ELO! S&D!

Walking back the tube station wearing an 'Out OfThe Blue' sweatshirt afterwards three punks saw me and started laughing and sneering. What do they know about good music, I thought. I was only 14 at the time. About a year later I realized they knew a lot more than me.

Still, as a pop band ELO produced some gems, The 'New World Record' album is their best, 'Out Of The Blue' is terrific of course but not as concise. Everything after that stinks to high heaven, but maybe that's just because my tastes had moved beyond them by that time.

Time sounds great remastered. I can't verify the actual quality of the material anymore...I realize that most of my fond memories of the album are really nostalgia for that period in my life. I'm enjoying this a lot, but I'd probably be embarassed if others were around.

Long live ELO.

now people are gonna think im some weird ELO fangeek for owning it on LP and CD. [wait, i am.]

I liked them a lot as a kid, then fell off bigtime, and rejoined bigtime. Favorite albums are Electric Light Orchestra [No Answer], Face The Music, A New World Record, and best of all, ELO's half of the Xanadu soundtrack.. The problem is that for every great track, there are two that are just ok.. but these great and ok tracks differ from person to person.

At this point, the only album until Secret Messages that has yet to get a reissue, AFAIK, is Out Of The Blue which I'm guessing is going to get a deluxe treatment of some kind for its 30th anniversary next year.

"Yours Truly, 2094" thematically defined Daft Punk.

Btw. Search at least everything from "On The Third Day" up to and including "Time". After that they kind of lost their momentum, while their first two albums are worth investigating only a bit different than the rest.

"Do Ya" is by The Move isn't it?

So I'll just insist that Secret Messages is actually really good and leave it at that.

"...But it NE-ver EE-ven CROSSED! MY! MIIIINNNND! She was a CHEE!! TER!!"

I've only listened to the former so far. Not sure the remastering has made much, if any, difference. I still had to turn up the treble on the hi-fi to compensate for that muddy production of a lot of 70s ELO. (The previously unreleased bonus tracks - presumably newly mixed - have a much better sound.)

The music's fantastic, of course.

"Calling America" and "So Serious" were great singles from "Balance Of Power" though.

Did they release as much as 10 rockers after "Don't Bring Me Down"? :)

10538 Overture
Showdown
Evil Woman
So Fine
Livin' Thing
Turn to Stone
Sweet Talkin' Woman
Boy Blue
Shine a Little Love
Confusion
Last Train to London
Don't Bring Me Down
Xanadu (OST version feat Olivia Newton John)
I'm Alive
All Over the World
Twilight
Yours Truly 2095
Secret Messages
Xanadu (Jeff Lynne vocal version)

(my perfect best of, chronological AFAIK, 76:54)

http://www.myspace.com/bleuleo - From the tracks posted here, it's verrrrry Jeff Lynne.

And yet, they don't

What they have is prob plenty tho.

Also, let's not forget the contribution to the Olivia Newton John vehicle 'Xanadu'... You can pretty much aim scud missles at that one.

Xanadu is a fantastic disc (with, admittedly, a few total dud songs).

Xanadu is the last piece that needs to be remastered. My cousin had the "Don't Bring Me Down" single, and a friend had Out of the Blue. I saw A Box of Their Best, consisting of ANWR, OOTB and Discovery at Musicland, and had to have it. Being 10 yrs old, I had to gather pop and beer cans for a couple weeks to refund (5 cents each in Iowa) to raise funds for it, just like the homeless people in my neighborhood do now. It was worth it, I couldn't believe the other albums were just as great. The only remaster I don't have before Time is Face The Music, which I always felt was kind of drab and dreary. Will grab it used someday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IezFUXVdBUY

FOUR LITTLE DIAMONDS

ELO cellist killed by bale of hay

Jesus, the state of that van.

Horrible story

RIP dude

actually, i know its not been announced anywhere, but is this a similar situation that the songwriter is redoing a catalogue in order to gain some form of control a la simply red/squeeze.

i mean i have never read anything that suggests that jeff is unhappy with the way that the elo catalogue is being maintained, but it does make you wonder if the end results of these new versions are as similar as this track.

also, frontier ?

an italian hard rock label ?

oh how the mighty have fallen.

before google revealed the truth, i actually thought this was a self release label, which i would have understood, but as it is, this is an even weirder choice to release this collection and his new solo album on - is there really that little interest in his new material ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mb5TV7JUvzo

My favorite song on Time -- Buggled to the max.

Those remakes are intriguing insofar as they're the work of an obsessive craftsman who in revisiting his work in the name of "improving" it hasn't ended up making it worse.

Yeah, that track is just uncannily Buggles in an incredibly strong way. Anyone have Time on vinyl? I'll bet it sounds great.

I always thought that parts of Time owed a big debt to Ultravox's Vienna. "Another Heart Breaks" is nearly a mash-up of "Vienna" and "Mr. X," and "From the Sun to the World" lifts the prominent synth rhythm from "All Stood Still."

Here's a cassette I made probably in 1985, emphasis on my favorite fast ones:

-Side 1-
Fire on High (Face the Music)
Four Little Diamonds (Secret Messages)
Rockaria! (A New World Record)
Last Train to London (Discovery)
Night in the City (Out of the Blue)
Boy Blue (Eldorado)
Ma-Ma-Ma Belle (On the Third Day)
Twilight (Time)
Livin' Thing (A New World Record)
Summer and Lightning (Out of the Blue)
All Over the World (Xanadu)

-Side 2-
King of the Universe (On the Third Day)
Tightrope (A New World Record)
Poor Boy (Eldorado)
Secret Messages (Secret Messages)
Jungle (Out of the Blue)
Don't Bring Me Down (Discovery)
Poker (Face the Music)
Do Ya (A New World Record)
Illusions in G Major (Eldorado)
Yours Truly 2095 (Time)
On the Run (Discovery)
New World Rising (On the Third Day)

Wanna know what was on my Supertramp tape?

i have time on vinyl.

it sounds lovely.

Been going thru a killer latter day Move/early ELO phase and feel compelled to put in a good word for "In Old England Town (Boogie #2)." The hyper-aggressive textures and vocal, pounding stops and starts and winding, dissonant melody are all really hitting the spot right now – and the track in many ways represents something of a bid adieu to his era with Roy Wood (who plays cello on this). Pretty amazing stuff.

Regarding the Jeff Lynne's ELO Live at Hyde Park blu-ray that's only available in the UK. Do Blu-ray discs have that region bs, or will it play on my Yankee player? :)

i know nothing re blu-ray.
it is available on standard DVD i think yes ?
i.e. have not bought it yet, but am thinking of doing so for a friend.
p.s i seem to believe that there is audio out 'there' in high quality, should you not wish to see the drummers arse crack throughout the show.

Old England Town really sounds like something from one of Roy Wood's solo albums, rather than ELO. It's in the bass and cellos and yeah, the vocal delivery.

I'm going to argue that ELO's 80s synth pop phase is very underrated – Time, Secret Messages and Balance of Power. The former gets a lot of (deserved) love here but there id excellent stuff across all three of these records. Big fan of the title track, "Danger Ahead" and, of course, "Four Little Diamonds" on Secret Messages. Balance has "Getting to the Point" as well as "Calling America," and "Caught in a Trap"/"In For the Kill" (aren't these both bonus tracks? why are they the same song?).

The guys melodic touch is completely undiminished on these records. There's even something about his robobilly during this period that I find kind of adorable as well.

Also, and I realize I'm probably one of about 25 people who care about this, the 80s era of ELO sounds strikingly like the 80s era of Robin Gibb.

i love the electro era elo.
even though i now have the full set, "time" is still one of my fave elo albums.
it's such a complete package : the songs, concept, sound, cover art.
it's a perfect album.
new mojo has a big interview with jeff (he comes across as the best person to have a pint with - but then i would say that), and this era is given little time.
apparently they were rattled off just for contractual reasons and he was paid massively for them.

Just threw on Balance of Power and Secret Messages on Spotify today while I was working. Both of these records--particularly once you throw in the bonus tracks--are pretty dope. Lynne's rep for innovative arrangements may have taken a bit of a hit with the somewhat cookie-cutter productions of his Wilburys-era work (tho I like those).

But like Time, the sound of these records is lush without being overstuffed -- completely of their era without feeling dated. And yet, almost every one of the tunes on these three records could be rearranged and sound exactly like something off of Eldorado or Out of the Blue. Lynne may be the most consistent pop artist of the last 40 years.

do people here rate the idle race?

OK, have there been any other concept albums that have been turned into a fucking novel?

http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1431053545l/25502804.jpg

"Jeff Blue--the victim of a time-travel conspiracy--wakes up trapped in the year 2095. The only familiar face is J0; a robotic copy of the wife he left behind in 1981. But can she be trusted? J0 could be the only key to unlock Jeff's journey home, but it will require her to do something against her programming--something human. During Jeff's perilous journey through the future, he will have to discover the truth about J0's origins, and solve the mystery behind how he wound up in 2095, in order to uncover the reality of his own destiny. Armed with a one-way ticket to the moon, Jeff must race against the clock to seize what might be his last chance to return home to his time. A time without hover cars, Justice Computers, or TeleSkins--a time over one hundred years ago."

It's not a great book, but not bad either. I totally enjoyed all the references to lyrics to ELO songs spanning their career, and characters named after band members. The story does fit quite well with Time (which I thought was the best album ever when I was 11). So is this the rumblings of a new kind of fan fiction in tribute to bands and albums? I kinda like that idea, like an alternate 33-1/3 series!

The blu-ray Hyde Park has no region codes, but now it's available domestically. Mine was supposedly delivered at work today, but it's locked up in the mailroom :( I'm also going to check out the new ELO album soon.

On the best of ELO

hope this won't bring me down

doowwwwwwwwnnn

So much of Lynne’s work presaged the dork futurism of Gary Numan and Trevor Horn’s use of call and response harmonies singing at the top of their range while pianos tinkle and a singer tries keeping his equilibrium in a world intent on banishing his awful hair to obsolescence.

I can hear this being narrated

by Jeremy Irons

Maybe more singles-heavy than I would have expected, but I'm a fanatic, so take that with a grain of salt.

Was just going to post the tracklist of my 1985 "Best of ELO (No Ballads)" mixtape, but I see I already posted it above 4 years ago.

I tend to forget how good "Calling America" is.

this thread title just makes me think of trump now. FAKE BEATLES!

I know Lynne produced the Wilburys and all but listening to something like "Living Thing" through the rearview of the Wilburys, you can really hear how close the arrangements and compositions really are

"Your line's engaged "

I tend to forget how good "Calling America" is.

this thread title just makes me think of trump now. FAKE BEATLES!

God, “Livin’ Thing” is such an amazing song.

Why is there no extended mix (and I have to play the track 4x in a row)

Poor Jeff, hope he can recover. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/jul/12/jeff-lynne-elo-cancels-final-live-show-health-concerns

The final Electric Light Orchestra show is going ahead, except it's going to consist of Roy Wood performing a solo cello rendition of "The Battle of Marston Moor (July 2nd 1644)"

I would attend that.