Track Listing

1. You Got It
2. In The Real World
3. (All I Can Do Is) Dream You
4. A Love So Beautiful
5. California Blue
6. She's A Mystery To Me
7. The Comedians
8. The Only One
9. Windsurfer
10. Careless Heart
11. You May Feel Me Crying (Bonus Track - originally from the soundtrack of Less than Zero, produced by Rick Rubin.)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10697 in Music
• Released on: 2007-10-22
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

CD Description
Who could have known that the much-loved Orbison would record his best album at this late stage in his career; furthermore, that he would be dead a few months later. The success of his role in the Traveling Wilburys gave him a much-deserved boost. Orbison had the great voice of pop and after many years of indifferent material he finally hit gold with great songs such as 'You Got It' (written with Lynne and Petty), 'Careless Heart' (written with Diane Warren) and 'A Love So Beautiful' (written with Lynne). Orbison's tragic dedication to us when he finished this album was 'don't give up before the miracle happens'.

Customer Reviews

A final, precious gift from Roy to his fans
I will never forget waking up one early December day in 1988 and finding out that Roy Orbison had died suddenly and unexpectedly shortly after performing in concert the night before. I, along with a legion of long-time fans, grieved the loss of this incredible singer and performer. Initially, his death at that particular time in his career seemed terribly unfair. After stagnating during the 1970s and early 1980s, Orbison was back and perhaps even better than ever in 1988. His collaboration with Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, George Harrison, and Jeff Lynne in the form of The Traveling Wilburys had put him back in the national spotlight, and many of us longed for the new album soon to be released, an album we had heard nothing but incredibly good things about. Then, suddenly, he and the voice that touched our hearts for so many years, was gone. We, the fans, should have been rewarding Roy Orbison for all of the memories he gave us in song, yet, ever the selfless and humble man he was, Orbison actually presented all of us with a final, precious gift in the form of the album Mystery Girl. Roy’s widow Barbara deserves our heartfelt thanks for bravely putting the finishing touches on this album after her husband’s death.

Mystery Girl is simply an incredible album featuring a reenergized Roy Orbison easily uniting his unique voice to a modern sound that appealed to any number of ears; the released tracks from this album found ample playing time on both pop rock and country radio stations. Perhaps the first single, You Got It, got too much attention, as it was nearly played to death over the course of the first half of 1989, but that is just a tribute to the wonderful beauty and infectious beat and rhythm of this song co-written by Orbison and Wilbury buddies Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty. The second track on the album, In the Real World, marks an abrupt change in tone; bringing to mind Roy’s classic song In Dreams; Orbison captures your heard on the first note and soars with it through the clouds that only he possessed the means of exploring. This haunting track is, in my opinion, the best song on the album. Roy decides to rock a little bit on (All I Can Do Is) Dream You before stopping to wax poetic and heartbreaking on the slow ballad A Love So Beautiful, a song featuring a little musical support from co-writer Jeff Lynne and George Harrison. California Blue (another Orbison-Lynne-Petty venture), The Only One, and Windsurfer are great songs in their own right, but special attention must be shown the remaining three tracks. Careless Heart is a beautiful song of love and loss that seems to convey a sense of the type of feelings we felt over the loss of this man taken much too soon from our midst. She’s a Mystery To Me, written by U2’s Bono and The Edge, presents Roy with a slightly different type of song that he easily makes his own, hitting the high notes perfectly on the choruses. Then there is The Comedians, a song written by Elvis Costello; this is vintage Roy Orbison, delivering a strikingly visual display of betrayal and loss, the very subjects Roy seemed to understand more than any other singer out there.

Mystery Girl is a very special album that Roy Orbison fans will treasure and play often for the rest of our lives. I wish Roy would have lived to see the incredible reception this album received from fans, but one can take comfort in the fact that Orbison left this world on top where he always belonged.

A classic eighties album
Ultimately, most people remember Roy Orbison for his sixties classics, but his renaissance in the eighties should not be overlooked. He re-recorded many of his old hits during a legal dispute that prevented his old classics being re-issued (at one time there was a threat to destroy them). Roy also teamed up with George Harrison, Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty to form the Travelling Wilburys, a group that lasted for just one album. Finally, he recorded this solo album of original material. The album provides a great showcase for Roy's voice, appealing to Roy's traditional fans while gaining a new generation of fans who previously had shown little interest in his music.

The big hit from this album was, of course, You got it, a catchy up-tempo song that received plenty of airplay on radio stations across the world. It deserved all the success it got but there are other songs here that I regard as even better. While Roy was always good at up-tempo rocking songs (as he showed in the sixties with Oh pretty woman), he could do so much else. With classic ballads and mid-tempo songs such as California blue, She's a mystery to me, Careless heart, In the real world and A love so beautiful, this album maintains a high standard from start to finish.

Every Roy Orbison fan should own this album, which was his last and best album of original material. And if you're not already a Roy Orbison fan, this album may cause you to become one.

Mystery Girl
One of the greatest singers the world has ever seen, Roy Orbison has remained unmatched for the sheer delivery of his songs. Even Elvis Presley commented that Orbison was "the greatest singer in the world", possibly the ultimate compliment from a man who had himself achieved so much. However following Roy's early successes in the sixties his carerer began to fade, mostly due to tragedies surrounding his own life. Some thought him finished, some thought him dated, but most recognised his sheer brilliance.

This album, Mystery Girl, which would prove to be the last that he would release, (though his wife did release 'King of Hearts' some time after his death) firmly establishes Orbison as being one of the greatest influences in Rock and Roll history. From the inspirational "You Got It", to the incredibly moving "A love so Beautiful" and of course to the nearly impossible notes of "Shes a mystery to Me", this album shows that the voice that established Roy Orbison in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame not only survived well into the 80's, but that his voice further developed and had reached levels of near perfection. Certainly nobody past or presnt could sing these songs like Roy Orbison. This album compliments, perfectly, Roys earlier recording in the 60's from his major hits of 'Crying', 'Its over', 'Running Scared', 'Only the lonely', and the vastly underrated 'In Dreams'. In comparison to his earlier work brought up to date as seen in 1987 in 'A black and White Night', it is clear that 'Mystery Girl' deserves to stand alongside the legendary Orbison of the 60's. This album has everything.