When the London cast recording of Mamma Mia! was released, I predicted that it probably wouldn't sell all that well. After all, I thought, even if multitudes of people loved the show, why would they want an album packed with ABBA covers that were crafted to sound as close to the originals as possible when they could buy the ABBA Gold collection and have the real thing instead?
Well, that Mamma Mia! CD went on to become a huge hit, so I'm not even going to guess how high New Line Records' original Broadway cast recording of Rock of Ages will chart. Let me just say that the disc is filled with spot-on covers of hits by Journey, Night Ranger, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister, Poison, and other '80s phenoms. High vocal honors go to Constantine Maroulis, James Carpinello, Lauren Molina, Adam Dannheisser, and poor Amy Spanger, who has already left the show for personal reasons.
