CD Odyssey Disc 1352: Soundtrack

Welcome back to the CD Odyssey! There’s a chance that you’re currently stuck in your house for 14 days. Don’t despair if this is you – there isn’t anything open for you to visit anyway. Also, one of the great things you can do in your home is listen to a little inspirational music. Here’s some of that for your consideration. If it doesn’t quite get you there, then go one step further and watch the movie.

Disc 1352 is….Xanadu Soundtrack

Artist: Mostly Olivia Newton-John and Electric Light Orchestra

Year of Release: 1980

What’s up with the Cover? In Xanadu, did Kublai Khan a stately art deco font decree…

When my mom remarried, we moved in with my awesome stepfather, Lawrence, who lived in a rural house right on the beach. Lawrence and my Mom quite rightly regarded the place as a paradise and named it “Xanadu” (it was the eighties, and this was not as hokey then as it sounds now…).

I agreed to make a wooden sign tracing the font from the album cover. I had grandiose plans of first carving the shape out of wood, and then painting it for installation at the front of the driveway. A combination of teenage laziness and a complete lack of talent with woodworking meant that project was never completed, but I had good intentions.

How I Came To Know It: I knew this album since the movie came out when I was a kid. Unlike a lot of boys my age, I did not love this movie solely because Olivia Newton-John was incredibly hot. I liked it for three distinct reasons: 1. I liked the music, 2. The movie was loosely based around the Greek myth of the nine muses and 3. Olivia Newton-John was incredibly hot.

Anyway, the album was pretty popular and either my mom or stepdad owned it (I forget who) and I’d put it on from time to time. I never thought to get it as an adult, but Sheila is a huge fan and so I bought it for her as a present recently. In the process, I was reminded that I like it too.

How It Stacks Up:  I have a lot of soundtracks, and every time I think I’m done I end up with a few more and have to put out a new ranking list. This is one of those times. “Xanadu” holds its own, and has some sentimental value going for it as well. I’ll rank it #12 out of 33. Here’s the exhaustive recap:

1.  The Harder They Come: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 371)
2. Saturday Night Fever: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 392)
3. Hedwig and the Angry Inch: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 225).
4. True Detective: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 942)
5. The Matrix:  4 stars (reviewed at Disc 291)
6. Magnolia:  4 stars (reviewed at Disc 181)
7. Crooklyn:  4 stars (reviewed at Disc 75)
8. Swingers:  4 stars (reviewed at Disc 12)
9. A Kind of Magic: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 749)
10. Flash Gordon: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 659)
11. Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 681)
12. Xanadu: 3 stars (reviewed right here)
13. Into the Wild:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 260)
14. Pulp Fiction:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 102)
15. Elizabethtown:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 33)
16. Highway 61:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 230)
17. O Brother Where Art Thou:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 386)
18. Buffy The Vampire Slayer:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 216)
19. Reservoir Dogs:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 116)
20. Jackie Brown:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 30)
21. Transamerica:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 402)
22. Les Miserables:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 111)
23. Heavy Metal:  2 stars (reviewed at Disc 1327)
24. Big Night:  2 stars (reviewed at Disc 215)
25. The Warriors:  2 stars (reviewed right here)
26. James Bond:  2 stars (reviewed at Disc 103)
27. One From the Heart: 2 stars (reviewed at Disc 935)
28. About a Boy:  2 stars (reviewed at Disc 252)
29. Chess:  2 stars (reviewed at Disc 156)
30. Honeymoon in Vegas:  2 stars (reviewed at Disc 17)
31. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat:  1 star (reviewed at Disc 284)
32. Moulin Rouge:  1 star (reviewed at Disc 151)
33. Natural Born Killers:  0 stars (reviewed at Disc 302)

Ratings: 3 stars but almost 4

You can be as cheesy as you like, as long as you write good songs. On this soundtrack the songwriting talents of John Farrar and Jeff Lynne combine to prove just that. This stuff is vintage 1980 cheese, but listening to this album, you won’t care. You’ll just have a good time, which was what the movie and the music wanted you to do all along.

On the soundtrack, Farrar and Lynne basically get one side each. This would have been great on a cassette or vinyl – maybe even 8-track if you got lucky with those random places the buttons used to take you on those things. If you only liked one of the artists, you could skip the other one. Of course if you did that, you’d be an idiot; they are both oodles of fun. Just play the whole thing, flipping it over if your format requires it.

Overall, the Lynne/ ELO tracks are the stronger songs, but it helps that Farrar’s tracks get more of Olivia Newton-John’s sweet pop vocals. Newton-John has a great voice that infuses every song she sings with a natural joy.

My favourite of Side One is “Suddenly,” which is a duet between Newton-John and some British singer named Cliff Richards. This is one of those songs that is really hard to sing, but that everyone sings along with anyway because it just feels so good to belt out “suddenly…the wheels are in motion…” with Cliff and Olivia. It’s like starring in your own romantic musical.

Less good is “Dancin’” a weird mashup of big band and rock (a duet between Newton-John and the Tubes) that is stitched together like Frankenstein’s Monster. Each song is passable on its own, but really annoying and unfocused as some kind of pre-Pitch Perfect experiment.

ELO takes over for Side Two, with their signature synth-rock sound. Not everyone likes ELO’s deal, but if you’re like me and you do, “Xanadu” features some of their best stuff. The space age anthem of “I’m Alive” is as life-affirming as the similarly titled Pearl Jam hit, without all that angst weighing down the fun of it all.

“Don’t Walk Away” is a romantic anthem routine that should have long ago been featured on some contemporary dance routine on So You Think You Can Dance, but sadly, has not. C’mon, Travis Wall, throw me a bone.

Side Two’s worst offender is “All Over the World” which is still featured at ELO live shows but has never been a favourite of mine. Feels a bit too much like a Club Med Ad or something.

The album ends with the best of both worlds, with the title track; an ELO song featuring Olivia Newton-John singing lead. The synthy goodness of ELO is paired with ONJ’s pure tones, which even go into an angelic breathy head-voice right when you think it can’t get any better. “Xanadu” is also another sing-along winner, where you can haltingly follow along as Olivia belts out “Xanadu-oo-woo…” and all is right with the world. Lyrically it’s a far cry from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s masterpiece, but who gives a shit? It’s got plenty of synths, strings and anthemic pop glory to make up for it.

“Xanadu” is far from a perfect record, but it is a damn good time, and has some top-notch pop songs. It is also written specifically for a musical, and is arguably the movie’s biggest star, giving all the songs a cohesive theme. That’s more than you can say for most of the soundtracks above, including many that rank ahead of it on the list.

Best tracks: Magic, Suddenly, I’m Alive, The Fall, Don’t Walk Away, Xanadu

CD Odyssey Disc 266: ELO

This latest album was in my car for three days, which turned out to be three days too many. So it goes...

Disc 266 is...Out of the Blue

Artist: Electric Light Orchestra

Year of Release: 1977

What’s Up With The Cover?: This album brought to you by the makers of "Simon". This is the second use of the game of "Simon" by ELO, as it was also featured on their "Discovery" album (reviewed back at Disc 134).

Seriously, does the spaceship have to repeat the pattern of blinking lights before the docking bay opens? As over the top as this album cover is, it pales in comparison to the inside of what was once likely the double record fold-out. Check out this groovy shot, which looks like a screen shot from "Masters of Orion II". If this were a screen shot from MOO II, I would be colonizing the planet on the left over the one on the right. But I digress...

How I Came To Know It: I believe I bought this album for Sheila, thinking she'd like another ELO album. Sheila loves music like I do, but isn't quite so...er...fervent...in her desire to own all the albums of bands she likes. Consequently, this record receives very little airplay.

How It Stacks Up: We have three ELO albums, so this is will be my final review of them (unless I buy more, which I don't see happening). Of the three we have, this is far and away the worst.

Rating: 2 stars

I've waxed poetic on previous ELO albums about how they may be seventies synth pop, but they surprise me with how good they are. I usually enjoy Jeff Lynne's production, and the songs are both catchy and well written.

Well, there is always room for an exception to the rule, and "Out of the Blue" is it. This album truly annoyed me. All the seventies pop sensibilities are there as before, but what is missing is anything deeper. Apart from finding a hint of cowbell on "Night in the City" very little stood out on this record.

If anything, it sounds like a bad Beatles album, or empty doo-wop from the sixties, with a synth modulating the vocals every now and again. I don't like the Beatles all that much, but at least they're - you know - the Beatles. Jeff Lynne may be a gifted producer, but the Beatles he is not.

Later ELO albums find their own niche. 1979's "Discovery" works in a disco sound, that when combined with the doo-wop and synth gives ELO a very unique and listenable sound. "Discovery" also benefits from superior songwriting.

1981's "Time" is an ambitious concept album that successfully delivers its own unique sound.

By comparison to these, "Out of the Blue" sounds painfully generic. I felt like I might as well have been back in the seventies, listening to AM radio. AM radio was not good in the seventies, nor has it aged well. These songs are sleepy, and indistinct, and even the 'hits' ("Turn to Stone" and "Sweet Talkin' Woman" aren't particularly interesting.

Worst of all, as you'll note the cover of the disc advertises this is a "2 - Record Set on 1 Compact Disc". O, the joy. Just what I needed, twice as much of this forgettable top forty schlock.

The worst sin "Out of the Blue" committed was making me see the other two ELO albums in a different, lesser light. This is too bad, because these guys are capable of making some good stuff, but this one didn't do it for me. I'm only keeping it because Sheila likes a couple of the hits and pleaded for clemency.

Because I've heard worse, and some of the songs are serviceable if you aren't paying close attention, I am going to give this record a bare 2 stars, and then I'm going to get back out in the Maelstrom and hope for something better at the next port of call.

Best tracks: umm...I'll go with "Summer and Lightning"

CD Odyssey Disc 134: ELO

Well from a combination of punk, metal and rock to a combination of pop, do-wop and disco. The Odyssey - it gets around

Disc 134 is...Discovery
Artist: E.L.O. (Electric Light Orchestra)

Year of Release: 1979

What’s Up With The Cover?: An arab boy appears to have received an electronic game of "Simon" for his birthday. No, wait - that's just the ELO symbol. Still, I think the last sequence was red - yellow - blue - blue - yellow. Or did it start yellow - blue - red? Let the hilarity ensue!

How I Came To Know It: This is a pretty big record for ELO. I am pretty sure I heard a lot of these songs as a kid. My more recent 'discovery' of it was buying it one day with Sheila. ELO is a guilty pleasure for both of us.

How It Stacks Up: We have three ELO albums. I'd say this is solidly in the middle of the three.

Rating: 3 stars.

While this isn't my favourite ELO album, I think it was very successful in it's time. The first track is "Shine A Little Love" and the last one is "Don't Bring Me Down," both of which got solid radio play in 1979.

Of course, "Don't Bring Me Down" has one of the most misheard lyrics of all time. Just what does he say after "don't bring me down?" Believe it or not, the answer is "gruce" - or as spelled in the liner notes - "grroosss." I have no idea what it means, and I kind of enjoy not knowing.

Coming out in 1979, it is no surprise that "Discovery" has a very strong disco element - in particular "Last Train To London" which sounds like a Bee Gees song. This is not a bad thing. When I was young, and even through my teens and early twenties I had absolutely no time for disco. If you wanted any street cred as a metalhead it wasn't enough to avoid disco - you had to actively hate it. I took on the challenge with gusto.

How wrong I was though. I still love metal of course, but now there is room in my life for all kinds of disco music - Chic, the BeeGees and ELO when they are feeling funky.

Sometimes ELO doesn't feel funky, and instead channels fifties do-wop. Strangely, this is something that Blue Oyster Cult will occasionally do as well. I think it must be a function of the age of folks like Jeff Lynne and Eric Bloom of BOC, who would've had early experience with that kind of music.

As an aside, when I was a very small kid, I would sometimes get Jeff Lynne and Eric Bloom mixed up. They were both lead singers with great afros, and a penchant for wearing aviator sunglasses in their photo shoots. The fact that both their bands would sneak in a little do wop just added to the confusion.

Speaking of "Confusion", that is one of my favourite tracks on the record - with Lynne singing 'confusion' in staccato falsetto. I love the liner notes he adds to this remaster edition at the front of the song:

"I'd just got hold of the very latest synthesizer, the Yamaha CS-80. The song is based entirely on the sound it made."

Nice, and worth noting at this point that the Remastering of "Discovery" isn't limited to just new liner notes - the production is strong as well. The record sounds great, and while the song list is expanded from the original nine to twelve, two of the three added songs are two little demos under a minute. The third is an inspired remake of Del Shannon's "Little Town Flirt." It is a top notch cover of a song I forgot how much I liked.

This album might not move me emotionally, but it is a lot of fun, and who doesn't love the liberal use of the CS-80?

Best tracks: Shine A Little Love, Confusion, Last Train to London, Don't Bring Me Down, Little Town Flirt

CD Odyssey Disc 70: ELO

From seventies folk-rock to eighties disco-pop. The CD Odyssey rolls on...

Disc 70 is...Time

Artist: E.L.O. (Electric Light Orchestra)

Year of Release: 1981

How I Came To Know It: I had heard ELO as a kid on the radio, but it was Sheila that made me appreciate them. "Time" is one of her favourite albums. More often than not, whether we are playing a game, or picking music for a trip, or deciding what to paint the house to, when I ask for her to pick an album, "Time" is often the response.

How It Stacks Up: We have three ELO albums. "Time" is definitely the best of the bunch.

Rating: 4 stars.

In the "How I Came To Know It" I note this is one of Sheila's favourite albums. What I didn't add is how much is has become one of my favourites as well.

The first thing I noticed about this album was the overall strength of the songs. This is quality pop music, coming out at a time (1981) where there was an overabundance of schlock (think Air Supply). There are no wasted tracks, although I particularly like the dressed down "Rain Is Falling." Dressed down that is, in comparison to the normal song in the synth/disco/pop world of ELO.

The songs that have a lot of production are just as good, though - and that is the second thing that struck me about this album; the incredible production. Whether it is his own projects with ELO or with others (Tom Petty's "Full Moon Fever" comes to mind), Jeff Lynne does consistently excellent production work.

"Time" is a concept album about time-travel and futuristic themes. The record is filled with heavy synthesizer, and widely varying voice production ranging from do-wop to almost techno in sound (often both techniques within the same song). Lynne blends all of this seamlessly, in a way that makes you feel the future, but at the same time never lose the human undertones that allows you to emotionally connect with the work.

There are also some great anachronistic "future" lyrics that sound funny now, like this from "Yours Truly 2095":

"I drive the very latest hover car.
I don't know where you are
- but I miss you so much 'til then
I met someone who looks a lot like you
She does the things you do,
but she is an IBM."

But then from the same song, lines with an eerie modern resonance:

"She is the latest in technology
Almost mythology
But she has a heart of stone
She has an IQ of 1001
She has a jump suit on
And she's also a telephone."

Did Jeff Lynne stare Nostradamus-like into the future and foresee the rise of the i-phone?

While a few lyrics can be goofy, "Time" really works as a cohesive piece of art. The songs are strong without any real duds, and they manage to be complementary to one another, yet distinctive in their own right (this balance is a key part of the chemistry of a good concept album).

The version we have has three bonus tracks, two of which I could live without. However, the third "Julie Don't Live Here Anymore" is well worth having, so I can suffer the other two for it.

In closing, this is unique blend of pop music, sci fi imaginings, a cohesive album concept and not a small amount of disco. You'll likely never see that again. Er...on second thought, The Alan Parsons Project's "I Robot", also gets a tick in all those boxes, but that is for another review.

For now - take my advice, and take Sheila's advice. This album is worth having. You won't be disappointed.

Best tracks: Twilight, Rain is Falling, The Lights Go Down, Here is the News, 21st Century Man, Julie Don't Live Here.