Original Cast Recording. I had this recording for years before I saw the show, and was admittedly a little confused about the story. However, there are a lot of great things about it. The cast (which is primarily the same as the Broadway recording) is fabulous. Brian Stokes Mitchell's rendition of Make Them Hear You is fantastic. This recording also includes the song "The Show Biz" which was later replaced by "Atlantic City". It also has a slightly different version of "He Wanted To Say", which I prefer to the current one. All in all, it's a really good recording.

Original Broadway Cast Recording. If you're only planning on getting one Ragtime CD, I would definitely recommend this one. It's the entire show, has pretty much the same fabulous cast as the original recording, and also includes a lovely Ragtime Symphonic Suite at the end. The orchestrations are gorgeous, and it is just a wonderful recording of the show (much easier to follow the story!). My only other recommendation would be to see the show *before* buying this CD...it doesn't sound this good in the theatre! :-)