Artists scoring movie soundtracks is nothing new but the rush of interest in the 1980s meant battle lines were not drawn. Queen threw themselves at just about any middling sci-fi project that would take them while Bob Dylan turned his hand to starring in and singing about miserable films elsewhere. Electric Light Orchestra and Jeff Lynne even appeared interested in the motion pictures of the time. They were no Nick Cave and Warren Ellis when it comes to consistent quality in feature film scores but Xanadu, the album of tracks made for a tie-in with the film of the same name, was an expected attempt. Every other band of the time was wading through the waters of film score, why not E.L.O.? Just a year after Discovery and you can hear the struggle taking hold of Lynne and the band.
Prolific efforts were beginning to take their toll. Lynne is a workhorse through and through, an admirable frontman who can knock out one of the most culturally significant albums in a fortnight. Yet the qualities of Out of the Blue are all dried up for Xanadu. Their experience with Xanadu is more an EP set and an Olivia Newton-John collaboration. She was the star of the film, after all. Dominating the A-Side of the soundtrack with help from Gene Kelly and Cliff Richard of all people, E.L.O. are left in the shadows, waiting to strike with the likes of I’m Alive and All Over the World. Newton-John rushes through a jazzy Dancin’ and a romantic flurry on Suddenly. Soundtrack fodder which makes for decent background music but, when studied, begins to wilt. They are decent works dependent more on Newton-John’s voice than anything else.
The change in tone when E.L.O. takes over is immediate. I’m Alive has the intensity of Out of the Blue but not the quality. Decent works from the band who are given a twenty-minute slot to make the most of. Lynne and the band feel like they are on autopilot for much of this but The Fall has a nice swing to it, the usual rush of acoustic guitar joys paired with strings announcing an urgency before Richard Tandy appears with skilful piano and instrumental work. All the hallmarks of an E.L.O. song without the heart behind it. How can much love be put into a soundtrack for a romantic slop showcase starring an aged Gene Kelly? Real quality comes through Don’t Walk Away, the heartbreak of losing a lover found in the simplicity of the lyrics and the heavy lifting of the understated percussion. Bold work finally finds its way through.
All Over the World is likely the most recognisable piece from this one. It has the fundamentals of A New World Record – a joy and lightness within it which transcends the forms and contracts signed in the pursuit of soundtrack-worthy noise. Lynne and Tandy are working in tandem here, a broadly enjoyable and light experience which feeds into the title track collaboration with Newton-John. Not disappointing, just there. Trying to guess the context of a movie from its soundtrack is, in this instance, impossible. A flush of classic Hollywood hokum and genre-trending moves toward tech reliance in the studio. Lynne was desperate for the latter once the orchestral part of E.L.O. proved troublesome. It would be one of the final times they refused to utilise the whirring synths which proved so popular in the 1980s.
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