Just as Handel composed "Messiah" and Bach wrote his "St Matthew Passion," so Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice have produced "Jesus Christ—Superstar."

An outrageous statement, some will say. How dare they? But the point is that Handel, Bach, Lloyd Webber, and Rice have all created music which tells the same story in the language of their day….

I guess a lot of people will laugh at it. Had it been called "Buddah—Superstar," or "Meher Baba—Freak's Guru," the same people would have taken it very seriously indeed.

Having listened to the whole thing several times now, I'm sure that the pair have undertaken the venture in an honest way, and have come up with a considerable achievement, against all the odds….

It's not, of course, without its faults, as it's virtually impossible to tell this story in its original context with all the paraphernalia of rock without having the odd hang-up somewhere. Person-ally, I feel that the odd word or phrase is slightly out of tone with the music….

I don't want anybody to get the impression that "Jesus Christ—Superstar" is to be compared in terms of aesthetic success to Handel and Bach. Even if it were, it would take decades to realise it. What I do think is that it's an honest attempt at a very hard job, and the amount of artistic success which is already definitely apparent is surprising and pleasing. The work demands more serious listening than it'll probably get.