JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR

Christ, this rock opera is pretty good. It's another one of those classic albums that carries me back to my impressionable youth when Jesus was merely some guy the priest talked about at my church when he wasn't yelling at us and pounding his fist on the pulpit over how the world is becoming Sodom. What made Jesus Christ Superstar important in my younger days was the notion that, thanks to listening to this record, I was finally figuring out that Jesus was kind of a cool guy, and nothing like those tormented ominous priests praising his name. In retrospect, the church I was forced to attend in my youth was a particularly miserable one and probably not reflective of the faith as a whole. I still eventually became a complete and unapologetic heathen, but that doesn't lessen the quality of Jesus Christ Superstar to my ears.

First of all, it's not some cold sermon or a wrathful warning like a Vatican Mass or a Mel Gibson rant. Jesus is actually quite the dude in this particular gospel, and man can that dude sing. Voiced by the amazing Ian Gillian, Jesus lets it rip during The Temple in grand fashion, and his singing in Gethsemane is as otherworldly as the Man himself. I've heard some rumours that back in the day Ian had a penchant for singing his tracks "sans loincloth" but I've always assumed it was some old wives' tale. The album's storyline doesn't divulge in miracles and resurrections, giving the musical a more universal appeal that parallels and sympathizes with the sort of anti-authority vibes of the year this recording was released. Jesus wasn't a war-hungry, wealthy lad with a crewcut; he was quite the opposite, and this album displays that important aspect quite well.

Musically it's rock & pop music with a ton of orchestration in the mix, and a far different beast than the previous year's big rock opera offering, Tommy. Whereas The Who's album was very much a rock album with a storyline, Rice & Webber's creation here leans far more towards a more orchestral based musical while still retaining enough rock elements to separate it from the Thoroughly Modern Millie crowd. The production also pushes the vocals rather up front in the mix to emphasize the importance of the narrative, which is fine since the singing by all performers is generally superb, but consequently some of the rock pieces feel a bit neutered by not having the guitars or drums engineered with a bit more volume.

Song-wise, there's a number of showstoppers, in particular the title track, which apparently had some fundamentalists reaching for their bibles & rifles when they first heard it, as well as the calculated AM Gold classic 'I Don't Know How To Love Him', in which by not stating "Christ" by name in the lyrics, the song becomes a sort of stand-alone love ballad that sits comfortably between Linda Ronstadt's early solo material and Carole King. My personal favorite tunes are 'Heaven On Their Minds', boasting Murray's passionate delivery and elevating the character of Judas with a tragic and uncommonly sympathetic aura, and the ultra groovy & funky 'Simon Zealotes/Poor Jerusalem'. The variety of musical styles is appreciative as well, from rockers to folk numbers to swingy jazzy tracks like 'Everything's Alright', and I would like to give a shout out to Victor Brox, whose introduction in 'This Jesus Must Die' scared the crap out of me as a young bugger when I first heard his super low octave & evil pipes.

There will be those that avoid this because they believe it to be preachy. There will also be those who avoid this because they believe it to be blasphemy. It's really neither, so enjoy the grooves & great vocals and impassioned story-telling and chill.