice fails to emote very well. It sounds like she's reading this song for the first or second time. Some of the lyrics are undistinguishable (I think I heard "play the troll" in one of the lines. What does that even mean?). Feels like a rip-off of Beauty and the Beast.
9. Life's A Joy! (Reprise) - 3/5 - A sarcastic reprise. Managed to make me chuckle on occasion.
10. Shimmy Like They Do In Paree - 5/5 - I love this song. Mara Davi sounds like she's trying to match voices with Ethel Merman at some points in the song. A very peppy and bouncy song, it makes you want to get up and dance. Very different from the rest of the album.
11. Roberto's Eyes - 4/5 - Not a very bad song. Definitely a catchy tune. Matt Cavenaugh's voice is very good and isn't too intense. Didn't know fighter jets were very popular in the 30s, but whatever.
12. Alone Here With You - 3/5 - Your standard duet between lovers. Fairly boring, not very exciting. Odd choice for an Act I finale.
13. Something Happened - 2/5 - Maury Yeston loves doing these little licks in her songs where she tries to cram as many words as she can into sixteenth notes. It's really absurd. It happens in this piece a lot. Once again, as in the first song, the female voices ring way above the others.
14. Losing Roberto - 2/5 - Rebecca Luker sounds like she's trying to decide on an accent while she's singing the song. Now, I don't sing, but aren't you supposed to decide that before you start singing? Also her vibrato makes her sound like a goat. The song in general isn't bad, it's just the singer.
15. What Do You Do - 1/5 - The thing about this song is that it introduces to new voices that we have barely heard before and gives them a duet. Alexandra Socha sings her part like it's out of a Disney movie. Max von Essen sings his part like he's in Phantom of the Opera. It's a weird mix and the song is quite forgettable.
16. More and More - 3/5 - Yet another a duet. Kevin Earley's part sounds like a big Phantom ballad, while Jill Paice's part is soft and sweet. Earley sometimes misses his jumps up to the high notes. Odd, but okay.
17. Finally to Know - 1/5 - This song is SO slow. It's not the tempo, it's the way the words are spaced apart. For example it feels like the song goes: "You...............................and me................................were made.................................to be................................." It drags on and there is very little melodic variation.
18. I Thought That I Could I Live - 3/5 - This song is basically Death's big soliloquey. It changes tempos and melodies, so it keeps you alert and paying attention. Not half bad.
19. December Time - 2/5 - Most of this song is dialogue, but the part that isn't is not very good. The notes feel like they're cut to short. It also feels to lilty (if that's a word).
20. Pavane - 3/5 - For once, in the company, the women aren't shrieking their part. It's a fairly good song. Nothing remarkably bad, but nothing remarkably good.
21. Finale: Grazia and Sirki - 4/5 - Feels a bit lacking in parts. For example there is a part in a song where you are expecting another lyrics or note or something but they just drop the phrase like it didn't happen. Very odd, but a good finale nonetheless.
Conclusion: All in all, this was not a very exciting recording. Not much variation in the types of songs, a majority of them were slow forgetful numbers.
2.6/5
