If you could only listen to a single musical album for rest of your life, which one would it be and why? --tolkien-feels
(I'm beginning to think that my answers are easily predictable by now...)
I'd choose the Original Broadway Cast Recording of Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812! I've listened to it more often than I've listened to any other album (musical or other), and it's a recording of the entire show, so that's always nice.
It's the storytelling aspect I love most about it, you can easily imagine what's happening without knowing what happens on stage in that exact moment (e.g. "Natasha was standing in the middle of the drawing room with a pale yet steady face. When I appeared in the doorway, she grew flustered and I hurried to her. I thought that she would give me her hand. But instead she stopped, breathing heavily"). You get the experience of watching the show in your mind while listening to the recording, and I appreciate that.
The voices are so gloriously diverse and evocative! Where else would you get a song like "In My House"? Grace McLean is an absolute goddess, and Brittain Ashford's and Denée Benton's voices contrast so nicely with hers and with each other's. I've recently become obsessed with the bass in "Letters", I think it's Alex Gibson. And where else do get three consecutive songs that energise you as much as Preparations-Balaga-The Abduction?!
It's definitely the Great Comet OBCR. While I love the OCR, too, I prefer having Dust and Ashes in there, and I have a slight preference for Denée as Natasha.
