Customer Reviews:
 A Fine Souvenir - But the Originals Are Still the Greatest April 30, 2006
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
There is no way that the cast recordings of this musical are superior to the Abba originals. That said, if you've seen the show, this is a great keepsake of a perfectly delightful evening of musical theater.
The "bonus" songs are simply the "mini-concert" that the cast performs as their highly inventive curtain call: brief reprises of "Mamma Mia" and "Dancng Queen" and then, of course, "Waterloo" - the song that was Abba's first hit, but with lyrics that simply could not be shoe-horned into the show's already thin plot.
I have seen both the Vegas production of the show and one of the national touring companies. In both instances, the singers were superior to those on this CD. Oh well.
 Absolutely Delightful April 21, 2005
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
I saw the Broadway production recently, and thought it was absolutely delightful. The story line is cute and funny and, all in all, it was a show well worth seeing. At the end, everybody was up and dancing and singing along!
This CD is excellent and stands up well to the original productions. Significantly, it uncouples the connection Abba fans have with these songs and the two lead singers of Abba, Agnetha and Frida. These songs stand on their own merit to reveal the songwriting talents of Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulvaeus. Although, arguably, no singer in this production is as good as Agnetha or Frida, who, in my opinion, have world class singing voices, the cast members sing beautifully and clearly.
Benny and Bjorn would be making a fortune on this production, since they would get royalties every time the curtain rises and the songs for which they have the copywrites, are sung, (not to mention the CDs that are sold) even if they are not sung by Frida and Agnetha.
The local Walmart, which is the only record store in town these days, can't keep Abba CDs in stock, and this production of Mama Mia is, no doubt, the reason!
Re : Mamma Mia October 12, 2004
2 out of 6 found this review helpful
Just a quick note, Peter--a friendly disagreement: in contrast to what you state, Mamma Mia, like any theatrical/musical work CAN "[be] about singing well"...I saw a great production of the show (the Australasian cast) with excellent voices, most notably Donna, and when the roles are sung powerfully, this certainly adds a great deal to the experience. Thanks for the price comparison/suggestions, though!
Mamma Mia!: Special Edition August 15, 2004
48 out of 48 found this review helpful
After 5 years of a (so-far) successful run, Polydor released a Special Edition "MAMMA MIA!" soundtrack containing all of the original content of the regular CD plus three bonus tracks.
This particular soundtrack is the edition that was released in Canada. There is another edition that is imported from the UK which has different artwork that reads "1999-2004, 5th Anniversary" which is much more expensive, but contains the same bonus tracks. (In other words, don't be fooled into spending more for the UK import, which is the same thing)
As far as the "regular content," I think the cast does a wonderful job. Lisa Stokke is a wonderful Sophie, although it is hard to differ her voice from Siobhan McCarthy's (Donna). There is really no one on the cast that strikes me as having a wonderful voice, but then again, "MAMMA MIA!" isn't really about singing well, but rather just making sure the audience has a good time. The songs are very catchy and I actually prefer listening to this instead of my "ABBA: Gold" CD because of the sound quality and also because I think this cast puts in more effort than ABBA put into their own work, but that's my personal opinion.
Besides the music of the regular soundtrack, this Special Edition came with three live bonus tracks: "Mamma Mia" (1:24), "Dancing Queen" (2:40), and "Waterloo" (2:21). Basically, you're paying about $2 for every minute of bonus material that's on here (at the time of this review, the regular soundtrack is $13.49 and this edition is $26.99, making about a $14 difference). The live tracks aren't all that great either; it's just the cast singing for the audience, probably after a show or something.
The Special Edition booklet did come with a few small pictures of different members of various casts performing around the world. There are also some new photographs taken at some time or other that were included.
In conclusion, if you can find a really good deal buying this used at Amazon, or if you just have the extra money to spend, you may want to go ahead and pick this one up. Otherwise, it's probably a better deal to save the $14 and get the regular soundtrack that has virtually the same content.
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