John Owen-Jones is the Phantom of the Opera. Not only on the UK tour (for which he is playing the principal role) but in his voice. Every song on his new album Unmasked is hauntingly beautiful. The album is a collection of well loved musical theatre songs, some of which you would never expect to see on an album like this.
The opening number Nature Boy from the film Moulin Rouge is a great choice of song and sets the bar high for the rest of the album.
A braver choice is the Tom Jones, James Bond theme song Thunderball. I would never have put these two singers in the same category but John pulls it off and it sounds wonderful proving his voice can adapt to any song.
Phantom of the Opera fans are treated to recordings of the classics Music of the Night and All I Ask of You followed by the magnificent Til I Hear You Sing from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sequel Love Never Dies. I love the way this has been done on the CD, treating both shows as equals and proving how worthy they both are of each other.
Somewhere from West Side Story as well as songs from Jeckyll and Hyde the Musical and Company the Musical contribute towards the 12 songs on this album. If you’re lucky enough to have the special edition recording, you will hear two bonus songs. Remixes of Bring Him Home and the Leonard Cohen classic Hallelujah.
Not featured on the album, is anything from Les Miserables, which is strange considering Jones’s role of Jean Valjean in the 25th Anniversary Tour of the show.
This is a wonderful recording that I happily listened to from beginning to end many, many times!
Want to know more about John Owen-Jones? Take a look at when he had Tea With Wilma recently here.
