Les Mis Album Comparison V

It's again the time the two readers of this blog have been awaiting, Les Mis Album Comparison time!
And what's a better Les Mis song than One Day More? Let me tell you, nothing. It's all downhill from here.
So, today, let's define the best showstopper!


One Day More
London 1985
A calm beginning with that little fairy dust sound - hopefully you know what I mean... And everything sounds good, I especially like Frances Ruffelle's Eponine. When Enjolras's part kicks in the orchestration gets appropriately big, goodbye to the light sounds of the beginning!
The counterpoint sounds good, but it leaves me feeling it could be even better. On the whole, as it often is with this album, a good, basic, here's-what-this-song-sounds-like version of the song, even though it doesn't really rise above that.
4 points

Vienna 1988
Very lush, peaceful beginning. Not so sure if I like this Valjean though - thanks, Danish CD, for skipping all the big Valjean songs so I haven't had the change to compare them yet. Cosette and Marius sound like they're a little squished in the background, and the orchestra doesn't sound quite as natural as in the previous one. Interesting-sounding Eponine!
I don't like this Enjolras, though. The orchestra gets gradually bigger all the time, huge choir! The strings on Javert's and Thénardiers' parts sound great, as does the choir part. This has bigger energy than the previous one. Cosette is mixed way too loud in the counterpoint, though, and the final choir doesn't sound quite as good as it could. A little disorganized.
2 points

Paris 1991
More fairy dust sounds! A lot of Valjean vibrato! Oh yay.
Maybe I should stop trying to understand the French, now I just keep wondering why there's ice cream in Marius's veins. French has always been my weakest language...
Oh, it's my favourite vibrato Javert. What's up with these guys? I know some love this CD to bits, but I really don't care for that Javert... The chorus parts on this track sound very good though, big and pretty powerful. À la volonté du peuple!
The counterpoint sounds a little messier than usually, if that makes any sense. Not bad ending, though!
1 point

Denmark 1992
A different beginning, more focus on the bell-like sounds and less on the strings. Nice wall of sound.
A Danish friend of our family told me the actors on the CD are mostly known for acting, not singing. Maybe that explains something. Marius sounds a little weak at first (but after Nick Jonas I can't really complain)...
The orchestra sounds more like a real orchestra here, if that sentence again makes any sense. Doesn't stop it trying to drown the chorus, though, but it sounds very nice.
I love this Thénardier. He sounds like a mean troll.
Very big ending. One of the brighter moments of this CD!
3 points - besides Master of the House, your best yet, Danish CD. Congrats.

10th Ann. 1995
The beginning I've learned to love - there's no way to count the times I've looped this version. I guess it does have some unfair advantage, being my ultimate favourite...
But everything is sooo good here. The dream cast. The huge orchestra. This is One Day More at its best! So calm in the beginning and then getting big with Enjolras and the choir. Just wow. And I just love Philip Quast.
This is awesomesauce. I've a feeling I know who is getting the seven points... I actually just got little shivers running down my spine at the final "one day more!" of the track!
Sorry, TAC... 6 points after all...

Dutch 2008
Nog één dag. This is another one I've looped big time - I almost can sing along this despite not knowing Dutch at all... And this is very near perfection too. I especially like this Marius, he sounds so young and just simply Marius-ish. The mixing is perfect, you hear everybody well, which is not always true on every of these CDs. And oh hey, it's my favourite Enjolras again!
Might be that my opinion of this version is biased because this video is one of my favourite things on YouTube, from 2:20:

Such energy!
The choirs, great. The orchestra, great. I don't know... The fight for seven points will be tighter than I expected, since I had almost forgot how good version this is. The final chorus is the best yet.
...because I was absolutely swept away by this. Better than I remembered, and that's a lot! 7 points.

Live! 2010
The beginning is simpler with just one violin, and I like it. I also like John Owen-Jones. This Marius sounds very Marius-ish to me too - I really like Michael Ball, but he still isn't my mental voice for Marius, it's someone with a little more, hmm, maybe vulnerability, if you will.
I think this must be my second favourite Enjolras after the Dutch guy. And hey, Earl Carpenter! And great big drums in the background! Wouldn't you know, I really like this version too - maybe not as much as the previous two, but this really gets big and epic-sounding too. And for the first time you clearly hear how Javert joins Valjean in the "tomorrow is the judgement day" line!
5 points


Rankings, rankings...
London 1985: 31.5 + 4 = 35.5
Vienna 1988: 18.5 + 2 = 20.5
Paris 1991: 19 + 1 = 20
Denmark 1992: 17.5 + 3 = 20.5
10th Ann. 1995: 42.5 + 6 = 48.5
Dutch 2008: 37  + 7 = 44
Live! 2010: 30 + 5 = 35

So...
#1: 10th Ann. 1995: 48.5+
#2: Dutch 2008: 44+++
#3: London 1985: 35.5+
#4: Live! 2010: 35++
#5: Vienna 1988: 20.5++
#6: Denmark 1992: 20.5---
#7: Paris 1991: 20++

Look who's not last anymore! Getting pretty even...
We'll see if the situation changes in the battle of Eponines next time!

P.S. To the person who found my blog when searching slash fics with Valjean and Javert: not going to happen here...