From the Broadway Hit Musical Wicked [Import, Cast Recording, Karaoke, Best of, Soundtrack]

To be fair, if this were the only one Wicked Karaoke CD available, I probably would have given it a higher rating. I happened to buy both the Wicked Karaoke CDs (this one and the one from Pocket Songs), because there were some missing songs on both. This CD has the only copy of "No One Mourns the Wicked" and "Something Bad", while it lacks "Dear Old Shiz" and the reprise of "I'm Not that Girl", which the Pocket Song version has. So, to get everything, I bought both (I have quite a Broadway karaoke CD collection of just about everything that was made - it's great for my husband, who's a theatre teacher).

The instrumental background on this karaoke CD is fairly synthesized sounding. There are plenty of background instruments, but the main instrument sounds like a keyboard (kind of choppy as opposed to a smooth piano sound). Each song is complete, with every bit of lyric that is both sung and spoken to each song. I was amazed at how complete this CD was, since many other karaoke CDs have shortened versions to make it into a duet or solo. However, this CD includes everything on the original soundtrack (which will vary a bit from the Wicked sheet music, which adapts some songs such as "The Wizard and I" and "Wonderful" to be a solo). One drawback: the music seemed a little fast. It was slightly faster than the Broadway Cast Recording, which can throw you off if you're used to the tempo of the original. The complete lyrics are enclosed in the booklet, and on a CD-G karaoke player, all the words appear in color.

Now, for the vocal tracks. I was impressed. The guy who sung for Fiyero was pretty bad, and Galinda was just so-so (well, compared to Kristin Chenoweth, "who isn't?"). But Elphaba was quite good, and offered a few nice changes for someone who doesn't want to sing it exactly like Idina Menzel. The man who sung for the Wizard was, well, "Wonderful." He had that Joel Grey style without sounding just like him. Overall, I would not buy the CD for another version of the Broadway Cast Recording, but if you're looking for a good listen on how some new people sing the same songs, it's really not bad. It's not in stereo, of course, because you can turn down the volume on one side and get just the background, which helps you check if you're on-key or not.

Hope this wasn't too comprehensive, but I wanted to give a really detailed review so people knew exactly why this karaoke version may or may not be good for them. As I previously stated, I think the Pocket Songs has a better-sounding background than this 2 CD-set. But if you need the vocal tracks to help you practice, or if you need one of the songs that's only on this CD, then you should get it. It's still a very good karaoke CD.

I wish I had read the other reviews for this album before I bought it. I was just so excited to have the fantastic music from "Wicked" in karaoke format that I made an impulse buy. And wow, did I make a mistake. To start with, the sound quality of the album is terrible. Some of the tracks are crackly, and almost all of them have poorly done synthesized orchestrations. Some of the chord progressions are actually incorrect. Tempos are strange. To top it off, the singers are just awful. They sound bland in the ensemble numbers, and some of the solos and duets are painfully off key. I am so utterly disappointed with this purchase. Unfortunately, Footlight is unable to give me a refund, and the rep who responded to my email said they have sold over 200 copies of this album and have not received a single complaint. I have contacted Stage Stars, the manufacturer of this album, and given them my opinion as well. Hopefully I'll have more luck getting a refund with them. I'll certainly never buy a Stage Stars recording again, now that I know the quality of work they produce.

This recording is not at all like the original cast recording. It is someone else's arrangement and not even done well. They are out of tune, the tempos are inconsistent, and sometimes the instruments even hit wrong notes! It is way overpriced for such poor quality. I have been nothing but disappointed with this CD.

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