Stages

by Josh Groban

Overview

Josh Groban always skirted the edges of middlebrow pop so it's a certain relief to hear the classical singer go all in on 2015's Stages, a tribute to the great songs of the Great White Way. He throws a few movie tunes in for good measure, including the opening "Pure Imagination" from Charlie & The Chocolate Factory and "Over the Rainbow," but the concentration is on A Chorus Line, Les Miserables, The Fantasticks, Into the Woods, and Sunday in the Park with George -- lots of Sondheim, lots of musicals from after the peak of '60s crossover. Nevertheless, in its handsome deliberation, Stages does feel like a throwback to '60s LPs comprised of tunes everybody knows, sung by singers everybody knows. Groban in some ways benefits from a less operatic setting, as it naturally scales back his soaring excess, and the record is also nicely modulated -- a mellow, attractive journey to the middle of the road, a place that seems to suit Groban just fine. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	04/28/2015
Label:	Reprise
UPC:	0093624934394
Rank:	30221

Tracks

1. Pure Imagination [From Charlie & The Chocolate Factory]
2. What I Did For Love [From A Chorus Line]
3. Bring Him Home [From Les Mis¿¿rables]
4. Les Temps Des Cath¿¿drals [From Notre-Dame de Paris]
5. All I Ask From You [From The Phantom of the Opera]
6. Try to Remember [From The Fantasticks]
7. Over the Rainbow [From The Wizard of Oz]
8. Children Will Listen/Not While I'm Around [From Into the Woods/Sweeny Todd]
9. You'll Never Walk Alone [From Carousel]
10. Old Devil Moon [From Finian's Rainbow]
11. Finishing the Hat [From Sunday in the Park with George]
12. If I Loved You [From Carousel]
13. Anthem [From Chess]

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Josh Groban   Primary Artist
Kelly Clarkson   Primary Artist
Audra McDonald   Primary Artist
Gavin Greenway   Conductor
Bernie Herms   Keyboards,Piano
Dan Needham   Drums
Chris Botti   Featured Artist
Chuck Berghofer   Bass
Tal Bergman   Drums,Percussion
Randy Waldman   Piano
Matt Campbell   Bass
Vinnie Colaiuta   Drums
Mats Wester   Nyckelharpa
Ruslan Sirota   Piano
Jerry MacPherson   Guitar,Guitar (Electric)
Harald Pettersson   Swedish Bagpipes
Craig Nelson   Bass

Technical Credits

Tom Jones   Composer
Rouble Kapoor   Assistant Engineer
Julian Peploe   Art Direction,Design
Jerome Leroy   Orchestration
Yossi Shakked   Engineer
Alex Kovacs   Programming
Jake Gorski   Assistant Engineer
Martin Nessi   Mixing,Engineer
Norman Wonderly   Creative Director
Dan Fyfe   Assistant Engineer
Jose Balaguer   Assistant Engineer
Mary Webster   Programming
George Oulton   Assistant Engineer
Bernie Herms   Producer,Orchestral Arrangements,Arranger
Harold Arlen   Composer
Bill Elliott   Arranger
John Barrett   Engineer
Adam Michalak   Engineer
Tyler Hartman   Assistant Engineer
Tim Davis   Vocal Contractor,Vocal Arrangement
Andrew Lloyd Webber   Composer
Burton Lane   Composer
Stephen Marcussen   Mastering
Andy Selby   Mixing,Programming
Benny Andersson   Composer
Tal Bergman   Drum Programming
Marvin Hamlisch   Composer
Alain Boublil   Composer
Edward Kleban   Composer
Charles Elliott Hart   Composer
Dave Reitzas   Engineer
Leslie Bricusse   Composer
Bjoern Ulvaeus   Composer
Richard Stilgoe   Composer
Tim Rice   Composer
Jorge Vivo   Engineer
Riccardo Cocciante   Composer
Isobel Griffiths   Music Contractor
Herbert Kretzmer   Composer
Todd Whitelock   Engineer
Drew Bollman   Assistant Engineer
William Ross   Arranger,Producer,Orchestral Arrangements
Claude-Michel Schoenberg   Composer
Stephen Sondheim   Composer
Anthony Newley   Composer
Humberto Gatica   Mixing,Engineer,Producer
Oscar Hammerstein II   Composer
E.Y. "Yip" Harburg   Composer
Richard Rodgers   Composer
Richard Zachary Stilgoe   Composer
Chris Walden   Arranger
Harvey Schmidt   Composer
Wesley Seidman   Assistant Engineer
Luc Plamondon   Composer
Courtney Blooding   Music Coordinator,Production Coordination
Ellen Wakayama   Design,Art Direction
Marcus Johnson   Assistant Engineer
Donny Phillips   Typography
James Dimmock   Photography