Music Maniac

Today I wanted to do a review of one of my personal favorite musicals, Across The Universe.  For those of you that don’t know this movie your missing out. Well if you like Beatles tunes that is.  I was raised properly so I have a strong respect for the music that The Beatles recorded.  One of my favorite things about the movies soundtrack is the way that they revamped these wonderful classics.

Generally I have at least one or two of the songs from this soundtrack on my play-lists.  Currently I have “Across the Universe”,  and “I Am The Walrus” on my list.  These are just two of the amazing songs on this two disk set that are so very worth listening to.

I’ve seen/heard soundtracks that have remakes of old songs that are god awful and one has to wonder what the composers were thinking when they committed them to tape.  I found the revisions of the songs on the soundtrack to be really strong.  The songs seem as though they were done with the actors in mind who sung them.  They have all the emotion of the original versions and in some cases a bit more.

Carol Woods’ rendition of Let It Be is an emotional roller-coaster that leaves you feeling drained but sated.  Martin Luther McCoy breaths new life into “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” that will leave you weeping in a good way.  The song slowed down a bit from it’s original version has a sense of loss that is hard to compare.  His vocals seem to me made for this particular piece in the way he is able to almost float over the music and transform his voice into another instrument, one that could be argued was missing from the original recording.

One other singer/actor I want to mention is Dana Fuchs.  This woman has the power and presence of Janis Joplin from way back in the day.  Her songs have a stron emotional pull with a ragged edge that at once seems harsh and yet some how soothing. Of the 4 songs Dana has on the soundtrack it’s hard to choose a favorite, however I really loved they way she sang “Helter Skelter” and “Dont’ Let Me Down”.

I would also be remiss if I didn’t also mention one of the most surprising pieces on the soundtrack, “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” sung by T.V. Carprio.  This was a surprising twist and T.V.’s character is a lesbian and the song is sung to an unrequited love interest at the beginning of the film.  That was some thing I just didn’t see coming but seem to fit flawlessly with the song.

So there you go.  Love the Beatles and a good musical?  Then go out and pick up a copy of “Across the Universe” and prepare to be blown away.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS