OK, all this talk about the Passion of the Christ raises the single most important question of our times – which is better, the original London recording of Jesus Christ Superstar with Ian Gillan/Murray Head or the soundtrack to the Jesus Christ Superstar film?
I gotta go with the original Murray Head/Ian Gillan version. Simply awesome vocal performances and I like the fact that it’s more rock than orchestral.
The recent London revival has a pretty strong claim, too. In fact, I think I prefer it to the original cast.
The film soundtrack is decent, but the film is better for the imagery. Like the 1st Roman Mechanized Infantry moving through the desert. And the fattest Herod hipster in history.
There’s a killer DVD of an (I think) Australian production that toured some five or so years ago that is stunning, by far the best musically and visually of all of 'em that are available on disc or tape.