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Average Rating : 
Rating :  - Decent, but not great.
This being the only complete recording, if you really desperately want all the bits and pieces of music that don't usually make it onto the soundtracks, you'll probably want to buy it. Aside from that, there is really only one compelling reason to buy this recording, and that is Philip Quast. Though I hate to repeat something everyone else has already said, he really is an excellent Javert -- definitely the best I've heard so far.
Most of the other singers are decent, but not outstanding -- I do think Kaho Shimada was something of a poor choice for Eponine, though. While she can sing, and I like her on the Japanese Red Cast album, her heavy accent detracts from her performance somewhat. It was a nice idea to have someone from one of the non-English-language performances on the album, but perhaps they could have found someone who spoke the language a little better.
Furthermore (and more importantly), I greatly dislike Gary Morris's Valjean, which ruins quite a bit of this recording for me. His performance just feels cheesy, and it looks even worse next to Quast's Javert. Some people do like him, so your mileage may vary here, but I really think he's the worst thing about the album (and as Valjean is more or less the protagonist and has a part in quite a few songs in both acts, it's worse than if the weak link were, say, Fantine).
So, to sum up, this recording has one outstandingly good performance, one outstandingly bad one, and quite a few decent but largely forgettable ones. I don't particularly regret buying it, but I can't recommend it with any enthusiasm. Honestly, my best advice is to get Javert's tracks off of iTunes and leave the rest.
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