Broadway CDGs: The Good, the Bad, and the Downright Crappy
By Tim Duffield

It was brought to my attention that information on Broadway CDGs might be useful to others who are interested in singing those types of songs. So I've listed the CDGs I've got, and my opinion of them.

Pocket Songs
CD1151 JEKYLL AND HYDE -- Not bad, it is almost an exact replica of the concept CD with Colm Wilkinson. Problem is, they changed the show completely after that, and most of these songs were dropped or altered radically. For wedding singers: "Someone Like You" and "Till You Came Into My Life" are excellent wedding songs.
CD1185 PHANTOM OF THE OPERA -- This one has the best range of songs from the show. "Music of the Night," the show's keynote song, is slaughtered. They took a 5 minute 10 second song and extended it to 6 minutes 45 seconds. Buy it for everything else though, it's worth it.
CDG 1196 GREASE -- Oh yeah! Right out of the movie. This one's good.
CDG 1226 MISS SAIGON -- If you liked the show, this is an adequate disc.
CDG 1054 HITS OF ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER -- This has the absolute best version of "Music of the Night". The orchestrations on this disc are exquisite. The problem? When they converted the CD to CDG, they somehow altered MOTN, and I don't know how.
CDG 1348 BROADWAY MEN -- The disc lies. Four songs are duet or trio. Two of them involve women. The orchestration is good, so if you want it to bulk up your collection, it will work, if you want it for potential audition material, well... you're getting cheated out of four songs.

Music Maestro
MM 6175 FUN MOVIE AND SHOW TUNES -- What can I say? It's Music Maestro, the orchestration is pathetic. It does have unique songs on it though.
MM 6015 BROADWAY FAVORITES -- same as before, except that it has a great version of "Love Changes Everything" I don't know where they got the tempo, but this version is very similar to Ron Bohmer's style, it is sweet.

Karaoke Classics
SHOWBIZ KC008, KC009 -- Not bad, not really good either. Most of the songs only have one tempo, which does not match the original Broadway tempo, but they do have songs you can't find anywhere else. Don't be fooled by "Hair" it is not the original Broadway version, but rather that stupid version by the Cowsills.

Priddis
1073D LES MISERABLES -- Every song is in key, which is nice, the tempos are a little bit awkward though, especially in "Stars" and "Bring Him Home" which may be a little faster than some are used to.
1258D BROADWAY AND MOVIE HITS -- Good sound mix, but two obscure songs from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat and three songs from Grease? What were they thinking?
1114D PHANTOM OF THE OPERA -- Do NOT buy this one!!! Music of the Night comes without CDG lyrics, and the rest of the songs are tolerable at best. There are better versions out now.

Soundchoice Spotlight
8472 ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW --Don't walk, run to the nearest karaoke shop and buy this one. By far the best soundtrack CDG I have ever bought.