It’s been a while since I had a brand new musical recording to review - they seem to have been in shorter supply of late - so it was great when I was sent the new, double CD concept recording of SimG’s latest release.

With music and story by Lee Ormsby, book and lyrics by Jonathan Wakeham, Paradise Lost is a new epic musical inspired by the poem by John Milton. This version tells an intimate love story set against an epic backdrop of war - a search for happiness at a time of culture clash, political violence and change.

The ‘limited edition’ 24 track double-disc physical CD includes a 12 page colour booklet, with full synopsis, features a company of 28 West End singers, and stars Charlotte Wakefield (two-time Olivier nominee: Sound Of Music, Spring Awakening), Ricardo Afonso (Women On The Verge, We Will Rock You) and Matthew Wycliffe (Commitments, Jersey Boys), with Julie Atherton, Dominic Brewer, Me’sha Bryan, Stephen Carlile, Anna Francolini, Trevor Jary, Andrew Keelan, Shekinah Mcfarlane, Annette Mclaughlin, Amanda Minihan, Wendy Paver and David Phipps-Davis.

This is a very well thought out musical, and this hits you from the first listen. Indeed, I couldn’t put it better than the composers do in the very-informative booklet - "When we were writing the songs for Paradise Lost we had three key elements in mind.The first, and most important, was big, bold, memorable melodies that propel the story forward. The second was scale.This is a spectacular story and it needs spectacular music: this is closer to Spielberg than Sondheim. And the third was character. Each song has to clearly reflect the character who sings it, and the variety of characters in the show”.

The material is eclectic, majestic in the most, and some of it to me is derivative of the great ‘concept’ musicals of the 1980s and '90s - and I don’t mean negatively. Children of Eden repeatedly came into my head, which I regard as one of the finest scores of the last 50 years, so that’s no bad thing. There is a good mixture of recitative and story songs, and some excellent melodic numbers. I loved the opening 'Prologue', and 'Here I Am' is as good an example as you will find of a musical character-based number. The simpler numbers, such as 'Divided Heart' and 'Silence in my Heart', are just as successful too.

The key to the success of this album, isn’t just the thoughtful writing - it’s the team of 28 West End singers and actors brought in to record this album. They are simply superb. Some of them new to me, some not, and some (in the case of the wonderful Julie Atherton) underused. The three main characters played by Alfonso, Wakefield and Wycliffe do a tremendous job - measured, thoughtful and powerful in equal measure, when it’s needed the most.

I can do nothing but recommend this recording, and hope that someone picks up this musical. There seems to be a run on banal, weak film tie-ins at the moment, such as Ghost, Love Story and the like, and it would be nice to see a proper ‘book musical’ getting the recognition it deserves. Paradise Lost, but hopefully found again.

9

Ian Gude