Grade: A
Only in a musical penned by Tony Award-winner Lin-Manuel Miranda could a cabinet meeting be turned into a rap battle.
His second Broadway outing, the cast recording for “Hamilton” tells the story of “the 10-dollar Founding Father without a father,” though the score hardly sounds like it comes from the 18th century.
Miranda uses hip-hop to tell the story of Hamilton’s rise to the top of American political life, his downfall in the publishing of the Reynolds Pamphlet — and thus damaging his relationship with his wife Eliza — and his demise on the dueling ground at the hands of longtime friend/enemy Aaron Burr.
The opening song is a brilliant blend of orchestral music with rap lyrics that sets the audience up for seeing Hamilton’s life unfold.
Hamilton’s first big song, “My Shot” shows a young man with something to say and ready to say it to anyone within earshot. It’s easy to get the sense that revolution is in the air and big changes are about to happen in the colonies.
One of the album’s highlights is “The Schuyler Sisters,” where Hamilton’s wife Eliza and her sisters first appear. Envisioned as an R&B girl group in the vein of Destiny’s Child, it is clear that while Eliza is Hamilton’s wife, Angelica is the leader of the trio, and Renée Elise Goldsberry has total command of what Miranda has described as the most vocally demanding role in the show.
We also get to see Phillipa Soo, who plays Eliza, shine in “Helpless,” the number that details her first meeting and romance with Hamilton. There’s also “Burn,” one of the most heartbreaking songs in the musical theatre canon thanks to her performance.
But the pièce de résistance has to be “Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down).” The combination of piano, violin, record scratches, hip-hop beats and traditional 18th-century drinking songs make it easily the most intense song in the show.
All of the songs on this album are masterfully crafted by Miranda, composer Alex Lacaimore, Bill Sherman and Questlove Gomez and Tariq Trotter of the Roots.
Musical theater fans have eagerly anticipated the "Hamilton” cast album since the show’s off-Broadway run at the Public Theater in New York City, and the wait has been totally worth it.
The album has been streaming on NPR since Monday, and the digital copy of the album will be released Sept. 25, with physical copies being released at a later date.
