The Wolf's Workday Playlists 99.9 FM

Anything from Jesus Christ Superstar, specifically the original album before it became a musical. Ian Gillan plays Jesus. Album has multiple bangers, I'm quite a fan of "What's the Buzz?", "Everything's Alright", "This Jesus Must Die", "Damned for All Time/Blood Money", and, of course, the catchy ragtime "King Herod's Song". Listening to the entire original album uninterrupted is my Easter ritual.

Best thing Andrew Lloyd Webber ever wrote, imo. And best thing Ian Gillan ever sang on, even better than Deep Purple and 100% better than the dumpster fire (in my opinion in my opinion) that is Born Again by Black Sabbath, lord I hate that album but one of my friends thinks it's the best non-Dio or Martin Sabbath album, I don't know how. I had trouble sitting through that album even once. It's easily my least favorite Sabbath album, and I've already talked about me hating Ozzy as a singer. So the fact Ian Gillan, a singer I have high respect for, managed to outdo him in bad vocals is, as Dio would put it, "a mystery to me"

Ramble over. But please do listen to the entire Jesus Christ Superstar double LP, biblically inspired music so good even pagans approve!

I’m not a fan of musicals, or at least musical soundtracks on their own. Nor am I one for religious music. But I love JCSS, it manages to work on its own in album format, as that was the original format it was released under, and it’s biblically inspired without being preachy. It focuses more on telling a story and explore the perspective of different biblical figures and asks you to form your own opinions on them. I like seeing Jesus Christ of Nazareth explored as a human being more than some perfect religious model too, he was admittedly a very interesting person even if you aren’t of Christian Faith and I think even if you are Christian you have to understand he had flaws and weaknesses like anybody else. In fact, I think, admitting he had flaws and character development is a good way to embolden your faith, and doesn’t mean you’re being sacreligious by doing so. Granted, I don’t want to start some controversial religious talk, that’s just how I see Jesus. And, even as someone who’s agnostic, I respect the guy. Personally I find Judas to be the most interesting figure in Jesus-era biblical lore, and I like how JCSS portrays him as a sympathetic guy rather than an objective evil.

My high school put on Sweeney Todd a year before I attended there, I saw it, good show. My high school has high production value and managed to get away with such a gory premise and had relatively high quality special effects (except for the blood squirts, those were less than believable). I can sit through a musical and enjoy it, but I never understood listening to musical soundtracks over and over again without the actual play or movie. A lot of musical songs are fine in the moment but get really annoying and repetitive the more you listen. At least, all in my opinion, of course, don't take my criticality as an attempt to invalidate someone's personal choice in music taste.