Perhaps the only thing more surprising than Guardians Of The Galaxy‘s massive success at the box office was how strongly people reacted to the soundtrack. Essentially a mixtape/plot point made up of old and semi-forgotten AM Gold, the soundtrack went platinum even though it featured no new material.
The success allowed director James Gunn to go even bigger on the soundtrack for the movie’s sequel, shooting for huge names that never would have been possible on the first go-round. Gunn revealed the tracklist to Rolling Stone — which features cuts from George Harrison and recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees ELO. And he also explained the way that several of the tracks will factor into the film.
Gunn says that ELO’s “Mr. Blue Sky” soundtracks the “most hugely insane shot I’ve ever done” in the film.
“I’ve always said that if the Guardians had a house band, it would be ELO,” Gunn continued, “and ‘Mr. Blue Sky’ is one of my favorite songs by them. We had a hard time getting the rights. We had to really fight to get the song, and I personally appealed to Jeff Lynne.”
He also revealed that Fleetwood Mac‘s “The Chain” and “Brandy You’re A Fine Girl” by Looking Glass are “deeply embedded” into the plot of the film, even more so than the other tracks that all serve a purpose throughout the movie. Check out the full tracklist below:
