Unmasked: The Platinum Collection

I guess it's a tribute to the talent of the composer when a 71-track compilation, even one as great as this one, still feels slightly inadequate to cover the depth and breadth of a 50+ year career as varied and unique as Andrew Lloyd Webber's. With twenty musicals, not including his Requiem, and hundreds of songs under his belt, a compilation twice this size might even be slightly lacking. Filled as close to the brim as a 4-disc set can be, "Unmasked: The Platinum Collection" traces Webber's musical output from "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" in 1967 to his most recent Broadway outing "School of Rock" in 2015, and does, despite a few flaws, a pretty good job of it.Despite the fact that Andrew Lloyd Webber is one of my favorite composers, I resisted purchasing any of the previous "birthday boxes" released in 2001 and 2008, but I caved for this one due to the inclusion of previously-unreleased and new tracks, the companion book, and the interesting selection of both original recordings and covers by both new and familiar artists curated by Lloyd Webber himself. For anyone familiar with the "60 at 60" set, you'll notice a lot of repeats, but as so many of the shared tracks are definitive recordings, such as Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford's spine-tingling "Phantom of the Opera" or Paul Nicholas' "Mr. Mistoffeles," why shouldn't they be on both? While a few songs are lost in order to make room for tracks from newer Webber shows like "Love Never Dies," "Stephen Ward," and "School of Rock,""Unmasked" is superior in many ways, though, as not only is it much more concise of an overview, with only a single version of a given song, many of the covers are an improvement on those released in 2008. I particularly liked Webber's decision to include Michael Crawford's electrifying interpretation of "Tell Me On A Sunday," which is somehow even more moving than when sung by the many female artists who have recorded it.While I won't say that I love every song or every singer included here, to listen to such a wide variety of Webber's music all in one place makes his talent for composing gorgeous, memorable melodies and lush, complex orchestrations in virtually any musical style even more apparent then when listening to the show albums individually. Excluding "The Phantom of the Opera," no one production is given precedence, so you get a great cross-section of his body of work, both the hits and the (commercial) flops, though musically no piece disappoints. No matter which show is your favorite, you'll find something here to enjoy, though it is a bit of a let-down that neither "Half A Moment" nor "Those Canaan Days" made the cut. I know Webber is a stickler for sound quality, and to my ear it seems that every track has been remastered, as even the oldest tracks sound crisp, which makes this set worth getting, even if you already own most of them already.There are a dozen "new and exclusive tracks", though, strictly speaking, four aren't really new at all, but rather orchestral suites pieced together from the original albums of "Love Never Dies," "Sunset Boulevard," "Variations," and "Phantom," the latter being an edit of the Overture, Entr'acte, and Act 1 Finale into a single track. Though it would have been nice to have some brand-new arrangements, as far as nostalgia, you can't beat the original recordings. The rest are covers from the last decade, including Nicole Scherzinger's "Memory," "The Light At The End Of The Tunnel" by Gregory Porter, "You Must Love Me" by Lana Del Ray, "I Am The Starlight" by Mica Paris and George Ure, "Heaven On Their Minds" by Tim Minchin, as well as the premiere releases of Beyonce singing "Learn To Be Lonely" live at the 2005 Oscars with Lloyd Webber on piano, "Where Did the Rock Go?" by Florence Andrews from the London cast of "School of Rock," and "The Beauty Underneath" by Ben Lewis from the Australian Cast album of "Love Never Dies." I won't go so far as to say they're all as good as the originals (I personally would have liked to have some cuts from the original albums of "Starlight Express"), but it's nice to see that Webber's music is being recognized by the current generation of singers.The companion book is a fun feature, and while it would have been nice to have the song lyrics as well, it does include the full track list, with brief liner notes on each song, as well as reminisces from artists like Elaine Paige, Michael Crawford, and Tim Rice, among others, about Webber's music, and good wishes for his 70th birthday.While there is no question that the 4-disc set is a must-buy over the 2-disc version, my only caveat is the terrible packaging. The discs are stacked lightly atop each other in circular plastic slots on the interior flaps of the box, with not even a central spindle to keep them in place. When they arrived, two had already fallen out, and while fortunately they weren't scratched, I can't foresee wanting to store them this way for the long-term.Nonetheless, for long-time ALW fans or those just discovering him, I can't think of a better way to celebrate his 70th birthday and his distinguished career than by savoring this thoroughly enjoyable box set.

There are two choices for fans of Andrew Lloyd Webber: the 2 CD or the 4 CD version. For the completist and those looking for rarities, the 4CD version would be the one to buy. However, for more casual fans looking for a good overview of Mr. Lloyd Webber's career, the 2 CD version could suffice. This set has all of the best known songs: Any Dream Will Do, Superstar, I Don't Know How to Love Him, Memory, The Music of the Night, With One Look, etc. It does bypass some of the lesser known musicals, such as By Jeeves and the Beautiful Game. However, there are surprises, such as terrific selections from the all-star album of selections from Whistle Down the Wind. I was also glad to hear a couple of selections from his latest hit, School of Rock.The interesting thing is that the numbers varied in terms of their selection: some were from the London cast album, others from the Broadway cast album, still others were recorded by various popular singers, ranging from Barbra Streisand and Elvis Presley to Gregory Porter and Beyoncé. This actually works out pretty well.The booklet provided with this version is not comprehensive: it basically provides the copyright information, artist and musical source. Still, I would not mark it down for this.

Andrew Lloyd Webber 60 is one of my favorite albums. I love all his musicals and love the compliation giving you a chance to go through time and experience the best all at once. This is even better. It's updated with his last decade of music including Love Never Dies and School of Rock. It also has some live versions like Learn to be Lonely from Beyonce and the Phantom 25 performances. It's outstanding. If someone is looking for something completely different than the 60 album, you're not going to find it. This is just bigger, better and improved but 95% the same songs. That's not a bad thing. This also has an amazing book to come with. It's the size of a DVD. Very awesome addition to any collection!

Another Sir Andrew’s box set is here to honor his 70th birthday. So I have his sets from 2001, “Now and Forever” and 60 from 10 years ago. So outside of the obvious redundancies which come with repackages, my first impression is that the remastered versions are tremendous. The details are there and since 2001, this set represents a significant sonic improvement IMHO.The 60 collection does not seem to mention a remastering being done with that release. Worth the purchase for the remastering job alone. Enjoy.

If you love Andrew Lloyd Webber, you'll adore this set. It's all the biggies plus a few things I've never heard before. I'll put a plug in for ALW's autobiography, Unmasked, as well. It's a hoot. I keep forgetting he's only a couple of years older than I am. The summer of 1966 I was in London to go to school at Queen Mary's College and University of London - truly, the swinging '60's. While I was studying Chaucer and Blake, he was creating Joseph.

I heartily agree with M. Secaur's lengthy review. I second the complaint about how the discs are packaged - thought we would never get them out of the package without breaking them and one of ours was also loose. My only other complaint is that Windows Media Player doesn't recognize the disc or the songs, necessitating the tedious "edit". But I love the music, so I guess it's worth the pain!

My husband and I have seen all of the shows by Andrew Lloyd Webber and we have loved everyone of them. So we love the music that goes with the shows the only show that is not included in the group is: "The Phantom Returns" probably because this show was after the these disks were made.

I had a cassette of ALW Greatest Hits that I about wore out. While that collection does not seem available, this recent CD fits the bill - everything from Jesus Christ Superstar to School of Rock.

El disco llegó bien, estaba empacado y bien envuelto. Pero cuando lo abrí me di cuenta de que el disco 3 estaba fuera de su lugar y también rayado. No pensé que hubiera problema hasta que lo escuché y descubrí que las tres últimas canciones no suenan bien.Quise hacer cambio de producto, pero me dijeron que por ser internacional la compra sólo había devolución así que no escucho el disco 3 :(

I like it .

Love this collection. Even my daughter loves singing along to Superstar, Phantom and Joseph.

Love, love, love this album. A wonderful compilation of an incredible career.

I love listening to the music