Customer Rating: 
Summary: Excellent compilation
Comment: This is an excellent compilation of the best songs from this production performed by the original performers.
Customer Rating:
Summary: THIS PHANTOM IS THE BEST!
Comment:
I first got the whole phantom CD, and was bored by all the speaking and segways. The songs even sound different. Especially "Music of the Night" I thought they were two different singers till I got the highlights CD. SO much better! I never saw the musical, I think sitting through all that might be kindof boring after listening to the long version. THIS IS GREAT! Music of the night, and all of it sounds perfect. SO GLAD I got this CD!
Customer Rating:
Summary: The music caresses you.
Comment:
The highlights from Phantom are some of the most beautiful music of our time. Phantom is one of Andrew Lloyd Webber's finest moments. The performance is a joy. I love the bombastic orchestral effects and the tender vocal phrases. The popularity of this work speaks positively of the musical and artistic taste of our generation.
Customer Rating:
Summary: good stuff
Comment: I love phantom, but I don't need the whole thing. This picks out the memorable songs from the great broadway play, which naturally is way better than the movie version, at least as far as music is concerned.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Good Music, Okay Disc
Comment: The Phantom of the Opera is full of great music and if you're looking for the popular songs, they're all here on one affordable, convenient disc.
But this particular recording is not great. The songs are stacked on top of each other so that they sometimes end or begin too abruptly. It's jagged sounding sometimes, instead of having smooth transitions. Part of this is likely due to the fact that this is a highlights CD, so the songs are cut out of the longer musical fabric of the show (if that makes any sense). This CD only has the main songs, so the music leading into them and the music following them might be cut out. (At least that's how I understand it.)
The rough transitions are especially noticeable in the final track, a 13-minute behemoth comprised of snippets of different verses from the show's final scenes. There are some Christine-Phantom songs mixed with angry mob stuff and it's really not put together very well. Again, it's because this is just the highlights. But it sounds pretty bad.
The CD comes in a kinda flimsy jewel case and there are no liner notes to speak of. But this is good music. It's Michael Crawford, Sarah Brightman and the original cast. If you like Phantom of the Opera, you'll like this CD. If you're curious about the show or just can't afford the full 2-disc set, this is the CD to get.
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