One record at a time: 101. Electric Light Orchestra - The Very Best Of

We finally reach the end of my ELO vinyl with a double album "The Very Best Of". I seem to have purchased the vinyl of this album in 2018 and it is in really good condition.

This is a curious compilation released in the nineties by Telstar. The material here is from the Jet/Epic/CBS recordings of 1974 to 1986 which means "Showdown" and "10538 Overture" aren't included. "Roll Over Beethoven" is represented, but rather than the original single version we are furnished with a live recording of unknown origin. 

Whilst the early hits may not be present, this is one of few compilations to include tracks extracted from the Xanadu soundtrack. I presume licensing difficulties led to the title track being omitted but there are a number of cuts from the purely ELO side of the record.

Things kick off with "Mr Blue Sky" and the first side is front loaded with top ten hits from the bands commercial peak. Side 2 is a little more eclectic and draws on more recent material that didn't chart quite as highly.

There is a misprint on my copy of the sleeve which labels track 4 as "Out of My Head" - suggesting a whole new meaning to the song. This error is corrected on the label but a new faux pas is committed with the title "Civil Woman". The Discogs listing for this compilation shows corrected labels, so someone must have noticed the error for subsequent pressings, but the sleeve was never changed. These kind of issues wouldn't have mattered to the casual listener but they clearly represent a lack of attention to detail to a fan.

The second record continues to focus on songs derived from the latter half of the bands career and singles such as "Ma-Ma-Ma Belle" don't get a look in. Curiously, the sleeve indicates the parent album for most of the tracks but randomly omits the information for eight of them. 

This is a bit of a scatter gun approach to creating a compilation and it focuses too heavily on the bands eighties output for me. I don't know if Telstar tried to license material from EMI or MCA but somehow I doubt it. Everything about this compilation feels lazy. 2/5

One record at a time: 100. Electric Light Orchestra - Greatest Hits

For some reason my ELO compilation albums have been stored out of chronological order which means "ELO's Greatest Hits" becomes the 100th record I am listening to. This compilation focuses on material recorded between 1973 and 1978 for Jet Records with "Showdown" being the only track licensed from EMI/Harvest. This means early singles "10538 Overture" and "Roll Over Beethoven" are omitted. 

I acquired my vinyl in 2017 from eBay and whilst the sleeve is in remarkably good condition the vinyl has 'seen some action'. The CD of this album was one of the first I owned back in 1989.

The first track is the superb "Evil Woman" which is marred by a scratch that runs through it and half of the second track "Livin' Thing". As I listen to these tracks I am taken back to when I heard the album for the first time and I am fairly sure I was sold by the time "Can't Get It Out of My Head" started. The main driver for me purchasing a CD player was feeling very frustrated by the background noise from vinyl and yearning for the clarity offered by a CD. As this record progresses that feeling is returning.

Side two begins with "Sweet Talkin' Woman" and a slight improvement in the audio quality. We rattle through the hits "Telephone Line", "Ma ma Ma Belle" and "Strange Magic" before we reach the daddy of them all "Mr Blue Sky". In the modern era of 'career defining' box sets and extensive compilation playlists, an album of 11 track seems remarkably short. But this is a succinct and perfectly formed collection that that focuses on the bands commercial peak. Whilst the curious will be rewarded by exploring the greater riches in the back catalogue, everyone should start here. 4/5

One record at a time: 99. Electric Light Orchestra - Balance of Power

1986 signalled the demise of ELO and "Balance of Power" looked to be the last ever ELO album. I acquired my copy of the vinyl in 2017 from eBay, but I had bought the remastered CD in 2007.

I never quite knew what to make of this record. The artwork couldn't look any more eighties if it tried but, despite some contemporary motifs, this music was still firmly entrenched in a seventies rock tradition.

Jeff's continuing obsession with recording homages to Roy Orbison or employing rockabilly chord progressions weren't likely to interest the people buying "West End Girls" or "Broken Wings" in 1986. The music scene had moved on and contemporary rock albums such as "Invisible Touch" or "So" sound more innovative than "Balance of Power". As a swan song, this was a forlorn effort. Yes, it sold relatively well but you can tell Jeff was simply trying to complete his contractual obligations whilst maintaining some credibility.

The best track on here is "Calling America" and "So Serious" also deserves an honourable mention. "Heaven Only Knows" is a worthy addition to the back catalogue but there is little else of interest. I dislike "Endless Lies" intensely and "Send It" is very weak. ELO seemed to die out with a whimper. 2/5

One Record at a time: 98. Electric Light Orchestra - Secret Messages

I have to admit that by ELO album number ten, I'm growing a little weary. Unfortunately I think the band were also experiencing the same weariness by the time they came to record "Secret Messages" in 1983.

Tellingly this album features much more studio technology than its predecessors and includes the first use of a drum machine on an ELO record (the distinctive hand claps of the Obeheim DMX being especially prominent). Unsurprisingly, drummer Bev Bevan was less than impressed with these developments and labelled the results 'soulless'. Jeff's new found affinity for technology also signalled the final straw for bassist Kelly Groucutt who left during the recording of the album. 

Whilst the emergence of technology was often branded as an artistic concern during the late seventies and early eighties, the worry in our household was purely pecuniary. My father was a professional musician during this period and his music case had a big yellow sticker which read: "Musicians' Union says Keep Music Live!". With the benefit of hindsight it's easy to regard this attitude as a bit hysterical (I never went hungry as a child) but it was a real concern to many in the music business during the early eighties. Whilst I prefer the consistent timing and unerring accuracy of machines, I do have some sympathy for musicians who feared they could be replaced by machines.

Despite the prodigious use of technology, this album is a bit drab to me. I think some of this may be attributable to Jeff's desire to create a double album which was then stymied by the record company and half of the material was dispensed with. 

There are a few standout tracks like "Four Little Diamonds" and "Bluebird" but there is much that is mediocre. My favourite song is "Take Me On and On" which has a brilliant synth refrain and conjurors up images of drifting through space. "Letter From Spain" is an enchanting and reflective song that employs a repeated backing vocal which I suspect is sampled into an AMS DMX-15 80 delay (I have no evidence for this, it is just a guess). All in all this is a more technically advanced album, it's just the tunes are a little lacking. 2/5

One record at a time: 97. Electric Light Orchestra - Time

Having sold his soul to the gods of disco on "Discovery", Jeff Lynne decided to win back credibility in 1981 by hitching his wagon to Star Wars. "Time" is a concept album for the eighties with its galactic theme and synthesiser driven landscapes. Here I am playing an original pressing that I picked up from eBay a few years ago.

As the needle falls, the slightly hokey vocoder prologue is followed by an Oberheim OB-X blasting out the opening bars of "Twilight". This album is clearly going to lean more heavily on the 'electric' than the 'orchestra'.

"Yours Truly, 2095" is a slightly cheesy vision of the future with its talk of hover cars and IBM robots all played at a canter. "Ticket to the Moon" is a slower piano driven ballad that has a good melody and fits nicely with the aesthetic of the album. However it is less obvious how the derivative Roy Orbison styling of "The Way Life's Meant to Be" support the concept. This isn't a bad song but it is a little incongruous. Side one closes with "Another Heart Breaks" which is a grossly underrated instrumental that sounds contemporary even in 2022.

Side two opens with "Rain Is Falling" which is an impressive ballad that features some fantastic synth work and the welcome return of the orchestra. We pull on our flares and get out on the dance floor again with "From the Sun to the World" and things go a bit reggae with "The Lights Go Down". The space concept is resurrected on the catchy "Here Is The News" and the John Lennon pastiche "21st Century Man". The album closes with the relentless rocker "Hold on Tight" and we are returned to earth by a short epilogue. This is a good record but the application of the concept is sporadic and some of the lyrics sound a little contrived to 21st Century ears. 3/5

One record at a time: 96. Electric Light Orchestra - Discovery

Having reached a zenith with their previous album, "Discovery" is where the wheels begin to fall off for ELO. There's an apocryphal story of keyboard player Richard Tandy saying of the album, "Disco? Very!" - and it is. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad album, but it feels like the emergence of disco drove Jeff to create something that fell awkwardly between two camps.

My copy of this record is a first pressing that includes a poster. The poster is in remarkably good condition but the same can not be said of the sleeve or the record which are pretty beaten up. I have no idea why the album sleeve features pictures based around an Arabian theme and they just seem to add to the confused nature of this album.

As the vinyl crunches along the disco tinged pomp of "Shine a Little Love" comes creeping out of the speakers. There's nothing wrong with this composition but the disco motifs mean it sounds dated today. With "Confusion" Jeff delivers his best Roy Orbison impression over the top of a disappointingly derivative backing track.  Things pick up a little with "Need Her Love" which feels like more familiar territory, but the gimmicks of "Diary of Horace Wimp" drag things back down. There is some nice vocoder work on this track but it does strike as being ELO's "Yellow Submarine".

Side two starts with "Last Train To London" which is another disco romp that features some amazing bass by Kelly Groucutt. "Midnight Blue" revives the Roy Orbison pastiche with a little vocoder thrown it to add interest. By the time I have played the unremarkable "On The Run" and "Wishing" I am ready for the album to finish. However, "Discovery" has one last ace up its sleeve in the form of the Status Quo styled rocker "Don't Bring Me Down". The drum loop (yes, it is a loop) and the Groos/Bruce refrain on this track are great, but I can't shake the vision of teenagers with denim flares dancing with their hands in their pockets. God I hated the seventies. 2/5

One record at a time: 95. Electric Light Orchestra - Out of the Blue

In my previous post I said it would take something impressive to top "A New World Record" and what it actually took was a double album. I first bought "Out of the Blue" on CD from the dreaded Britannia Music Club as part of an introductory offer in around 1990. My vinyl copy was purchased from eBay sometime in the last 10 years and the exact combination of label text, run out and sleeve don''t seem to match anything on Discogs at the minute. 

As I haven't played this record since purchasing it, I had no idea it was suffering from some prodigious mould growth. I have complained before about people selling records that have obviously been stored in a shed or leaky loft and it seems my copy has suffered this fate. I initially tried cleaning it with isopropyl alcohol but the mould wouldn't shift. I then put both discs through my trusty Disco-Antistat cleaning machine and that seemed to do the trick. The slight draw back is that the Disco-Antistat cleaning fluid leaves a nasty chalky residue that requires further cleaning with isopropyl alcohol to remove it. Having cleaned the vinyl at least 3 times it actually sounds OK now and there is no sign of the fungus any more.

Mouldy vinyl is not good

This album kicks off with three spectacular pop/rock tracks that suggest there will be an embarrassment of riches here. "Turn to Stone", "It's Over" and "Sweet Talkin' Woman" were all worthy singles as they are catchy and perfectly executed. The mariachi horns of "Across the Border" somehow blend perfectly with Richard Tandy's Moog synths and the driving guitars; its a heady but satisfying mix. Side two opens with the excellent "Night in the City" that somehow moves seamlessly between hard rock and beautiful orchestral arrangements. The piano refrain on "Starlight" is reminiscent of early rock and roll and its a really entertaining and dreamy track. "Jungle" and "Believe Me Now" are the kind of tracks that you would only find occupying space on a double album when some padding is needed. Both tracks are entertaining but let's not pretend they are going to make it to any "Best Of" compilation. The first disc concludes with "Steppin' Out" which features Kelly's vocals prominently. 

Side three of the album is titled "Concerto for a Rainy Day" and features "Standin' In The Rain", "Big Wheels" and "Summer and Lightning". These are all good songs, but they pale in comparison to 'the big one'. I've heard "Mr Blue Sky" a thousand times but can never get bored of it. The version here is superior to the 2012 re-recording as it is replete with the dramatic coda which I regard as integral to the experience. The song asks me to turn over now, so I will.

Side four kicks off with "Sweet Is The Night" which is probably my least favourite song on the album but it remains a high quality composition. More instrumental filler comes in the form of "The Whale" before the most rock track on the album "Birmingham Blues" emerges. The album comes to a close with the wistful "Wild West Hero" but, as I'm not too keen on country music, this falls a bit flat as a finale to what is a stunning album. 4/5

One record at a time: 94. Electric Light Orchestra - A New World Record

When I was trawling eBay for a copy of "A New World Record" I came across a listing starting at 99p with no bids. I think I ended up paying a couple of pounds by the time the auction closed. I thought I had won an anonymous repressing in dubious condition. However, when the package arrived I was delighted to find the record was actually a 2016 180g "Legacy Vinyl" pressing still in the cellophane. Here I'm playing it for the first time.

"Tightrope" has an impressive orchestral introduction before a very seventies sounding rock song comes bursting through. I always felt the backing vocals on ELO songs were too loud and raw, but once you become familiar with them you can't imagine them being any other way. The second song is also found on the band's "Greatest Hits" CD that I fell in love with back in the late eighties. "Telephone Line" is just the right mix of catchy melody, synthesizer wizardry and brilliant orchestral arrangement to make it a hit on both sides of the Atlantic. I love the telephone style EQ on the introduction and the arrangement is nothing short of genius. I'm not a fan of traditional rock music but "Rockaria!" is so good it cannot be denied. This is a song that rocks with a smile on its face. "Mission (A World Record)" is a fairly run of the mill song but sporadically explodes into a funk break that Bootsy Collins would be proud of.

We start the flip side with "So Fine" which sounds like prototype Yacht Rock until everything suddenly grinds to a halt for an extend percussion break. It's almost as if there are so many musical ideas in Jeff's head that he's just having to get them all out. Yet anther big hit follows with "Livin' Thing" which revives those wonderful LA session backing vocals. I've read people on the internet interpreting the lyrics in all kinds of crazy ways, but to me this song is expressing a perfectly normal sentiment about love and relationships. "Above the clouds" provides the perfect respite from the driving rock singles with its slower tempo and floating melody. Next Jeff resurrects a track he wrote as part of The Move called "Do Ya". Whilst this is a perfectly executed rendition, in the context of this album, the rawness of certain aspects of the composition make it sound like a retrograde step. "Shangri-La" provides a perfect ending using the sound palette of "Telephone Line" but wrapped around a different melody. There is no doubt that every ELO album has improved upon its predecessor but it would take something very special to top "A New World Record". 4/5

One record at a time: 93. Electric Light Orchestra - Face The Music

I am not sure why I have two copies of "Face The Music" but judging by the surface noise on these records I was probably trying to find one in decent condition. Both records are repressings from the late seventies and neither sound especially good. This lack of audio fidelity is a shame as the music on the album is rather good.

I came to this album quite late as I never really saw the CD on the shelves in the nineties and when I eventually did, the dark underwhelming cover didn't appeal. In fact, this is probably the most disappointing and incongruous sleeve in the ELO back catalogue.

"Fire On High" is a fantastic instrumental that opens with spooky special effects before giving way to a grandiose orchestral section and some amazing acoustic guitar riffs. The sonic fidelity on this recording is another step on from "Eldorado" and Jeff clearly continues to advance his production skills. Second track "Waterfall" is a great song that, like quite a few songs on this album, is driven by a strong piano refrain. The amazing "Evil Woman" is one of the tracks on my original "Greatest Hits" CD that sold me on ELO and I can't help but sing along. It's a seventies answer to "Shout out to my ex" (well sort of). Some great analogue synth work features on the verse of "Nightrider" before the driving chorus arrives. Even Kelly gets to sing some lead vocals here.

Side two opens with "Poker" which initially sounds like a homage to Marc Bolan before the mad synthesizers start and a strangely punk vocal kicks in. This song is a real oddity and I am not sure if it is genius or just appropriating emerging styles. Another hit single comes next, "Strange Magic". There's always been something about the dreamy introduction of this song that captivates me. As Jeff begins to sing you could almost be floating away. "Down Home Town" is a disappointment that sounds like Bob Dylan singing country and western. Maybe Jeff was trying ingratiate himself to the American audience which seemed to appreciate his efforts more than those of his native land. The album closes with "One Summer Dream" which is a mesmerising song that warrants every second of its six minute length. A much neglected and underappreciated gem. 3/5

One record at a time: 92. Electric Light Orchestra - Eldorado

I have two copies of ELO's fourth album, a standard black vinyl of uncertain vintage and the yellow coloured vinyl from 1978. 

I acquired the coloured version through some good fortune. One day, as I was trawling through eBay, I stumbled across a listing that made no mention of the vinyl being coloured, but the third or four picture was clearly of a yellow record. I can only assume everyone ignored this listing assuming it was a black record and my initial bid (that I fully expected to be bettered) succeeded. It almost makes up for all the times I have been ripped off on eBay.

Anyway, Eldorado is where things really begin to take off for me. For the first time ELO use a choir section and a thirty piece orchestra to create a 'symphony'. Following the orchestral overture we are treated to one of the jewels in the ELO back catalogue, "Can't Get It Out Of My Head". This song is a mid tempo ballad that is perfectly crafted with excellent melodies and a stunning arrangement. I was always confused by the lyrics, "I don't know and dance a lot, they don't envy me" until the internet came along and told me the lyrics were, "Ivanhoe and Lancelot, they don't envy me".

"Boy Blue" sounds like Herb Alpert mixed with Slade and, whilst it isn't a bad song it doesn't quite catch fire for me. Next track "Laredo Tornado" employs the Clavinet which has to be the funkiest instrument known to man. The chorus of the song is a soaring falsetto backed by a stirring orchestra. It's not the catchiest song, but it is an impressive production that is very entertaining. "Poor Boy" sounds like prototype Travelling Wilburys and has some great touches that point to Jeff's increasing prowess as a producer. I can't really listen to "Mister Kingdom" as it sounds like a straight rehash of "Across the Universe" . The Beatles were good at being The Beatles; nobody else needs to do it. 

"Nobody's Child" is the tale of a young man's struggle to resist the advances of a 'painted lady'. This blues influenced backing track is augmented by some fantastic orchestral flourishes courtesy of arranger Louis Clark and I have a real soft spot for this song. "Illusions in G Major" is strongly reminiscent of rockabilly and is fun as it doesn't outstay its welcome. The title track is last with its thundering Roy Orbison style vocal and strong orchestral arrangement. A good album that strikes you as having achieved the ambitions Jeff set out when creating the band. 3/5

One record at a time: 91. Electric Light Orchestra - On The Third Day

For their third album ELO not only drop the definitive article, but they also jettison the chugging cello that plagued their first two releases. Hurrah! My copy of this album is a repressing which uses the weird US album sleeve rather than the original UK version. I say weird as the whole band seem to be exposing their belly buttons.

The songs on this record aren't quite the bouncy pop that was to come in later years, but the sound of the band has progressed significantly. You could almost call this the first ELO album. No sooner had I typed this sentence than I read a quote from Jeff in 1974 that said, "Just pretend it's the first one we ever made." 

Opening track "Ocean Breakup" is a short instrumental that could fool you into thinking this ELO album was merely a continuation of the self indulgent cello driven prog-rock of old. However, "King of the Universe" rings the changes as not only is it a good song, but the fidelity of the recording is superior to anything that has gone before. In the background there are a number of noises that sound like they were derived from messing about with the tape and I'm not entirely convinced they are intentional. 

One of my personal favourites on this record is "Bluebird Is Dead" which is a melancholic song that also succeeds as a catchy pop song. Following a brief introduction by the string section, "Oh no not Susan" progresses into a tale of a woman whose wealth does not satisfy. As we segue into "New World Rising" there's some great synth work by Richard Tandy but the strings still sound a little thin. As this is a UK pressing this track marks the end of side one but the US were treated to the fantastic single "Showdown".

Instrumental "Daybreaker" opens side two but it is a little self indulgent and continues to hark back to prog-rock sensibilities which plague ELO's early work. The cobwebs are blown away with the catchy rock/pop crossover "Ma-ma-ma Belle" which is an obvious choice for a single. "Dreaming of 4000" is a bit ponderous and lacks the hooks and motifs that distinguish Jeff's best work. A rather lacklustre version of Greig's "In The Hall of the Mountain King" is somehow stung out to six and a half minutes  and was probably more successful live than it was in recorded form. As the debut of the new ELO this is a promising debut. I'm just glad those cellos have gone. 3/5

One record at a time: 90. The Electric Light Orchestra - ELO II

The first track on this album would suggest things hadn't moved on in the two years since The Electric Light Orchestra's debut. "In Old England Town" is just a more polished version of the concept encountered in the first album replete with irritating chugging cello. Not an auspicious start.

However, the images contained within the gatefold shows us seven (half naked) men instead of the three featured on the first effort. This time around the strings are played by accomplished musicians and Moog synthesizer provides a depth of sound we haven't heard before. It is with second track "Momma" that we begin to hear the true sound of the second incarnation of ELO on ELO II (not ELO Part II, that's something different). This is a good song and is full of promise but in reality it is probably the high water mark for the album. 

Things hit another snag with a seven minute version of "Roll Over Beethoven". I've never been a big fan of Rock and Roll (which is a polite way of saying I don't like it) and I can't find anything in a repeating 12 bar blues pattern to warrant this play length. "From the Sun to the World" is another track that seems left over from the first album but it features some distinctive ELO chord changes and some pleasant Moog horn sounds that rescue it. The eleven minute "Kuiama" is a seventies pop song crossed with meandering prog rock. It's full of ideas and has some nice passages, but again, it doesn't warrant its run time. With only 5 tracks on the album, it's no wonder the band found time to churn out another in the same year. 2/5

One record at a time: 89. The Electric Light Orchestra - The Electric Light Orchestra

In 1988 I bought my first CD player; a Sony CDP-M35. Despite saving hard for this machine, it still put me in debt to my mother for about 10 years, but it broke down after only three. On the plus side, the player came with a flyer that entitled the buyer to four free CDs from a selection of about a hundred titles. One of the CDs I chose was Electric Light Orchestra "Greatest Hits" because I thought the name sounded futuristic and a family friend suggested they were "kind of electronic". Thus, I became indoctrinated with the melodies of Jeff Lynne and have been a fan ever since. 

A few years ago I decided to acquire as many ELO albums as I could on vinyl. My copy of their fist, eponymously entitled album, seems to be still in the cellophane. There is a price sticker for £2.99 from Virgin Records and a barcode is printed on the reverse, so I'm guessing this is a pressing from the early eighties. 

The album opens with the song that started it all "10538 Overture". To modern ears the recording of this track sounds raw and muddy. I'm guessing the relatively poor sound of the acoustic instruments is due to the limited technology available at the time. The distorted cello chugs away as Jeff asks us, "Did you catch his face, was it 10538?" This is a still a good song, its just not a good recording.

If released today, "Look at me now" would be called a 'reinterpretation' of "Eleanor Rigby" and attributed to ELO vs. The Beatles feat.  Roy 'Wizzard' Wood. "Nelly takes her bow" gives us some clues as to what ELO will turn into but Roy Wood's bizarre middle section derails Jeff's composition. "Battle of Marston Moor (July 2nd 1644)" is an instrumental piece in which Roy seem to have had great fun overdubbing numerous cello parts but he forgot to include a tune. 

A much better Roy Wood instrumental "1st Movement" opens side two with its driving beat and intricate melody. The next track "Mr Radio" gives us the clearest indication of Jeff's talent and is of sufficient quality to withstand Roy's constant scraping at the cello. "Manhattan Rumble" is yet another instrumental but there is a great deal of charm in Jeff's piano sections and that means this is probably the pick of the bunch.

The sound of badly played staccato cello is beginning to become quite wearing by the time we reach "Queen of the Hours" which has a melody reminiscent of "Days" by The Kinks. The album closes with "Whisper in the Night" which is probably one of the most accomplished productions on the record - but those bloody cellos! Save me from the cellos! 2/5

Jeff hits gold

A few years ago I lamented over the latest ELO/Jeff Lynne product "Mr Blue Sky" - this CD was a substandard set of re-recordings of ELO's greatest hits. What I really wanted was a new album and 3 years later I have what I wanted in the form of "Alone in the Universe".

First question raised by the appearance of this album is, given that Lynne resorted to the dreaded "covers album" for his last solo outing, can he still write a tune? The answer is yes. No, in fact it's "hell yes, this man can still write a tune". There is no new "Mr Blue Sky" or "Can't Get It Out of My Head" (my favourite ELO track) but the songs make it clear that Jeff knows what he's doing.

Next question is what sound has he gone for? Well it varies between the classic 70's ELO sounds of "When I Was  Boy", the distinctive rock of "Love and Rain", the disco of "One Step at a Time" and the Wilbury's sound of "Dirty to the Bone" - safe ground essentially. And it feels like home.

The whole thing is recorded by Jeff in his home and it is a stunning job. However some of the synth work, despite being very well programmed, does leave you longing for a real strings section (can't believe I just typed that). But this is only a minor criticism. Essentially Jeff has produced a record that will make his millions of fans very happy. Very happy indeed.

Post Script: for the first time ELO will be playing my home city on the upcoming tour associated with 'Alone in the Universe" - however, I won't be going. The 'cheap' seats are £88 rising to £121 if you want a decent central location.

Mr Poo Sky

Jeff Lynne seems like an affable bloke. He always comes across as a normal guy with a huge talent who has nothing to prove to anyone. He made the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) a phenomenon in the ‘70’s and rode the wave of stardom from the bleakest parts of Birmingham to the brightest lights of Los Angeles. He has written and produced some of the greatest pop songs of the 20^th century and has collaborated with The Beatles, George Harrison and Roy Orbison to name drop but a few.

So why in the name of god has he resorted to producing the cynical pony that is “Mr Blue Sky”? Is his Los Angeles mansion costing him a fortune to air condition and he can’t afford the electricity bill? Lynne justifies the existence of “Mr Blue Sky” in the same way Mike Oldfield defended the re-recording Tubular Bells: new technology and experience means the flaws of the original can be rectified and a long held dissatisfaction can be eradicated. But as with all such re-recordings, people love the original recordings so much that a modern version is going to have to be very special to even come close to matching the original.

I for one don’t like these new versions. The opener “Mr Blue Sky” is OK, but suddenly ends where the extended coda of the original took the song into a dream like fantasy. Sure, the song is Lynne’s to do with as he wants, but as he points out in his liner notes, “Who’s in charge, you or the song?” For me it’s the song; and Lynne is trying to wrestle back too much control. Most tracks rumble by as just flat versions of the originals with the exception of “Telephone Line” and “Showdown” which I single out for special criticism. The only track to be improved is “10538 Overture” which was aptly the starting point for the band and the end of this album. Let it be the end of ELO.