This is my second favourite musical of all-time (after The Lion King) and despite beeing slightly dissapointed by the London production of the show, the Stuttgart and Broadway productions which I have seen more recently, do the music and spectacle of this fabulous story justice. The CD contains all the songs from the movie, but the 3 minute segment of Be Our Guest in the movie is doubled on stage to create one of the most magical scenes in a musical ever. If I Can't Love Her is one of my favourite songs of all time and is only beaten, probably by Circle of Life, and shivers go down my spine every time I hear it (this also happens with the fabulous "Home"). The Broadway CD is probably the best introduction to the musical, but more recent recordings include more material, the most up-to-date CD is the Stuttgart CD, which, if you don't mind listening to it in German, has the best orchestration out of all the CDs. The addition of the song "A Change In Me" came last year but is not featured on any of the recordings, not even on the recently relased Spanish version, which is a shame because (despite slightly resembling a famous Whitney song for a few seconds on several occasions), it ranks highly with the other famous songs of the album.

Although, often the London recordings of shows can be better than those of Broadway. The London Cast CD cannot compare with this version

The magic of the most spectacular musical of all time is captured on this CD. Although I haven't seen the Broadway production, it still brings back terrific memories of the London production. There is more emotion in the songs than those in the film and the addition of such beautiful songs as He Lives In You and Endless Night (which doesn't seem as first like a special song but then grows on you) helps this become the best theatrical score. This CD contains some of the most atmospheric and well-written music (helped by the terrific orchestration) from Disney or musical theatre. If you have the opportunity to see the show, go! if not, buy this CD, it is rarely out of my CD player.

Having only recently seen the show, I was under the impression that this show wasn't going to be very good because of all the bad reviews it had and the fact that it flopped in the US. So I didn't have the CD until 2 months ago, which was the biggest mistake of my life.....I should have had it when it was first released!

The truly moving and uplifting music of this show makes it my favourite of all Lloyd Webber CD releases. I wasn't attracted to the music initially as the Boyzone version of No Matter What, which I heard none stop, completely loses the feeling of the version of the show (plus the tremendous effort of the orchestra is not heard here). The best song on the album is "Cold", although out of all songs, it contrubtes little to the plot, it is great to watch on stage and a lot of fun to hear, the performers seem to be enjoying themseleves in this segment. From the uplifting gospel introduction of "The Vaults of Heaven" and the "shiver down the spine" overture to the heart felt finale, this is one of the best cast recordings I own. Look out also for "When Children Rule The World", a fun pop song and the first version of "Whistle Down The Wind". The CD does a great job of telling the story, so if you don't want anything spoilt before you see the show I suggest the concept album if you just want to become familiar with the songs however this CD encouraged me to see the show and I hope that this will do the same for others as the night I saw it was one of the best in my whole life.