Album Review

Gordon Bailey [allmusic.com]

It's a shame any discussion of the Xanadu soundtrack inevitably gets mired down in how disappointing the movie was. Well, forget that. Jeff Lynne is at a songwriting peak here and ELO's contributions are fantastic. 'Xanadu' (the song) is quite simply one of the great pop/rock songs of all time; Jeff Lynne recorded a somewhat harder-rocking version himself and it's too bad it's not on this album, but Olivia acquits herself well on it, and also on 'Magic,' which is a nifty little tune. Still, it's the block of ELO songs on side two that you'll remember. Lynne concocts some of his catchiest melodies and most appealing orchestrations to songs such as 'I'm Alive,' 'All Over the World,' and 'Don't Walk Away.' And then there's 'The Fall,' one of the few tracks on the album not issued as a single, and it is breathtaking. Just wonderful stuff all around. It would not be farfetched to equate Xanadu with Magical Mystery Tour- an ill-fated film project with an incredible music score. In Xanadu's case, the result was a multi-platinum album containing six hit singles. Most bands would be delighted with that kind of failure.