Poor Fool, He Makes Me Laugh is not on the highlights and that's worth the price of the double cd alone. I love that song and it's where Carlotta gets it good..and Crawford is haunting as usual during this part.

Highlights for any musical are a waste. It's worth it to pay more and get as much of the music as possible.

Do yourself a favor and get the double cd, not this one.


Absolutely Awesome !   July 14, 2005
AJK (Chicago, IL)
11 out of 11 found this review helpful

I first purchased the original score in 1988, shortly before seeing the show on Broadway.

At first, only a couple of songs stood out, but after seeing the amazing production (with the incredible Michael Crawford!), I fell absolutely in love with the score. Repeat listenings have only solidified my opinion!

Not everything is perfect, but the orchestrations are powerful & many songs really stick with you, especially:

Overture [sounds great cranked up]
Angel Of Music
The Phantom Of The Opera [The Phantom & Christine's great duet]
The Music Of The Night [The Phantom's big song]
All I Ask Of You [Christine & Raoul's duet - though a bit tired]
Masquerade
The Point Of Know Return

Beautiful from beginning to end & MUCH better than the film's soundtrack. Webber's masterpiece!

A must have!



This is what you're looking for   August 14, 2004
Flagellum (Rocky Mountains, NA)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

First off: I'll cut to the point - the Original London "Highlights" CD is great.

Second off: I have never been to a musical or an opera before this summer and have no claim to understanding the music beyond any Joe on the street. Nor am I an audiophile - I don't have any awesome home or car stereo, no surround-sound anything.

That said: Some friends, my wife and I saw Phantom for the first time recently (2004 US Tour, Gary Mauer as the Phantom). We all loved it. I wanted the music on CD - so I came shopping at Amazon after first trying to find it with this 2004 US Tour cast (nonexistent). So I read into the reviews of all the Phantom CDs here (there are quite a few CDs).

After reading what seemed like hundreds of reviews and listening to the samples:

1 - I ruled out the 2-disc London CD (I don't need the screeching, etc. I want music.)

2 - I couldn't decide between the Original London Cast "Highlights" CD and the Original Canadian Cast CD. People seemed to love both for all kinds of reasons.

Well, I ended up buying both (London Highlights + Canadian).

Hands down, the London cut is better. It all comes down to the quality of the recording. The London CD sounds like a CD, the Canadian sounds like a cassette tape or LP. It just isn't clear, crisp, etc. The various performers of the Canadian cast might have been better in real life, but the recording does not allow an even comparison. It sounds a little better than your home recording of your kid's elementary school play in the auditorium compared to the London cut.

Buy one CD - the Original London "Highlights" CD instead of the Canadian one. We never even listen to it.

As a sidenote: I think Gary Mauer was WAY better than either Phantom on these CDs. I know nothing of technique, but his voice was FAR more convincing as the Phantom. If that's blasphemy, so be it. I would be happy to buy one with him on it.


Immensly pleasant piece of art!   November 30, 2000
Amazon Reviewer (Bloomington, IN)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

Phantom of the Opera is what I consider to be Andrew Loyd Webber's masterpiece. I have seen many musicals, but none so grand. I was only about 14 when I first saw this, in dutch, but I remember it very well, I immediately loved it, and went out and bougth the dutch version of this cd, with the little bit of pocket money i had saved up. Not too long after I also got this cd and the complete version. It takes a little getting used to the voices, because they are so different in the different performances I have seen and heard of this musical, but this is without a doubt one of the best, if not THE best.

If you loved the musical so much you simply want to hear the whole thing over and over again, you migth want to get the long version, which has everything on it, but this CD is just as wonderful. It is a collection of all the music, beautifully edited. Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman have beautiful voices, and all i have to do is close my eyes, and the whole musical repeats itself before my eyes when I listen to this.

Even for those who have not seen the musical (yet), this is a wonderful cd, with all the famous songs from the musical on it. I have had this CD for years now, and still listen to it very regularly, it never becomes boring, over and over again it gives the same intense feeling. This CD is immensly pleasant to listen to, especially with your eyes closed, but it could just as well be used as background music for when you have guests over, people are bound to love it!!!