This soundtrack brings a crucially intimate, emotionally engaging sensibility to its rich catalog of Beatles source material. Using an approach she rightly dubbed "organic," Taymor never gets too ambitious with the original arrangements, balancing the plaintive, often stark performances of central young stars Jim Sturgess and Evan Rachel Wood with equally compelling turns by supporting players Carol Woods and Joe Anderson. The stars successfully evoke early Beatlemania via the energetic charms of Sturgess' "All My Loving" and Wood's "It Won't Be Long," then get straight to the canon's often melancholy heart on his take of "In My Life," and her gentle cover of "Blackbird." Taymor's use of star turns--the entire point of too many Beatles-rooted projects--is as sparing as it is deft. Eddie Izzard's effusive "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite" is the product of several edited improvisations, while U2's Bono and Edge re-imagine "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" by way of Pink Floyd. Joe Cocker's swamp-dirge "Come Together" shows why he's long been one of the best interpreters of the Lennon-McCartney catalog, and Dana Fuchs alternately evokes the heavenly and hellish via her tender "Dear Prudence," as well as her manic, Joplin-channeling burn through "Helter Skelter." Elsewhere on the CD, Bono teams with Secret Machine for the straightforward "I Am the Walrus," while the Dallas indie rockers also take dream-pop turns on the instrumental "Flying" and George Harrison's haunting "Blue Jay Way." Remarkably, Taymor claims the bulk of the performances here were not lip-synced, but recorded live as the cameras rolled.--Jerry McCulley



Track Listings

1 Girl / Jim Sturgess 1:04

2 Hold Me Tight / Evan Rachel Wood 2:36

3 All My Loving / Jim Sturgess 2:27

4 I Want to Hold Your Hand / T.V. Carpio 2:47

5 With a Little Help from My Friends / Jim Sturgess 3:13

6 It Won't Be Long / Evan Rachel Wood 2:18

7 I've Just Seen a Face / Jim Sturgess 1:50

8 Let It Be / Timothy T. Mitchum 3:48

9 Come Together / Joe Cocker 4:27

10 If I Fell / Evan Rachel Wood 2:38

11 Dear Prudence / T.V. Carpio 5:18

12 Flying / Secret Machines Instrumental 3:56

13 Blue Jay Way / Secret Machines 4:42

14 Am the Walrus / Secret Machines 4:47

15 Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite / Eddie Izzard 2:42

16 Because / T.V. Carpio 2:32

17 Something / Jim Sturgess 3:02

18 Oh! Darling / Martin Luther "M.L." McCoy 2:29

19 Strawberry Fields Forever / Jim Sturgess 3:38

20 Revolution / Jim Sturgess 2:18

21 While My Guitar Gently Weeps / Martin Luther "M.L." McCoy 4:02

22 Across the Universe / Jim Sturgess 3:29

23 Helter Skelter / Dana Fuchs Band 3:41

24 Happiness Is a Warm Gun / Selma Hayek 3:10

25 Blackbird / Evan Rachel Wood 3:06

26 Hey Jude / Joe Anderson 4:12

27 Don't Let Me Down / Dana Fuchs Band 3:07

28 All You Need Is Love / Jim Sturgess 3:21

29 Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds / Bono 4:23