Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Merano - Murray Head, The Ambrosian Singers, London Symphony Orchestra, Anders Eljas
2. The Russian And Molokov/Where I Want To Be - Denis Quilley, Tommy Körberg, The Ambrosian Singers, London Symphony Orchestra, Anders Eljas
3. Opening Ceremony - Björn Skifs, The Ambrosian Singers, London Symphony Orchestra, Anders Eljas
4. Quartet (A Model Of Decorum And Tranquillity) - Elaine Paige, Tommy Körberg, Denis Quilley, Björn Skifs
5. The American And Florence/Nobody's Side - Elaine Paige, Murray Head
6. Chess - London Symphony Orchestra, Anders Eljas
7. Mountain Duet - Tommy Körberg, Elaine Paige, London Symphony Orchestra, Anders Eljas
8. Florence Quits - Elaine Paige, Murray Head
9. Embassy Lament - Tommy Körberg, The Ambrosian Singers, London Symphony Orchestra, Anders Eljas
10. Anthem - Tommy Körberg

Disc 2:

1. Bangkok/One Night In Bangkok - Murray Head
2. Heaven Help My Heart - Elaine Paige, London Symphony Orchestra, Anders Eljas
3. Argument - Elaine Paige, Tommy Körberg
4. I Know Him So Well - Elaine Paige, Barbara Dickson
5. The Deal (No Deal) - Murray Head, Tommy Körberg, Elaine Paige
6. Pity The Child - Murray Head
7. Endgame - Murray Head, Tommy Körberg, Elaine Paige, Denis Quilley, Barbara Dickson, The Ambrosian Singers, London Symphony Orchestra, Anders Eljas
8. Epilogue: You And I/The Story Of Chess - Elaine Paige, Tommy Körberg, The Ambrosian Singers, London Symphony Orchestra, Anders Eljas

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2034 in Music
• Released on: 1996-03-04
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: Box set, Soundtrack
• Dimensions: .26 pounds
• Running time: 93 minutes

From the Artist
Just a quickie to thank all who have made kind Amazon comments about Chess (I have only just discovered them, having been told about them by my daughter). The music of Chess still sounds as wonderful today as it did when we recorded the original album in 1984 and I honestly believe B&B's work here stands comparison with any post-war musical. I will not comment on the words! We are all determined to produce a theatrical version of the show that matches up to the quality of the score before we shuffle off this mortal coil. To date productions have ranged from the reasonable to the dire. I am convinced that if we stick to the original structure, resisting the tempatation to "explain" everything by unnecessary dialogue, we can make a stage show work and put this marvellous score up there where it belongs. The Danish CD is a good one by the way (nothing to do with us). Tim Rice

Customer Reviews

The musical about lost love and bitter rivalries
There have been many incarnations of CHESS but this is the original concept album written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA with veteran Tim Rice. The score is an amazing amalgam of soaring classical orchestras, rock, pop and choral singing.

Benny and Björn have always had an ear for the dramatic and with the added bonus of some very witty and sensitive lyrics by Tim Rice, this album is a true classic. The story is that of East versus West as Chess champions square up for the world championships, only for the American's lover to fall in love with the Russian opponent.

There are many fantastic moments on this CD - the bitter exhillarating climax ('You can slink back to your pawns and to your tarts!'), the comical merchandisers (Maybe it's a bit confusing for a game - but Rubiks Cubes were much the same), diplomats (No one's way of life is threatened by a flop - but we're gonna smash their bastard!) and civil servants ('He will not see you - with respect it buggers up his very taxing schedule') and the tender and heart-rending love songs.

'One Night In Bangkok' and 'I Know Him So Well' were both international smash hits but belie a very intelligent and thrilling musical. It is a true original classic.

Wonderful music, undeservedly failed in the theatres
The song "I Know Him So Well" was No. 1 for 4 weeks in the UK and prompted me to make my first ever musical purchase - Chess. In nearly 20 years I have never tired of it and am still moved when I listen to many of the songs. The emotional highlight for me is the song "Pity the Child", a heart-rending outpouring of raw emotion from the twisted American player (based on Bobby Fisscher) which ends with a superb guitar solo.
Reviews of the stage musical always seem to say something like "some good music, but deeply flawed", without explaining what the flaws were. I don't see it - I saw the show in London, loved it, and would love to see it again.
Anyway, whatever the merits or shortcomings of the show (sadly not available on DVD or Video), the music is exceptional. It is a mix of rock and orchestral music (contrast the two singles, "I Know Him So Well" and "One Night in Bangkok"); it has some beautiful duets (trios, quartets...) with lovely interleaved melodies and some very elegant and clever lyrics by Tim Rice.
If I could, I would give it a hundred stars. This is, I think, my favourite album bar none.

Chess- a superb yet underrated musical
"Chess" is usually regarded by critics as being a somewhat patchy follow up to Abba's music- very good in places, yet too corny and cheesy for sophisticated theatre audiences as a whole.

However, I believe it is a very underrated musical, certainly on hearing it for myself(I have yet to see it on stage, for I'm only 20 and thereby too young to have been able to see it initially). I think part of the problem with critics is that they may have thought that because Andersson and Ulvaeus were from Abba, they expected "Chess" to be like Abba's music. And let's face it, if you don't like Abba's music in the first place, you're not going to take projects like this seriously, are you?

To counter the critics- it needs to be emphasised that this was intended to go beyond Abba, even if Andersson and Ulvaeus' roots obviously lay there. Sure, there are the classic pop songs- most notably "One Night in Bangkok" and "I Know Him So Well"- and both are very good songs. But there is SO much more to Ulvaeus and Andersson's composing than pop- within Chess there is some amazing orchestration(e.g. "Merano", "Chess", "Endgame") that shows their talents as composers. There is also a vast range of songs within the musical- solos, duets, trios, even quartets- which further highlight the versatility of the Swedish duo.

As for lyrics, Tim Rice is able to veer between the humourously sarcastic (Take "One Night in Bangkok", "Where I Want to Be") and the touchingly poignant ("I Know Him So Well", "Heaven Help My Heart"). That takes some skill to do that- and much as he had done before with "Cats", "Evita" and "Jesus Christ Superstar" Tim Rice manages to strike gold here with his creativity.

Without doubt, any musical which combines an intellectual board game, the Cold War and a complicated love story would be a massive gamble to take, given that chess and politics are not renowned for being sexy. Yet superb music and a mix of witty oneliners and powerful ballads combined to produce a musical of masterful genius. In my view, the 3 best bits on the OST album are:

1) "One Night in Bangkok"- okay, probably the corniest song in the musical, but the American's lyrics are incredibly acerbic, and the chorus sticks in the head!
2) "I Know Him So Well"- an absolutely beautiful, flawless song. Think Abba at their best combined with wonderfully elegant yet poignant lyrics by Rice. Elaine Paige and Barbra Dickson really could not have sung that song better, though.
3)"Opening Ceremony (Arbiter's Song)"- superb rock song, and incredibly catchy beat and lyrics. Plus Bjorn Skifs is a fantastic singer, if you've heard "Hooked On A feeling" by Blue Swede from "Reservoir Dogs" you will know what I mean.

Overall, this is a superb project, and one that showed that the guys from Abba were in fact accomplished musicians(indeed, working with Tim Rice would have boosted their credibility in any case). However, it needs to be said that this is very underrated by many. Okay, there are a few moments where the music "could" be considered to be cheesy pop, but for the most part this is sophisticated music that is wider ranging than what Abba achieved. It's just a pity I probably won't be able to see this musical!