Some of Michael's other CDs can be hit or miss; however, this is often due to the quality of the song selection rather than Michael's vocal ability. Because of this, I think Musicals makes a good introduction for new fans. It is a solid CD that contains good songs and truly highlights all of Michael Ball's remarkable abilities.


The first collection of Broadway tunes from Michael Ball   February 14, 2004
Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota)
11 out of 12 found this review helpful

If you are going to do an album covering songs from Broadway musicals then you are going to want to provide listeners with something different from what they are familiar with from Broadway cast albums. For Michael Ball on "Musicals" that would be the segment where he does six songs in a row that were originally performed by female singers: "Losing My Mind" from "Follies," "Memory" from "Cats," "Don't Rain on My Parade" from "Funny Girl," "With One Look" from "Sunset Boulevard," "Show Me" from "My Fair Lady," and "I Dreamed a Dream" from "Les Miserables." For me this is the strongest part of the album and I totally appreciate the idea of Ball singing songs that he would never be able to sing on stage in an actual performance (at the end of the album there is a one line reprise of "With One Look" in which Ball simply sings, "I could play any role"). The results are exactly the sort of "different" that we would hope to find on an album like this. Ball also picks some songs most listeners will likely have not heard before, which for me meant "Easy Terms" from "Blood Brothers," but could well be something else for you.

The other parts that stand out are the duets now reduced to solos, "All I Ask Of You" from "Phantom of the Opera" and "The Last Night of the World" from "Miss Saigon," and the best track is when Ball powers through "Anthem" from the often forgotten "Chess." The Broadway standards are a hit and miss proposition, with "Something Coming" from "West Side Story" having some excellent instrumentation but "You'll Never Walk Alone" from "Carousel" just being okay. I know that Ball began his career appearing in West End productions of "Les Miserables," "Aspects of Love," and "Phantom of the Opera," and after listening to this collection I would like to hear him in either "Miss Saigon" or "Chess" (okay, the latter is a pipe dream, but he would still be very good in it). For more of Michael Ball in a similar vein to this 1998 album, check out "Centre Stage," which is an even better collection of Broadway show tunes.


My first Michael Ball CD   January 17, 2000
Margaret de Boer (Brisbane Australia)
12 out of 14 found this review helpful

After admiring Michael Ball in the Musicals that he has appeared in, I was very pleased to be able to buy his first CD in Australia. This is a great CD and has some wonderful songs on it. My favourite has to be Love Changes Everything which was THE hit of Andrew Lloyd Webbers "Aspects of Love" which Michael played the lead role in. I also enjoyed "One Step out of time" which Michael represented UK with in the Eurovision Song contest of 1992. I have since bought all of Michaels CD's but this CD remains one of my favourites as it was the CD that REALLY got me interested in Michaels music and the reason that I have seen him in concert 7 times.


The Best (So far, that is!!)   March 18, 2000
Nancy A. Martin (Dallas, TX)
9 out of 10 found this review helpful

Michael Ball is relatively new on my list of preferred vocalists. I first discovered him a couple of years ago on a PBS broadcast of the Les Miserables 10th year anniversary production. Since then, I have been trying to build my CD collection of his music. This is my third album by Michael and by far the best. I concur with some comments that I have seen noting that he has sometimes not had the right collection of material to do justice to his incredible voice. This album does! When I received it the other day, I put it in my car CD player and as I drove down the freeway, kept saying YES! Yes! Finally he has material that does his incredible voice proud. If you are not sure which of his albums to start with, I strongly suggest this one. It is quite incredible.