Beatles "Revolution": Review for "Across the Universe" Soundtrack
Joe Anderson plays Max, whose voice has a Beatles like tone. His covers of “Happiness Is a Warm Gun” and “I Want You” are very well done and his version of “Hey Jude” is fresh and new and has a sound that is somewhat like an homage to the original but still sounds new.
Dana Fuchs plays Sadie and her voice is very reminiscent of Janice Joplin (which is kind of a coincidence, due to her starring in a stage biography of the rocker called Love, Janice). Her “Why Don’t Do It the road?”, “Oh! Darling”, “Dear Prudence”, and “Helter Skelter” are really good, my favorite being “Oh! Darling”.
Martin Luther McCoy plays Jo Jo, and his rendition of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” is enough to make you weep. A smooth rock and roll sound with a mix of saucy R&B in it.
T.V. Carpio plays shy Prudence and she sings pretty well, if soft, version of “I Want to Hold Yor Hand”, which, in my opinion, is better than the original. I always thought it was a corny song anyways, but Prudence’s shyness in the song and the film make it a little melodramatic.
Guest singer Joe Cocker, famous for his rendition of a few Beatles songs, is back as he sings a raspy hard core version of “Come Together”. A bold new sound to an already brave song that broke the boundries of cool.
Eddie Izzard (TV’s The Riches) speaks the lyrics to “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite”. Where they got the original lyrics…a circus poster. I never cared for the original and this version is even worse, it sounds as if he is add libbing the entire thing and sounds very odd and discombobulated.
Bono and the Edge leave their mark on “I Am the Walrus”, which is perfect for them, a nice mixed version of a radical classic. His “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” is okay, but it doesn’t match the original. Almost none of these beat the originals. A few come close, but the Beatles made some of the greatest songs in history, and no one can beat someone who has already won the game… a long time ago.
Grade: A-