Average Rating: 
Rating:  - One of the great scores ever written for the stage.
"Chess," which debuted in London's West End in 1986, was perhaps the most anticipated musical of the '80s. With music by ABBA's Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus and lyrics courtesy of Tim Rice ("Jesus Christ Superstar," "Evita"), an all star cast and big money backing, the show ran for three years in London, then flopped on Broadway, where it debuted in 1988. The show's disastrous New York run was thanks to a heavily re-worked plot, Trevor Nunn's incoherent staging and an absolutely scathing New York Times review from Frank "Butcher of Broadway" Rich. So--aside from all the publicity--is "Chess" any good? The answer is yes, it is very, very good--better than good, in fact. The music is lush, diverse, by turns dramatic and delicate, searing and fragile, yet always possessed by one of the most acute melodic sensibilities ever to compose for the theatre: Benny Andersson. Andersson always referred to Tchaikovsky as his favorite composer, and his score reflects the Russian master's profound understanding of melody. Not since Frederick Loewe composed "Camelot" has such an incandescent, profligately tuneful score appeared on stage. And Anders Eljas' orchestrations color Andersson's music to absolute perfection. Tim Rice supplies perhaps his finest set of lyrics, dispelling the rumor that he is (according to a famous quote) "the world's worst lyricist." From the virtuosic wordplay of "Merano" to the brutal, deft rhymes of "Pity the Child," Rice's libretto is masterful. Perhaps the fact that "Chess" had been his obsession for many years (he had proposed the project to Lloyd Webber in the last '70s, but the composer was more interested in "Cats") contributed to Rice's performance here. Whatever the reason, "Chess" is his finest hour. The performances are, without exception, magnificent. Elaine Paige, Barbara Dickson, Murray Head, Tommy Korberg--all deliver emotive, fully realized renditions on each track. Produced by Andersson and Ulvaeus (who co-produced all of ABBA's songs) and Rice, the original concept recording of "Chess" is much superior to the later Broadway cast recording. This album is worth every penny of the price.
Rating: - Great concept album for a great '80s musical
After his collaboration with Andrew Lloyd Webber (Jesus Christ Superstar, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Evita) ended, Tim Rice would make one more piece of musical theatre before going to work for Disney. A collaboration with Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus (both of Abba), Chess would go through a lot of changes over the years in its London and Broadway productions, and beyond. A definitive version will be forthcoming in Sweden in not too long a time, and will hopefully spawn more productions as it goes.But, what's at hand doesn't even go into the saga of Chess. This is the original concept album, a double LP created to popularize the music. This had worked twice before with Rice and Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita, and it worked again with Chess. The London production went well, the Broadway one (anecdotes place the blame on awful direction) not so well, but still had some degree of success. So what was it about the Chess concept album that worked? The sound of the show, for one thing. Chess is a wonderfully pop musical, with a unique 1980s tone that sets it up as a cold war love story. That is not to say that it is weak--just that there are a lot of very cool elements of '80s pop (hence Abba). And it makes a middle-aged white guy rapping sound cool in "One Night in Bangkok," a dance hit particularly in the UK. Andersson and Ulvaeus prove that they have a very diverse range in the nicely through-composed score, setting up certain themes for the various situations that the characters find themselves in throughout the show. As is to be expected, guitars, bass, synths, and percussion make up the orchestra on the album, and complete the total-pop sound of the piece. The lyrics help a lot. As a fan of Tim Rice, I must admit that he continued the top form he had in Evita here, creating lyrics with a rapier wit. The libretto here is very honest as well, creating a group of characters who seem genuinely real in their faults. It is a tale about politics of nations and affairs of the heart that uses chess as a centerpiece, and whether in fun bits like the entire opening ceremony or the serious argument between Florence and the Russian, Rice's lyrics are perfectly fitting. They are also well-tailored to the reuse of themes throughout, creating a nice consistency in the piece. And the cast certainly didn't hurt. Even though he's played by a Swede trying to sing in English with a Russian accent, the Russian (Tommy Körberg--Jean Valjean in the Swedish Les Misérables) is performed marvellously, and does a great job with his show-stopper "Anthem." His character is convincingly split between a chess obsession and his personal life, and becomes quite compelling. In true form, the Russian's foil is just as good. The American (Murray Head--Judas in the Jesus Christ Superstar concept album) is a rather creepy character, but Murray Head's distinctive voice gives a great edge to his performance, and he gets the coolest song in the show ("One Night in Bangkok") plus a great showstopper that almost makes him sympathetic ("Pity the Child"). His performance on this album is excellent, and it's a shame that playing the role on stage in London killed his voice as it did. The female lead, Florence (Elaine Paige--original London Evita, Grizabella in the Cats video), is also incredible. She gets two great solos ("Nobody's Side" and "Heaven Help My Heart") as well as an incredibly witty song performed in contrast with the Russian's wife, Svetlana (Barbara Dickson), in "I Know Him So Well." However, I found one moment in the album to simply be a perfect bit of vocal acting--in "The Deal (No Deal)," Florence's lines "Are you sick? Are you mad? You still don't understand why I loathe you, why I left you?" are delivered in a way that...wow. The rest of the performances are great, too. Björn Skifs gets to have fun in the role of the Arbiter, in one of the VERY pop sections of the Opening Ceremony, and for a few other bits in Act I. Denis Quilley is a great Molokov, who has a lot of behind-the-scenes bits, though no big individual parts. Likewise, Barbara Dickson's part of Svetlana might be a bit small on the album, but it is still performed with some style. So, let's see. It has a great '80s pop score (no Abba fan should miss it), ultra-clever lyrics (no Tim Rice fan should miss it), and some great performances no musical theatre fan should pass up. It doesn't contain the complete show--that is why it is a concept album, not a cast recording. I rather enjoy concept albums--they're a great way to get a musical's score out there and known. It's good that such an excellent one was made for Chess, which is under-recorded otherwise. A shame that the whole score wasn't recorded, but this is a good tideover until something more comes to Broadway. So, if you like the Cold War, '80s pop, Abba, Tim Rice, Elaine Paige, Murray Head, or Tommy Körberg, you owe yourself this sweet little double-disc.
Rating: - An outstanding rock opera. . .
. . .from Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus from ABBA and Oscar winning lyricist Tim Rice, which unfortunately never made it 'big' in the United States.This fine CD of the "Concept Cast" for Chess in London is the one you want with fine performances by Murray Head (Judas in the London Stage version of Jesus Christ, Superstar) and Elaine Paige (Evita, in Evita and Grizabella, in Cats). Also noteworthy is the hit song "One Night in Bangkok" which scored big on the pop charts. Unfortunately, the "rock opera" concept of Chess as originally envisioned by the composers never made it to the United States, where an attempt was made to "translate" the concept into a musical. This turned out to be a big mistake, and the show never achieved the popularity it should have achieved. Nevertheless, the music is beautiful and varied in style and the storyline is solid (if a bit dated, since the fall of the Soviet Union). Chess historians will also recognize sly references to various highly charged championship matches in the past. I highly recommend this edition of Chess.
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