Hollywood never learns.
Hot on the heels of box-office failures Sgt.
Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Can't Stop the Music, comes the roller-skating Olivia Newton John in Xanadu.
This soundtrack is fluff stuff to be sure, but some pearls float amongst the mire.
Lead-off "Magic" remains a fine single.
"Suddenly," a duet ONJ ekes out with British luminary Cliff Richard, seems better than most love themes.
The sudden appearance of the Tubes almost saves the doomed swing/rock hybrid "Dancin," but the two styles should never meet.
The second half glows from the Electric Light Orchestra, soaring at its commercial height, escaping this crippling fairy tale fairly untarnished with three more hit bits: "I'm Alive," "All Over the World," and the Olivia Neutron Bomb showcase title track.
"Don't Walk Away" and "The Fall" stand as two of Jeff Lynne's finest, thus the flip nukes the front which should stay stuck to the theater floor.
Listening to this soundtrack may beat watching the actual film, but know that if you didn't dig Xanadu when it came out, the platter gains nothing through time.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MagicJohn Farrar | Olivia Newton-John, Electric Light Orchestra | Play | 04:28 | 10 MB | 24 MB |
| 2 | SuddenlyJohn Farrar | Olivia Newton-John, Electric Light Orchestra | Play | 03:59 | 9 MB | 19 MB |
| 3 | Suspended in TimeJohn Farrar | Olivia Newton-John, Electric Light Orchestra | Play | 03:53 | 8 MB | 18 MB |
| 4 | Whenever You're Away from MeJohn Farrar | Olivia Newton-John, Electric Light Orchestra | Play | 04:19 | 9 MB | 22 MB |
| 5 | I'm AliveJeff Lynne | Olivia Newton-John, Electric Light Orchestra | Play | 03:45 | 8 MB | 23 MB |
| 6 | The FallJeff Lynne | Olivia Newton-John, Electric Light Orchestra | Play | 03:35 | 8 MB | 17 MB |
| 7 | Don't Walk AwayJeff Lynne | Olivia Newton-John, Electric Light Orchestra | Play | 04:40 | 10 MB | 23 MB |
| 8 | All Over the WorldJeff Lynne | Olivia Newton-John, Electric Light Orchestra | Play | 04:05 | 9 MB | 23 MB |
| 9 | XanaduJeff Lynne | Olivia Newton-John, Electric Light Orchestra | Play | 03:27 | 7 MB | 21 MB |
| 10 | Dancin' | Olivia Newton-John, The Tubes | Play | 05:15 | 12 MB | 30 MB |
| 41 mins | 95 MB | |||||
| 41 mins | 226 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bev Bevan | Drums, Percussion, Timpani, Vocals |
| 2 | Michael Boddicker | Vocoder |
| 3 | Louis Clark | Strings |
| 4 | Michael Cotten | Synthesizer |
| 5 | Barry De Vorzon | Composer |
| 6 | Electric Light Orchestra | Performer, Primary Artist |
| 7 | John Farrar | Composer, Guitar, Producer, Synthesizer, Vocals |
| 8 | Mike Fink | Reissue Design |
| 9 | Ed Greene | Drums |
| 10 | Kelly Groucutt | Bass, Guitar (Bass), Percussion, Vocals (Background) |
| 11 | Richard Hewson | Arranger, Conductor, String Arrangements |
| 12 | David J. Holman | Engineer, Mixing |
| 13 | David Hungate | Bass |
| 14 | Gene Kelly | Performer, Vocals |
| 15 | Jeff Lynne | Composer, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Keyboards, Producer, Synthesizer, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 16 | Olivia Newton-John | Performer, Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 17 | George Osaki | Art Direction |
| 18 | Cliff Richard | Performer |
| 19 | Bill Spooner | Guitar |
| 20 | Roger Steen | Guitar |
| 21 | Richard Tandy | Keyboards, Piano, Synthesizer |
| 22 | The Tubes | Performer, Primary Artist |
| 23 | Carlos Vega | Drums |
| 24 | Jai Winding | Piano (Electric) |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |