Shopping > Across the Universe [Deluxe Version]
Across the Universe [Deluxe Version]
![Across the Universe [Deluxe Version]](http://o.aolcdn.com/shopping.aol.com/img/spacer.gif "Across the Universe [Deluxe Version]")
Price Range: $14.38 - $14.97
- Composer: Elliot Goldenthal.Audio Mixers: Joel Iwataki; Mike Piersante; Brandon Mason.Recording information: Brooklyn Recording, New York, NY; Legacy Recording, New York, NY; Manhattan Center, New York, NY; The Village, Los Angeles, CA.Author: Julie Taymor.The 2007 movie musical ACROSS THE UNIVERSE celebrates beloved songs by the Beatles in the context of a fictional romantic tale from director Julie Taymor. Anchored by young love-struck characters named Jude (Jim Sturgess) and Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood), the film features the cast, which also includes Joe Cocker and U2's Bono, performing Fab Fou...r tunes with great gusto. Among the many highlights of the soundtrack are Sturgess's emotive rendition of the title track, Cocker's stomping version of "Come Together," and an energetic take on "I Am the Walrus" by Bono and the Secret Machines. Like Cirque du Soleil's LOVE show, UNIVERSE presents Beatles classics cast in a dramatic light, giving the album a wide appeal with its boisterous, Broadway veneer.As soundtracks to Beatles-inspired movies go, Across the Universe -- the companion piece to Julie Taymor's pseudo-psychedelic fantasmagoria extravaganza that tells the story of the '60s through the tunes of the Fab Four -- has bewilderingly gaudy moments, but it's not as appallingly tacky as Sgt. Pepper or as stuffy as All This and World War II. Still, Taymor's overly designed fantasia is at once too tasteful and too garish, which is an odd combination for an odd movie -- and something that may be more gripping onscreen than it is on record. Dana Fuchs furiously channels Melissa Etheridge (especially on "Helter Skelter") when her performance is isolated as music, although the biggest surprise is that Bono not only looks like a dead ringer for Robin Williams in the film, but he sounds a bit like him too, with overly earnest readings of "I Am the Walrus" and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." Much of the rest slides by agreeably enough. Jim Sturgess has the same plainspoken delivery as Ewan MacGregor in Moulin Rouge, which helps in love songs from "All My Loving" to "Something" -- and he does a credible job on the rockabilly revamp of "I've Just Seen a Face" -- while Joe Cocker steals the show with his slinky, funky, spacy version of "Come Together." And, apart from Bono and Fuchs' too-strong soulful belting, nothing is distracting -- but the biggest strength of Across the Universe may be that, when considered in its entirety, it mainly whets the appetite for the original recordings. [The deluxe version of Across the Universe is a double-disc, 29-track set containing almost all of the songs featured in Taymor's film, all presented in the order they are in the film.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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