The fact that this 2018 sequel to
A Love So Beautiful
-- a 2017 construction which teamed original
Roy Orbison
vocal tracks with overdubs from the
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
-- is titled after a song
Orbison
never released as a single is a signal that the producers poured all the big hits into their first album. Indeed, of the 15 songs on
Unchained Melodies
, there is only one big song from
's golden decade: "Blue Bayou," whose sultriness is diluted by sticky strings. This means
relies on songs from
's late '80s comeback -- "She's a Mystery to Me" is here, along with the
Elvis Costello
-penned "The Comedians" -- but it also means that this relies on stately ballads, not rockers (there is no "Oh, Pretty Woman" or "Mean Woman Blues" in sight). This makes
hold together as a record better than
-- it also means there aren't many embarrassing missteps, like the orchestra sawing away at the riff to "Oh, Pretty Woman" -- but the central conceit is still misguided, turning the elegant, dreamy
into something saccharine and mawkish. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine