The Confidence Man Music Cd

Jim Steinman - The Confidence Man

The Confidence Man      Artist(s) : Jim Steinman (Composer), Ray Errol Fox (Lyricist), Bobby Blume, Yancey Arias, Bruce Yeko, Jeff Olmsted, George Costacos Best, Norbert Leo Butz, Tom Christensen, Rayme Cornell, Jean Fox, Lauren Fox, Shani Glance, Andre de Shield, Mark Nadler, Terry Waldo, Julia Murney, Jamison Stern, Eric Michael Gillett, Thomas Stamet, LaChanze, Garrett Long, Chuck Cooper, Andrea Marcovicci, K.T. Sullivan      List Price : $19.98 USD        Your Price : $16.99 USD      ProductGroup: Music      Release Date : 2003-12-09      Studio : Original Cast Record      Label : Original Cast Record      Avg. Customer Rating : (5 reviews)

Reviews Customer Reviews for The Confidence Man      Generally wonderful songs (lyrics and music) though lacking a cohesive narrative      Rating:      The Confidence Man is "loosely" based on Herman Melville's novel of the same name. According to the lyricist, Ray Errol Fox, the story begins on April 1, 1861. Passengers board a Mississippi River steamer bound for New Orleans. Among the passengers is the title character who over the course of the journey will disguise himself variously (e.g. Healman, Whiteman, Black Guinea, Helpman, etc.). The story explores trust or confidence in a satirical fashion (ironically aboard the steamer "Fidele"). What is a con to do when he is bested at his own game? Though I do have one complaint (mentioned below), I thoroughly enjoyed The Confidence Man. The music is wonderfully authentic to an earlier time and a specific place. The music alone conjures visions of a Mississippi steamer floating through St. Louis (pronounced "Lou-ee", mind you) or New Orleans a century or more ago. The vocalists are quite talented. There are uptempo rags, hauntingly beautiful ballads (note the ending of Edging Into Darkness which is reminiscent of Making Love Out of Nothing at All), humorous and sassy songs, and catchy melodies all around. Crediting the lyricist, the songs have a wonderful literary quality. In fairness, a few of the songs do little for me, but even in these I see appreciable qualities (for instance, though Milady is beautiful, it also sounds dated to me; though Give Us This Day Our Daily Flesh is not as pleasing musically as others, it is the most dramatic song). A couple warnings may be in order, however. If because this recording features music by Jim Steinman you are expecting the operatic rock for which he is most notorious (e.g. Meatloaf), you will be in for a surprise. Though diverse genres are represented, expect to find more in common with the musicals Ragtime or Chicago than Bat Out of Hell. That is not a bad thing unless you purchased this wanting a Bonnie Tyler or Meatloaf album. Additionally (and my primary complaint), if you are expecting a fully realized story told through song, you will also be disappointed. Though you will certainly pick up elements of the characters and the story within the songs, the plot is not apparent. This album could easily pass for a compilation of unrelated songs instead of a musical. Compounding the difficulty of grasping any narrative structure or plot is the fact that the roles were not cast, the songs were. In other words, vocalists were assembled to record specific songs; no one was assigned a particular role. So if the Confidence Man sings five different songs, hypothetically there could be five different artists portraying him. That said, read the synopsis by Ray Fox (and the Melville book as well?). Enough context is provided to enhance your enjoyment of the music if not to fully comprehend how it all pieces together. This is definitely a quality recording.     Customer Reviews for The Confidence Man Cd      great work from Jim Steinman      Rating:      Jim Steinman, known for his operatic-style rock music (Meat Loaf, Bonnie Tyler, etc.) has shown a more classic style of him in this one-of-a-kind musical. He takes several styles from the Civil War era and twists them with modern musical treatments. You can hear many bits and pieces of music used in this album that Steinman uses much later in some of his rock songs, such as the intro to Making Love Out of Nothing at All, chorale phrases from The Future Ain't What it Used to Be and many others. If you are a Steinman fan, this is a must!! Ray Earl Fox does a great job with the lyrics and they compliment the music to a tee.