Across The Universe

[rooster18]

I haven't seen the movie, but I've heard a good deal of the music, as my stepdaughters absolutely love it. I thought the Joe Cocker was great, as usual. As for the songs done by the "stars", I found them.... totally bogus. There seems to be a hollywood/record company misconception that slowing a song down, making the backup music sparse, and overly accentuating the vocal line makes it somehow more "heartfelt." I didn't like it at all. Not that covering Beatles is a bad thing - Aerosmith did a good version of Come Together, IMO, and I've always liked Joe Cocker's covers. When I heard this stuff from ATU, I might rate it as better than Steve Martin's "Maxwell's Silver Hammer", but I'd put it at about the same level as the soundtrack to the Tommy movie -- maybe good for a movie, but not the Who. Same thing -- maybe good for a movie, but not the Beatles by a LONG shot.

Sometimes different is better, sometimes equal-but-different. I wouldn't put these versions in either catagory. It gets door #3 for me.

rooster.