My Rating: 2.58 out of 5
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: X
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums: X
The Mojo Collection: X
Chart Peak (UK/US): 4/1
Favourite Tracks: The Surrey With The Fringe On Top, Oklahoma!
Least-Favourite Track: Pore Jud Is Daid
Alright, I admit it... I quite enjoyed this. I tried to resist, but it was no use - yes it's twee, chintzy & cheesy but it's also as infectious as Ebola (and twice as deadly). I listened to it in the morning and then spent my whole lunch hour sitting in an Indian restaurant humming I'm Just A Girl Who Cain't Say No. The precious little street cred I had left has been shattered.
So this album was pretty much what I expected - it's a good ol' knee-slappin' collection of showtunes & I guess the only real surprise is that it's in the Top 1000 at all. It's an incongruous entry compared to all the rock, pop & soul material, though that's fine as the whole idea of this was to expand my listening horizons. Like the previous entry Superfly (see #986) this is an original film soundtrack, though unlike that recording Oklahoma! doesn't really work as a standalone album. As a musical it relies heavily on the dialogue between the songs for plot development & having never seen the film the lyrical themes didn't make a lot of sense. But the strong orchestral arrangements & singing performances on this 1955 version do compensate for that in many ways - when I was trying to track down this album I stumbled onto some fairly modern recordings of the show & in comparison to this they were just horrible.
Right, I'd better go & turn myself in to the taste police now.
So this album was pretty much what I expected - it's a good ol' knee-slappin' collection of showtunes & I guess the only real surprise is that it's in the Top 1000 at all. It's an incongruous entry compared to all the rock, pop & soul material, though that's fine as the whole idea of this was to expand my listening horizons. Like the previous entry Superfly (see #986) this is an original film soundtrack, though unlike that recording Oklahoma! doesn't really work as a standalone album. As a musical it relies heavily on the dialogue between the songs for plot development & having never seen the film the lyrical themes didn't make a lot of sense. But the strong orchestral arrangements & singing performances on this 1955 version do compensate for that in many ways - when I was trying to track down this album I stumbled onto some fairly modern recordings of the show & in comparison to this they were just horrible.
Right, I'd better go & turn myself in to the taste police now.
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