You can read all 45 reviews of so here, or you can read mine, I've summarized them. I am a musical theatre student, opera tenor, and I own my own theatre company so I have a pretty good idea of what's hot and what's not. This is HOT. I own/have heard every version of JCS to date (March 2006) and this one is the most well rounded. Steve Balsamo with his amazing 4 and 1/2 octave range is an incredible singer; lacks a bit in bringing out the character of Jesus, if you're going for character over voice, Ted Neely from the 70's movie album is best. Judas is pretty good, problem is...he's a baritone singing a true tenor role, so he screams like a rocker to get the high notes, very convincing Judas though. Pilate is decent, Caiphus is also good. Mary Magdelene is the weak link, she's got great potential but she's only half baked as a singer. Some people here fell in love with the 70's version; hating the rock band of an orchestra on this album. HOWEVER, I will let everyone in on a secret. In this version, Andrew Llyod Webber selected all roles himself, including the orchestra. This is what he WOULD have produced in the 70's IF they had the technology. It's a simple matter of opinion; you prefer the older sounding 70's "orchestra" or the modern day "rock band." Alice Cooper as Herod, Geln Carter as Simon (He plays Jesus in the movie revival) make the scale tip when you weigh this against other versions. (Glen Carter is over-rated as Jesus in the movie however...) All in all, I like this version best. The title of the show is "Jesus Christ Superstar: A Rock Opera." And this CD puts the ROCK in Rock Opera.