Across The Universe [Deluxe Edition] | ![Across The Universe [Deluxe Edition]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/515rKA7hYWL._SL160_.jpg) | Artist: Various
Label: Interscope Records
Category: Music
List Price: $19.98
Buy Used: $8.69
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Seller: Buybacks_Beavercreek
Rating:  271 reviews
Sales Rank: 475
Format: Extra tracks, Soundtrack
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 2
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 5.5 x 4.9 x 0.4
UPC: 602517507739
EAN: 0602517507739
ASIN: B000WCBPOG
Release Date: October 23, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
Disc 1
| • | Girl - Jim Sturgess | | • | Hold Me Tight - Evan Rachel Wood | | • | All My Loving - Jim Sturgess | | • | I Want To Hold Your Hand - T.V. Carpio | | • | With A Little Help From My Friends - Jim Sturgess | | • | It Won't Be Long - Evan Rachel Wood | | • | I've Just Seen A Face - Jim Sturgess | | • | Let It Be - Carol Woods | | • | Come Together - Joe Cocker | | • | If I Fell - Evan Rachel Wood | | • | Dear Prudence - Evan Rachel Wood | | • | Flying - Secret Machines | | • | Blue Jay Way - Secret Machines |
Disc 2
| • | I Am The Walrus - Bono | | • | Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite - Eddie Izzard | | • | Because - Evan Rachel Wood | | • | Something - Jim Sturgess | | • | Oh! Darling - Dana Fuchs | | • | Strawberry Fields Forever - Jim Sturgess | | • | Revolution - Jim Sturgess | | • | While My Guitar Gently Weeps - Martin Luther McCoy | | • | Across The Universe - Jim Sturgess | | • | Helter Skelter - Dana Fuchs | | • | Happiness Is A Warm Gun - Salma Hayek | | • | Black Bird - Evan Rachel Wood | | • | Hey Jude - Dana Fuchs | | • | Don't Let Me Down - Dana Fuchs | | • | All You Need Is Love - Jim Sturgess | | • | Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds - Bono |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Given a track record littered by misfired oddities like the Bee Gees starring in the 1978 movie version of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, successfully transforming The Beatles' epochal oeuvre into film musicals has been an elusive alchemy. Yet director Julie Taymor's 1968-centered, socio-political romance is more than just a stunning visual achievement. Its soundtrack brings a crucially intimate, emotionally engaging sensibility to its rich catalog of Beatles source material. Using an approach she rightly dubbed "organic," Taymor never gets too ambitious with the original arrangements, balancing the plaintive, often stark performances of central young stars Jim Sturgess and Evan Rachel Wood with equally compelling turns by supporting players Carol Woods and Joe Anderson. The stars successfully evoke early Beatlemania via the energetic charms of Sturgess' "All My Loving" and Wood's "It Won't Be Long," then get straight to the canon's often melancholy heart on his take of "In My Life," and her gentle cover of "Blackbird." Taymor's use of star turns--the entire point of too many Beatles-rooted projects--is as sparing as it is deft. Eddie Izzard's effusive "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite" is the product of several edited improvisations, while U2's Bono and Edge re-imagine "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" by way of Pink Floyd. Joe Cocker's swamp-dirge "Come Together" shows why he's long been one of the best interpreters of the Lennon-McCartney catalog, and Dana Fuchs alternately evokes the heavenly and hellish via her tender "Dear Prudence," as well as her manic, Joplin-channeling burn through "Helter Skelter." Elsewhere on the CD, Bono teams with Secret Machine for the straightforward "I Am the Walrus," while the Dallas indie rockers also take dream-pop turns on the instrumental "Flying" and George Harrison's haunting "Blue Jay Way." Remarkably, Taymor claims the bulk of the performances here were not lip-synced, but recorded live as the cameras rolled.--Jerry McCulley
Album Description
ACROSS THE UNIVERSE - MUSIC FROM THE MOTION PICTURE DELUXE - 2 DISC VERSION A love story set in the 1960's amid the turbulent years of anti-war protest, mind exploration and rock `n roll. Jude (Jim Sturgess) and Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood), along with a small group of friends and musicians, are swept up into the emerging anti-war and counterculture movements with "Dr. Robert" (Bono) and "Mr. Kite" (Eddie Izzard) as their guides. FEATURING SONGS FROM THE GREATEST SONGWRITERS OF ALL TIME, PERFORMED BY THE CAST INCLUDING EVAN RACHEL WOOD, JIM STURGESS, DANA FUCHS, MARTIN LUTHER McCOY, BONO, JOE COCKER AND EDDIE IZZARD Package art will incorporate stills from pivotal scenes from the movie and a 16-page folder foldout poster with a strawberry image.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 271
 Excellent Beatles interpretations October 29, 2007
Redgecko (USA)
248 out of 252 found this review helpful
Interscope Records has released three variations of soundtrack albums from the film - a standard edition and two deluxe editions. The standard edition contains 16 tracks from the film soundtrack. The first version of the deluxe edition features 31 tracks - all of the vocal performances and one of the three instrumental tracks. This 31-track version is available solely at the Best Buy retail chain and in a digital version via iTunes. A second version of the deluxe edition is available at other retail outlets. The second version differs from the 31-track version in that it omits two tracks: "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" and "Why Don't We Do It In The Road?". The total time for these two missing tracks is 5 minutes.
If you can get the 31-track version without a lot of hassle, then do so. But see no point in buying the 16-song single CD version when for a few dollars more you get more than 54 minutes of extra music.
The 29-track version is excellent and worth the money. Virtually every song is done in a manner very different from the original by the Beatles and yet it is very enjoyable and tasteful. Great, innovative cover versions, an amazing feat.
A final comment. Interscope Records is to be disdained for releasing 2 different Deluxe versions and causing both buyers and sellers a lot of needless decision making problems. Obviously, Best Buys made some marketing arrangement with Interscope Records but created a lot of angst for buyers.
Across The Generations December 29, 2007
Maclen (Hawaii, USA)
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
I grew up with The Beatles and consider them the greatest pop/rock band. I also consider Lennon and McCartney the greatest composers of the 20th century, who were also blessed with fine voices and perfect harmony. So, when my daughter saw this movie and strongly recommended the soundtrack, I was very skeptical. I thought to myself: "Why is there yet another attempt to cover The Beatles' songs; with few exceptions, the results are abysmal."
But when I listened to these songs, reinterpreted by these talented singers, I was really impressed. Especially noteworthy are Jim Sturgess and Martin Luther McCoy; they are gifted performers. What struck me the most, however, was that all of these singers took on our generation's sacred songs (our zeitgeist) and succeeded in giving these songs vibrancy and new meaning.
Highlights:
"Girl"--Beautifully sung, but I wish he was allowed to finish the song.
"All My Loving"-- Again, Sturgess gets it right with all the youthful exuberance this song requires.
"Let It Be"--Fantastic! McCartney always intended this to by a church hymn, and I have heard gospel renditions by Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles, but the choir here is superb and makes this my favorite version of the song to date.
"Come Together"--I forget who told Joe Cocker that he was the only white man with soul, but this song showcases his talents. He brings a soulful, bluesy feeling to this song.
"I Am The Walrus"--While I still prefer Lennon's psychedelic, stream of consciousness in your face version, taking aim at his overzealous song critics, Bono is able to convey this anger with great success. Bono is wonderfully manic.
"Strawberry Fields Forever"--I never thought that I would hear a better version of Lennon's defining moment of introspection and self-doubt, but Sturgess captures this mood effectively, in a haunting and mesmerizing way.
"While My Guitar Gently Weeps"--This is worth the price of admission alone. McCoy even betters George Harrison (in "The "White Album" version with the hard-rocking Clapton backing and in "The Anthology" version with Harrison alone with his acoustic guitar.) McCoy starts out quiet and breathless and by the end wrings every emotion out of this song. His range and voice remind me of Seal's. This is my favorite song on the album.
"Across The Universe"--Sturgess takes a wordy, but extremely poetic Lennon song and does not stumble over the words, which is so easy to do. He is able to get at the core of the song and discover its purity. However, unlike Lennon, Sturgess sings defiantly and transforms the song into an anthem.
Shortcomings:
"Hold Me Tight"--This is the fault of the director and producer and not the performer. Lennon has admitted that this song was "filler" and far from his best. In this album, it is forgettable.
"Blue Jay Way"--Again, poor song choice. This is one of the worst songs by Harrison and on the "Magical Mystery Tour" album. It has no purpose other than droning on and on; it is no better on this album.
"Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite"--I prefer the original. Lennon is so much better than Izzard.
"Because"--This rendition is not bad; it's just not close to the original. The Beatles knew that they were breaking up on "Abbey Road," and they gave the performance of a lifetime on the album. It is reported that they painstakingly recorded many takes of this song to get the phrasing, harmony and pitch perfect. Listen to the version on "The Anthology" or "Love," since it is a cappella. It features McCartney taking the high part, Harrison the middle, and Lennon taking the bottom. Their lush three-part harmony is so tight and perfect, that it is difficult to tell who is singing what part. Their version has never been equalled.
"Revolution"--This is the only song sung by Sturgess that doesn't work for me. The original song is angry Lennon at his best, with distorted guitars augmenting his strident singing. Sturgess' version is too light and benign and seems misplaced.
"Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds"--In this song, Bono is banal. It's an average performance of a great song.
In sum, this is a wonderful album. The singers deserve credit for taking on the daunting task of The Beatles' canon and making it work, and more importantly, reinterpreting it so that it succeeds on its own merit. The fact that my daughter, who considers The Beatles "so last century," loves this album, and the fact that her die-hard Beatles' fan father loves it too, should speak volumes.
For a new generation of fans October 31, 2007
Divine Miss M (Los Angeles, CA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This soundtrack is a fantastic, modern interpretation for a new generation of fans. My best friend and I weren't Beatles fans before watching Across the Universe, but we were after. We LOVED the movie and the music - so much so that in addition to this album, I got 2 other Beatles albums. I know alot of old-school fans were displeased by the film, but it really is a tribute to the Beatles that only further enhances their legacy and longevity. I was especially impressed by the performance of Evan Rachel Wood, who I've watched since Once and Again. Who knew she had such a soulful voice, as evidenced on Blackbird? Timothy Mitchum on Let It Be is another standout on an album full of wonderful performances. This is the best soundtrack I've heard in a long time.
Marvelous Music! November 1, 2007
Robert A. Johnson (Terre Haute, IN)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
What a wonderful film! But, to the soundtrack: The 31 Beatles songs on the Best Buy version of the soundtrack are heartfelt and nicely sung. But what particularly impresses me are the instrumental backings provided by the musicians (courtesy T-Bone Burnett?) --- not radical re-workings, but subtle and luminous, nonetheless. They will make you marvel anew at the undimmed brilliance of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.
Across The Universe Soundtrack Is Awesome March 15, 2008
Sheryl A. Rabiniowitz
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Across The Universe is the best soundtrack and most real version of anything that I have heard to date, The actors and actresses express clear respect for the Beatles music and express utter awe for its power,
I hightly recommend that Beatles enthusiasts pick up a copy of this cd,
Showing reviews 1-5 of 271
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