AMG Review of Paul

James Christopher Monger
All Music Guide

The soundtrack for Paul, a sci-fi comedy adventure from director Greg Mottola (Superbad, Adventureland) that follows the antics of two British comic book geeks and an extraterrestrial voiced by Seth Rogan, relies on a handful of offbeat, topical radio singles like “Another Girl, Another Planet” by English power poppers the Only Ones, the retro-Roswell juke joint rocker “Flying Saucers Rock ‘n’ Roll" (Billy Lee Riley), Grover Washington, Jr.’s ubiquitous “Just the Two of Us,” and Syd Masters & the Swing Riders' country-fied take on Star Wars' infamous “Cantina” song. Composer David Arnold hits all of the right Spielbergian notes with a score that both parodies the genre while tipping its hat to it, and the inclusion of the B-52’s “Planet Claire” (an underrated classic) and ELO's majestic cheese-fest “All Over the World” helps make Paul a terrific compilation of pre-summer blockbuster popcorn jams.