Rent -1996 Original Broadway Cast-

Wicked (2003 Original Broadway Cast) One of the most common complaints about musicals is that the books are flimsy pretexts from which to hang numbers. Wicked runs into the opposite problem: it has a great plot, but too often the songs just get in the way. Based on Gregory Maguire's novel of the same name, Wicked te...	Rent (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition) Rent, the show that in 1996 gave voice to a Broadway generation, has finally become an energetic, passionate, and touching movie musical. Based loosely on Puccini's La Bohème, it focuses on the year in the life of a group of friends in New York's East Village--"bohemians" who li...	Rent (2005 Movie Soundtrack) It's not that surprising that Rent, a successful musical with a strong youth following, would have transferred from the New York stage to film. What is remarkable is that the material has aged very well and that most of the original cast have made the trip to the silver screen. T...	Avenue Q (2003 Original Broadway Cast) Avenue Q will only fuel the frustration of those who think that Broadway has given up on sophisticated entertainment geared to adults. "Whatever happened to Cole Porter's witty rhymes and mature subject matter?" they'll say. Well, it's hard to deny that Avenue Q's main frame of r...	Rent This is by far the must-get theater book of the year. With dazzling punk graphics that will quickly win book industry awards, the volume contains the entire libretto of the Tony- and Pulitzer-winning musical about love and loyalty among starving AIDS-stricken artists in New York'...
Hairspray (2002 Original Broadway Cast) The cast recording for the Broadway musical of John Waters's 1988 paean to dance, music, big beautiful women, and integration is a sheer delight. It's wonderfully upbeat all the way through, with a classic feel that's in keeping with the story's setting in the early 1960s. The ch...	Aida (2000 Original Broadway Cast) For his second Broadway musical (and first time out writing a full show directly for the stage), Elton John certainly set his sights high by turning to one of the grandest of all operas as a source. His continued collaboration with lyricist Tim Rice has produced a work far closer...	Les Miserables (1987 Original Broadway Cast) After Les Misérables became a huge hit in London, it moved to Broadway, bringing along two stars from the London production, Colm Wilkinson as the heroic Valjean and Frances Ruffelle as the despondent Eponine. Filling out this 1987 cast are Randy Graff (Fantine), Terrence Mann ...	Monty Python's Spamalot (2005 Original Broadway Cast) As gleefully silly yet wickedly smart as the beloved British comedy troupe and their 1975 cinematic savaging of the Arthurian legend that inspired it, this adaptation of Monty Python and the Holy Grail by MP's Eric Idle and longtime musical co-conspirator John Du Prez has much m...	The Phantom of the Opera (Original 1986 London Cast) What's left to be said about Andrew Lloyd Webber's adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera a decade after its premiere? That it's maddeningly ubiquitous? A stitch-up of various themes shoplifted from the Italian operatic repertoire? A critic-proof crowd pleaser that's probably bei...

please
It is in my personal opinion that those who blasepheme this incredible work are simply not into moderne music and would prefer to listen to screeching sopranos and tenors verbrato their way through an opera in any language other than enligsh. But for my generation, this rock opera (if you didn't catch that before buying this fabulus cd, don't blame the fans) got us involved in theatre once again. Its powerful message called one us as a population to not ignore the AIDs epidemic any more. Jonathon Larson used his favorite medium, the stage, as a platform for his stance. If one believes that Broadway is the place for happy endings and large, meaningless outbursts of songs, stay away. But if you believe in a better tomorrow and that we can't ignore this anymore, cough up the money and buy the recording of the best artists singing amazing songs written by a musical genius.

Love it!
Absolutely fantastic. I have the Movie Soundtrack as well but it doesn't even come close. Every song from the play is in here. I love listening to my favorite songs which are not on the movie CD Rent (2005 Movie Soundtrack) like Christmas Bells, and Happy New Year. These are most of the same people from the movie Rent (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition) just at a different point in there life. This is a MUST have!

Relive the show
This is a must if you liked the Broadway show. Fans who have seen only the movie are missing out on some great songs and arrangements. The instrumentation from the movie is more polished, as are some of the voices. Jesse Martin's voice has really improved with age. However the movie is missing the great transitions and blending between pieces of music.

Rent - a Celebration of Financial, Hygenic and Moral Degeneracy Masquerading as Moving Drama
When I first received my copy of Rent's soundtrack, one of my friends had the good manners to warn me that I would "hate the message." I am not surprised at this assessment, but what is more unfortunate is that the production as a whole does not make up for that objectionable message enough to make this a worthwhile purchase for anyone uninterested in a mindless affirmation of the self-destructive "bohemian" lifestyle. The lyrics alternate between vapid pseudo-philosophical platitudes ("Measure in love, seasons of love") and ugly overtones of Marxist class envy ("Yuppie scum"). The voices of the singers are disputable in quality - the most impressive being Idina Menzel's boisterous, full-bodied rock vocals and Jesse L. Martin's poignant soul-inspired voice and the worst being Daphne Rubin Vega's rasping excuse for a voice, whose every note invokes simultaneous feelings of pity and revulsion. As for the music, while certain tunes hold a certain decadent charm, the overall style soon becomes repetitive and tiresome, with guitars assailing the ears almost as frequently as paeans to drug use, socialism and "loooooove". How this mediocre blasphemy against Puccini could possibly have won a Tony is beyond my understanding, and how anyone could bring themselves to spend more than a dime upon such a second-rate soundtrack should be equally beyond your belief. Avoid this record.

I'm Hooked!
I am a Renthead/Junkie for many years now. The cast recording has been with me for years due to a recommendation from a college friend. I have been playing this CD and know the words by heart. I was the first in line when the movie came out and had a heartfelt emotional experience. And now it has finally happened... I just saw the show for the first time on April 28th, 2007 and may I say GO SEE IT! The songs have not lost any relevance in the last 11 years. The cast of the tour is great and I hope one day to see the original cast perform. Thank you Jonathan Larson! God speed and I love you :-)