Album Notes

Stephen, who provided the music and lyrics for the hit Broadway Musical WICKED, wrote and sung all 11 songs on Reluctant Pilgrim.

In addition, he plays keyboards on the CD as well and is joined by a small group of New York's finest pop musicians and back-up vocalists.

For the many fans familiar with Stephen's Broadway and film work, this CD shows a new side of the songwriter and may surprise some.

But if the tunes are more pop-oriented than expected, the lyrics still contain Stephen Schwartz's accustomed honesty, wit, and sharpness of observation.

The songs rage from funny (as in "Crowded Island" a mordant reflection on looking for love in New York City) to hopeful (as in "So Far", the tale of a relationship which has survived bumps and bruises) to poignant (as in "Life Goes On", a memory of a friend who died of AIDS) to downright weird (as in "Prestidigitation", the strange tale of a down-and-out magician with one last great trick up his sleeve.) Other highlights are the parent's lament "The Hardest Part of Love", the ode to second chances, "Cactus Flowers", and the evocative "Dreamscape", which provides the CD with it's title line: "Time to sail, reluctant pilgrim/My fear is all I've got to lose/Life is nothing/Nothing but a dreamscape, and the dream is mine to choose." The songs are all passionate, thought-provoking, memorable and above all, entertaining.