Andrew Lloyd Webber – Jesus Christ Superstar: 50th Anniversary Half-Speed Remaster (180g Vinyl 2LP)

50th Anniversary 180g Vinyl 2LP Reissue Half-Speed Mastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road with 12-Page Booklet!

In 1970, Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber released Jesus Christ Superstar as a concept double album. It became a massive global best-seller, topping the US Billboard Top LPs chart in both February and May 1971, as well as ranking at number one in the year-end chart. By 1983, the album had sold over 7 million copies worldwide. To mark the 50th anniversary of the landmark collection, the audio has been newly half-speed mastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road and is reissued here on 180g vinyl 2LP with a replica card gatefold sleeve featuring a 12-page booklet.

The journey to international success was far from straightforward, however. As unknown names in musical theatre, Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber were unable to find a producer willing to stage their ambitious idea for a religious-themed rock opera. Eventually, they persuaded MCA records to let them record the score first. Using a full orchestra, and with the outstanding talents of Ian Gillan, Murray Head, Yvonne Elliman and The Grease Band, they created a masterpiece that revolutionized the form of musical theatre.

Within a year of its chart success, stage productions of Jesus Christ Superstar began to appear all over the world, leading to record-breaking runs in the West End, a hit Hollywood film, Tony nominations and Olivier Awards. Its influence and impact have not diminished: in 2018 the NBC live production of the show, starring John Legend and Sara Bareilles, resulted in Emmy Award wins for Rice and Lloyd Webber (thereby making them two of the 16 people in history to have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony).

LP1

1. Overture
2. Heaven On Their Minds
3. What’s The Buzz – Strange Thing, Mystifying
4. Everything’s Alright
5. This Jesus Must Die
6. Hosanna
7. Simon Zealotes – Poor Jerusalem
8. Pilate’s Dream
9. The Temple
10. Everything’s Alright
11. I Don’t Know How To Love Him
12. Damned For All Time – Blood Money

LP2

1. The Last Supper
2. Gethsemane (I Only Want To Say)
3. The Arrest
4. Peter’s Denial
5. Pilate And Christ
6. King Herod’s Song (Try It And See)
7. Judas’ Death
8. Trial Before Pilate (Including the 39 Lashes)
9. Superstar
10. Crucifixion
11. John Nineteen: Forty One