cuz I've been listening to a lot of it lately:
Tie: Original Off-Broadway Cast (1971) / Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1973): I was tempted to be really edgy and rank the soundtrack first, but one can't deny the energy and charm of the OOBC. At the end of the day both are stellar casts without a weak link, and whether one prefers, like, Garber to Nathan or Alford to Jackson is entirely up to taste. The soundtrack has a fuller, more polished sound while the OOBC has a more electric energy in some songs, along with ofc the songs cut from the film, so ultimately there's some songs I prefer on the soundtrack and some on the OOBC*.
2000 Off-Broadway Cast (2000): Of all the re-dos and updates to the score, this is my favorite largely because it has a good ear for what to keep intact while giving it a bit more of a harder edge that you'd come to expect from a later recording. By far my favorite recording of "Tower of Babble", and a really solid front half, especially for the added dialogue passages. Stumbles more than a few times in the back--"We Beseech Thee" and "Beautiful City" are both fairly lackluster here.
Original London Cast (1971): A little worse of a recording than the OOBC, but with a strong cast including a very early in his career Jeremy Irons and a pre-Evita gathering of David Essex, Julie Covington and Marti Webb. The somewhat poor recording quality prevents this from ranking higher, but it's a solid time. I think Godspell sounds quite lovely with British voices.
2001 Touring Cast (2001): The one with re-arrangements from Alex Lacamoire, I don't think this one has dated quite as gracefully, but it's also the only radical reinventing of the score that I think works quite well, especially the tech-flavored "Babble". Shame about "Turn Back, O Man", though.
1993 Studio Cast (1997): A Jay Records recording with all that usually entails--an excellent recording quality, fidelity to the score, and almost always just dead in energy. This isn't so bad, but Darren Day is a deeply ineffectual Jesus that really sinks the early tracks, and Barrowman can go fuck himself. A surprisingly moving "Beautiful City", though.
2011 Broadway Cast (2011): The actual production of this was absolute crap, but separate from that the album isn't that bad. Its biggest issue is that it's one of the holy trinity along with You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown and Little Shop of Horrors of charming, low-rent Off-Broadway shows getting all gussied up and re-arranged for Broadway, with every song needing to be a big showstopper in some way. "Learn Your Lessons Well" is the biggest culprit here, along with the truly inexplicable "Turn Back, O Man" and the god-awful a cappella "Babble". Taken as arrangements qua arrangements, I'm quite fond of a few tracks--Prepare Ye, Save the People, Bless the Lord--and Uzo Aduba predictably kills it on By My Side. The Finale absolutely sinks it, with awful re-arrangements and added harmonies that do not do the material any favors. Not great.
If there's an English cast album you haven't seen here yet and it's a favorite of yours, go ahead! Put it here! Original Australian, South African, that weird 1972 London Studio recording that I can't find cast info on? They've got a spot on this list!
Foreign language Godspells? Original French? Original Swedish with a pre-Hooked on a Feeling Bjorn Skifs? Go ahead, put 'em here!
You remember all those random studio recordings of popular musicals that record companies turned out by the dozens in the 70s with session musicians and struggling singers? They all sound kinda the same and there's like a billion of them for Godspell? No worries, I guarantee they'll all fit here cuz nothing can be as bad as
An Original UK Cast Recording for the 90's (1994): No, I don't know why it markets itself like that, and no, I can't explain the random pixelated Genie on the cover art. Apparently this is an album for the UK touring cast in 1994, and apparently that actual production did not use any of the arrangements heard on this album. Which. Thank fuck, because this is dreadful. Think of every sappy, cheesy cliche you can of 90s music--and mind you, we're not talking grunge or alternative rock here, we're talking fucking muzak--and they've got it in spades here. Not a single song works, "Babble" is ok enough to fool you into thinking maybe you'll have a decent times, and then "Prepare Ye" barges in with its inexplicable brass synth loop that they use three times in the damn album. Someone, somewhere, thought this was a good idea, and I hope he enjoys this album. For everyone else on the planet earth, stay far away.
*for those curious: OOBC: Lessons, All for the Best, All Good Gifts, Light of the World, By My Side, Beseech; Soundtrack: Prepare Ye, Save the People, Bless the Lord, Alas for You, On the Willows, Finale. Draw: Day By Day, Turn Back, O Man
