Ethel Merman - Ethel Merman Disco Album
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CD Details
Artist: Ethel MermanEdition: Music CD
Format: Live
CD Release Date: 2003-01-28
Music Label: Varese Sarabande
Soundtracks:
- There's No Business Like Show Business
- Everything's Coming Up Roses
- I Get a Kick Out of You
- Something For The Boys
- Some People
- Alexander's Ragtime Band
- I Got Rhythm
- They Say It's Wonderful (Bonus Track)
Music reviews of Ethel Merman Disco Album
Music Review: run and hide--quick !!!
Rating: 3 Stars
The Ethel Merman Disco Album is probably not a CD that you should go running after anytime soon. Sure, Ethel Merman had lots of adoring fans; and yes, disco music made lots of people happy as they danced their cares away. But put the two together? Oh, wow, what a disappointment. My three stars is a generous rating for this CD. This is a CD of two polar opposites that just can't fit together. However, just in case you do want this album, the quality of the sound is excellent and the artwork is very well done.
"There's No Business Like Show Business" does indeed feature that awesome disco beat that I love--but not with Ethel Merman singing. It's just too much of a gap to listen to both of these sounds together. Ethel does, however, have excellent diction and this bolsters her singing; and the disco beat sounds great.
"Everything's Coming Up Roses" comes from Gypsy; and when Ethel sings this she really makes good--what a fine performance! Ethel Merman was born to sing numbers and classic pop vocals such as this tune. She performed in Gypsy at one point, too! The disco beat again sounds fine but the two of them together create a cacophony that I just can't get into--sorry, folks! In addition, there's also "I Get A Kick Out Of You." "I Get A Kick Out Of You" has Ethel singing at her very best--but why this with disco? No wonder Ethel recorded her vocals with just a piano accompaniment and then later on had these songs of hers copied and pasted onto the disco soundtrack! She was wise to know it would not sound good.
There's nothing wrong with Ethel Merman's singing on this CD--and the disco music is equally well done. Just not together, please, guys? This time I'm begging. Sigh. No relief in sight for me!
"Some People" comes from Gypsy, I believe; and Ethel Merman sings this with panache and lots of positive energy. She never misses a beat although one or two of her high notes don't seem to quite make it. Nevertheless, Ethel's performance remains a good one. Isn't it wonderful to have even more of that disco beat along with her singing? And do I want fries with that?
"Alexander's Ragtime Band" is a number that Ethel easily aces as she sings this to perfection--and beyond! This musical arrangement seems to work a little better than the others because of the horns in the musical arrangement. Oh, thank goodness--a small reprieve is much better than none!
" I Got Rhythm" has a better arrangement, too, thanks to the piano that runs through parts of this tune instead of the disco beat barreling through at a breakneck, nonstop pace. The CD also has a bonus track of Ethel doing "They Say It's Wonderful."
Hey, I hope you enjoy this album more than I did! I was frequently cringing when I listened to this--and I love so many different types of music, too! I personally think this the other reviewers are right--this is for diehard fans of Ethel Merman who want everything she did; and fans of show tunes may want to check this out as well. Other people like me? Well, I guess I better ease on down the road!
Description of Ethel Merman Disco Album
The title says it all. This is the disco album "the Merm" recorded in 1979, a few years before her death. Rumor has it that Merman couldn't stand the disco craze that was sweeping the nation in the late '70s, recording her vocals before the instrumental tracks were laid down. Masterminded by Peter Matz, who produced, arranged, and conducted the whole thing, Merman's disco album is one of those jaw-dropping, "what were they thinking?" UFOs that periodically land on the pop landscape. Merman (at her most bombastic, vibrato-laden) barrels through eight of her signature tunes. All are taken at breakneck speed, and even dramatic show-stoppers, such as "Everything's Coming Up Roses" (from Gypsy), become dance-floor burners. Whether you find the album simply horrifying or an entrancing testimony to the power of people to lose their heads as they fall prey to a dance fad, this collision between two completely different American musical traditions is nothing short of, ahem, breathtaking. --Elisabeth VincentelliBroadway & Vocalists CDs
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