Labyrinth (Original Soundtrack of the Jim Henson Film)

iTunes Review

It’s strange that the 1986 fantasy film Labyrinth failed at the box office when there was so much going for it. Jim Henson peppered the movie with Muppets, and it featured a young and beautiful Jennifer Connelly. It also starred a Fu Manchu-by-way-of-Andy Warhol-looking David Bowie, who wrote and recorded six songs for the soundtrack. Even the Trevor Jones score is a cool mix of ‘80s-flavored synthesizers and pointed guitars. Bowie’s “Chilly Down” is sung in character as Jareth, the evil Goblin King, but it sounds like a wonderfully cartoonish mix of Let’s Dance and Tonight-era Bowie, and there’s even a rap in the middle of the tune! With “Hallucination,” Jones approximates tripping out with warbling melodies and bent strings before a very unpsychedelic saxophone slips in and straightens things out. Bowie’s “As the World Falls Down” sounds like a less-daunting version of “This Is Not America” (which he recorded a year prior for the soundtrack to The Falcon and the Snowman). The smooth and soulful “Underground” proves to be the standout jam.