All I Can Do Is Dream You

[michelej1]

[This Orbison review mentions Billy's song]

Atlanta Journal and Constitution (GA), February 19, 1989


Section: ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

ON 'MYSTERY GIRL,' SINGER GOES OUT ON A HIGH NOTE\RECORD REVIEW

Bill King Staff Writer

Mystery Girl. Roy Orbison. Virgin Records.

Predictably, Roy Orbison's death of a heart attack in December boosted sales of the Traveling Wilburys album on which he had participated, along with a home video of his Cinemax special and an album of new versions of his old hits.

No doubt, many will buy "Mystery Girl," the first album of new material by Orbison in a decade, out of nostalgia. Or, for morbid reasons, because it's his last album.

Mr. Orbison, and this album, deserve better.

"Mystery Girl," completed before Mr. Orbison's death, is a finely crafted album of mostly strong material showcasing one of pop music's most remarkable voices at the top of its form.

Yes, that unmistakable silky, soaring voice, with its three-octave range and emotion-packed vibrato, is as thrilling as ever. Full-voiced, he hits notes that other singers wouldn't even attempt in falsetto. And this was a man who knew how to put life into even the most banal lyrics.

But "Mystery Girl" certainly is no trip down memory lane to the '60s, when Mr. Orbison was turning out hits such as "Only the Lonely," "Running Scared," "Cryin' " and "Oh Pretty Woman."

Unlike some of his contemporaries, whose work seems stuck in a 30-year-old time warp -- Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins come to mind -- Mr. Orbison sounds fresh and contemporary on "Mystery Girl." It's hard to imagine a better fit between singer and song than his performance of "She's a Mystery to Me," written for him by Paul "Bono" Hewson and David "The Edge" Evans of the supergroup of the late '80s, U2.

The 10 tunes on "Mystery Girl" explore the traditional Orbison themes of loneliness, dreams, melancholy and desperate passion -- without sounding the least bit dated. There's a variety of production styles, with Jeff Lynne producing three songs, T-Bone Burnett handling two, Bono producing his song and Mr. Orbison co-producing four tunes with Mike Campbell of Tom Petty's band. But Mr. Orbison, who co-wrote half the numbers, seems in control throughout.

The album opens with the excellent first single, "You Got It," a moderately upbeat rocker written by Mr. Orbison and Mr. Lynne (who adds just a touch of his old Electric Light Orchestra sound to the backing vocals) with Mr. Petty, another fellow Wilbury. This represents the "Oh Pretty Woman" side of Mr. Orbison's music.

His specialty, however, always was the big ballad, and there are two on this album that rank with his best. "In the Real World," a song about coming to terms with the fact that dreams usually don't come true, begins with an almost-spoken introduction and then builds dramatically. And the delicate, haunting melody of "A Love So Beautiful," an Orbison-Lynne composition, should help it become a pop standard. The acoustic guitar on the latter is provided by another of the Traveling Wilburys, George Harrison.

"She's a Mystery to Me," with its exotic-sounding chiming guitar and syncopated rhythm, is a bit of a musical departure for Mr. Orbison, but he stamps his trademark all over it, his urgent vocals hitting the stratosphere toward the end.

An offbeat selection that falls just short of being fully realized in Mr. Orbison's hands is Elvis Costello's "The Comedians," a bittersweet song about a guy left stranded at the top of a Ferris wheel by his faithless girlfriend and her new lover, the wheel's operator. The way this one builds on the bridge is reminiscent of "Running Scared," but Mr. Orbison doesn't sound quite cynical enough, unlike what you can imagine Mr. Costello doing with it.

The rest of the album isn't quite up to the standard of those songs, but there aren't any throwaways, either. "(All I Can Do Is) Dream You," contributed by new Fleetwood Mac member Billy Burnette, is a punchy nod to Mr. Orbison's rockabilly roots. "The Only One," co-written by Orbison's oldest son, Wesley, and featuring guitarist Steve Cropper and the Memphis Horns, adds a taste of soul. "Careless Heart" is a solid "lost love" number sung with convincing emotion. And "California Blue" and "Windsurfer" are pleasant if barely memorable country-pop songs that feature some fine singing.

Still, at least five tunes on this album, together with "

Alone Any More," Mr. Orbison's tour de force from the Wilburys album, can stand with the finest work from his heyday. Indeed, any singer, past or present, would be proud to cap his career as admirably as Mr. Orbison.