Jesus Christ Superstar is a 1970 album musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, on which the 1971 rock opera of the same name was based.  Initially unable to get backing for a stage production, the composers released it as an album, the success of which led to stage productions. 

The original 1970 boxed-set issue of this two-record set (this Listed Item) was packaged in the U.S. with a special thin brown cardboard outer box ("The Brown Album"; "Concept Album") which contained the two vinyl records and a 28-page libretto (all included in this listing, see photos).

In the U.S., the double album was released on October 27, 1970.  Less than three weeks later, on November 16, it achieved gold status ($1 million in sales).

The album topped the U.S. Billboard Top LP's chart in both February and May 1971 and ranked number one in the year-end chart ahead of Carole King's massive hit Tapestry.  It also served as a launching pad for numerous stage productions on Broadway and in the West End.  The album musical is a musical dramatisation of the last week of the life of Jesus Christ, beginning with his entry into Jerusalem and ending with the Crucifixion.  It was originally banned by the BBC on grounds of being "sacrilegious".  By 1983, the album had sold over seven million copies worldwide.