Xanadu soundtrack on CD (pt2)

So do we have any consensus on the best LP pressing?

 

Thanks Bill!

 

I feel US for ONJ side; UK for the ELO side; Japan for both sides. They all sound different so I can't pick a favorite. The US ELO side is weak. The UK ELO side is much better. Still, it was the US ONJ side that made me realize how weak the CDs sound. Magic came darting out of my speaker and I was like wow, so much better than the CDs Japan vinyl has great bass.

 

I own the japanese pressing and agree it sounds great. There's no way CD can compare. Guess I need to look no further.

 

Many thanks for the share... I think the songs "sparkle" in all the right places, but like virtually every other version of this album I have ever heard, the drums sound thin and anemic - especially on the title track, which I imagine says a LOT about the original mix...someday, I'd love to hear these songs with all the oomph they deserve...

 

Greetings again,
And for you Olivia fans, here's a sampling from the same source as the ELO samples.
Just click here.
Go ahead and compare.
The source came from a friend who is a bigger collector than me. It was an acetate of the soundtrack for the Japanese LP. He wanted to have a playable recording, but was afraid of ruining the pressing with his turntable and asked if I would record them. I have no idea if it was the final version, but both sides (ELO / ONJ) were on different disks and were in heavier card type sleeves. There was some japanese writing on the outside.
I think they sounded pretty good. Very dynamic. (If you look at the waves.)
I'll have to compare the sound to the actual Japanese LP and see if they're the same.
Enjoy!
-Bill

 

This was 1980 and ELO's Time album came a year later. I wonder if Jeff Lynne was already messing around "too much" with the sound and compression on Xanadu. In some respects, the sound is similar. Although Time was really run through the compressor one too many times.
-Bill

 

Don't Bring Me Down was another even earlier example of Jeff's obsession with running everything through a compressor one too many times, and I have to agree that some of the Time material was very close to Xanadu, despite him attempting to move away from that overall sound... Julie Don't Live Here would have fit perfectly on the previous year's soundtrack album, and I suspect this being more lightweight than the rest of its intended parent LP is why it was eventually dropped in favour of being issued as a b-side.

 

Funny you mention Don't Bring Me Down. Of course it was a hit and has that driving beat, but it's "squashed" like mad. Jeff was going for that "sound" and he got it. I do like the 2012 re-do he did. In my opinion it's less "squashed" and rocks a bit more than the original.
I'm doing a live radio show today (Sat. 9/23/17) from 5-7pm EDT (New York time) called "Jeff Lynne Jukebox" which features the music from Jeff. It might be fun to do some back and forth between his different "eras" where he tried different studio techniques (including Xanadu). Everyone is invited to listen in and join live chat with suggestions. The listen/chat page is right here.
-Bill

 

I keep dreaming of a deluxe Xanadu soundtrack or even a surround mix on SACD. (I said I was dreaming though in defense it was a popular soundtrack.) Anyone know if the masters got destroyed in that Uni fire years back? I even wonder if the ELO tapes are stored in one place and the ONJ tapes somewhere else.

 

I'm not sure we'll ever know what all was destroyed in that fire. I'm not sure Universal even knows.

Given that the Xanadu soundtrack has never been remixed from the original multi-tracks, it's quite possible that those are stored elsewhere (like in one of the underground storage facilities that store tons of tape and film archives). Even if the original two-channel masters were destroyed, the multis could be used to create new mixes, including surround mixes. Other countries (Japan, the UK, Germany) would also have copies of the album and single masters that were used to press records in those countries, so a deluxe edition containing the b-sides to the singles could at least be easily assembled.

Olivia herself might even own the multitrack tapes. Of course, she might have paid to have them stored at Universal, but she might have also had them stored elsewhere. I'm not sure if her contract with MCA included ownership of the tapes themselves, or just ownership of the rights to the music.

But, yes, a deluxe edition and/or SACD of Xanadu is probably my most-wanted remaster of all time.

 

So does this cd version of "Xanadu" exist, with the expanded booklet?

Face The Music - XANADU (UK ONLY) REMASTERED EDITION - INTRO

 

Here's a discogs entry for a CD from 1998 with the same 486620 number on Epic (owned by Sony)

Electric Light Orchestra & Olivia Newton-John - Xanadu (From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

No idea about the mastering though, but it looks like it indeed does exist.

 

I have a disc with this catalog number. It has the original gatefold artwork, and the lyrics (white text on a blue background) in its booklet. The images of John Farrar, Jeff Lynne and ELO on the original album inner sleeve are omitted.

The disc face is solid purple - same colour as the art deco curves on the album cover. The Xanadu logo and the text colour are the silver face of the disc. The jewel case has a clear disc tray - beneath it is a solid purple background with the Xanadu logo in white outline. The blue sheet, pink sheet and disc artwork shown on the Face The Music web page is not included in this release.

The disc does sound quite good.

 

I have the 1998 UK Xanadu CD and it's an interesting disc...it does sound excellent, but it's also very bright or has a sugary sheen to it, but it might have the best sounding "Magic" I have heard on CD...the bass guitar throughout that song is more isolated and distinct and sounds amazing. In any case, I still play the 1990 Japan CD as well, but the 1998 UK CD is more modern and sounds much clearer.

 

Still missing:

“You Made Me Love You” (Olivia Newton-John & Gene Kelly))
“Drum Dreams” (Electric Light Orchestra)
“Fool Country (Olivia Newton-John) (Including the tap instrumental in the beginning)

I’ll pass until they do the complete soundtrack.

 

My fave version is still the original Japan CD - and I like the fact they put the ELO tracks first - makes much more sense as the film starts with 'I'm Alive' - the 1998 is nice but sounds like they EQ'd the whole thing based on the first track only, and applied that same EQ throughout, which doesn't work as well for the rest of the tracks - the original Japan CD is quiet, but much more dynamic and crankable.

 

At least Fool Country found digital life on her Gold comp.

 

When I saw that CD years ago I had actually hoped it would make it on the next release of the “Xanadu” soundtrack. I was very disappointed when it wasn’t .

 

There’s tons of info in part 1 of this thread. Since it’s locked I couldn’t link directly to my post with pictures of various CD releases including the UK. That’s on the first page further down.
Xanadu soundtrack on CD

 

This thread has risen once again lol I love it. Much discussion about which version is best. I actually like the U.K. Cd over the Japan Cd and the US Cd is just bombastic.

 

Remember the initial debate over the U.K. CD? Lol!

 

I just picked up the Japanese CD . Very similar to the vinyl. Great sound!

 

Finished off my ELO CSCS series last year, neat that this one carry's the ELO tunes first!

 

Yes, this is the CD to get.

The ELO half of the Australian CD is OK but the rest is pretty dead sounding. Sounds like different source tapes were used for each album side. To me, the UK Epic sounded too goosed across the board. I haven't heard the US MCA, but since I finally got the Japanese CD, I don't feel any need to.