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BookPrices.net - Beethoven's Last Night
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List Price: $18.98
Our Price: $13.83
Your Save: $ 5.15 ( 27% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Lava
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0075678331923
Label: Lava
Manufacturer: Lava
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Lava
Release Date: 2000-04-11
Studio: Lava
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: A Disappointment to This TSO Fan
Comment: I have this CD, all three Christmas CDs, the Christmas DVD, and I have seen the Trans-Siberian Orchestra twice in concert. I love the DVD and the first and third Christmas CDs. The second TSO Christmas CD is just OK. This Beethoven CD has been a big disappointment. First, I do not care for Beethoven too much, not nearly as much as I like Christmas music. Second, I do not care for some of the singers because they sound too much like opera singers. Third, there is too much piano and not enough electric guitar. Fourth, this story is too dark. The TSO Christmas CDs have an element of hope and cheer that is greatly lacking here.
On the good side, Jeff Plate does a very nice job on drums, and the music is well done overall. I sure hope the next TSO CD is better than this.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Moved Beyond Words
Comment: I am a TSO fan. I've seen them live a couple of times and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I've listened to their Christmas albums and found them filled with gems. But I was not ready for Beethoven's Last Night.
While based on a ficitional account of the night that Beethoven died, this album is much more. I found myself truly stunned by the cleverness of the lyrics, the power of the vocals performances, the message that the album delivers, and I was, quite frankly, shocked at the album's ability to grab onto my soul and make me listen to it over and over and over again.
Wonderful musical peformances, stirring vocals, an imaginative and clever story line... what else could one wish for?
Customer Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your time or money
Comment: Largely vocal and not too good at that. I was hoping for more instramental and was hugely disappointed. Guess I should have read t he Amazon review first. Love some of their Chrismas music but hate the vocal.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Dare you not to cry:
Comment: This experience is like a broadway show without people. The first time through I lost a little in listening and following the booklet at the same time. BUT, the second time I listened, ALL of the beauty and meaning hit me full force. Give it a try. The musical snippit does not do justice.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great sound!
Comment: This is one of my favorite CDs. The combination of rock and classical music is amazing! Most of the vocalists have great voices and do a great job also.
One of the only problems with this CD is with the keyboards. The keyboardist does an absolutely awful job. "Moonlight Sonata," "Fur Elise," and "Ode to Joy" are ruined - they are extremely clunky and immature. Even "What is Eternal" could be a lot better with a better keyboardist. (Disclaimer: I am a classically trained pianist, so I'm probably hard on other pianists.)
Other than the keyboards, the CD is great.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Trans-Siberian Orchestra's first two recordings, a pair of late-'90s Christmas albums, hinted that some day TSO might evolve into a latter-day ELO or even an ELP. Instead, this overwrought concept album shares more common ground with ALW (Andrew Lloyd Webber) or Meat Loaf. TSO, in fact, aims to retrace a path once traveled by producer Jim Steinman, the mastermind behind the theatrical, over-the-top rock opuses that briefly transformed Mr. Loaf and Bonnie Tyler ("Total Eclipse of the Heart") into mass-audience favorites. TSO ringmaster Paul O'Neill (once a guitarist in Broadway productions of Jesus Christ Superstar and Hair) here ditches the holiday themes and instead scores a simple-minded fairy tale (whose text spans a 32-page CD booklet) that involves Beethoven's soul, the devil, and an imaginary Symphony No. 10. Too often, the music is the servant of the project's thin plot, and the rock-classical instrumental bravura that initially attracted public attention to TSO (at times, the group sounds like a symphonic Boston) is obscured by overheated vocal rantings. Meanwhile, the guitar-driven rendering of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony ("Requiem") is mundane. Yet, one vocal track, "After the Fall" with singer Patti Russo, jumps off the record as a Tyler-esque knockout, raging with emotion and melodic luster. It doesn't save the album, but it helps. --Terry Wood
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