MR. BLUE SKY:THE VERY BEST OF ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA
Formed in 1970 by former Move members Roy Wood, Bev Bevan and Jeff Lynne, Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) were one of the biggest selling groups of the 70s and 80s.
The record label (Frontiers) and Jeff Lynne will try to get consumers to believe that Mr. Blue Sky The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra, featuring newly recorded versions of ELO's decades-old hits, is a powerful new testament to ELO's enduring legacy, reflecting Lynne's singular desire to get things right once and for all.
The sordid truth is probably that, like many other artists of decades past, he re-did these songs, probably to garner some royalties from them when used in commercials and movies.
Lynne, always the driving force behind ELO, has artfully revisited and re-recorded their greatest hits and actually improved on some of them, a kind of showdown (song title reference not accidental) between the Jeff Lynne of today and his extremely illustrious past.
Even with improved technology and recording artistry, I do not know that there is enough "new" here to warrant the average fan buying another compilation if they already own one of the several greatest hits albums that feature the original band line-up. Die hards will want this for "Point Of No Return," the lone new song.
Is it misleading to call this an ELO album? Is Jeff Lynne ELO? I think you'll find fans on both sides of the argument. I don't know the answer-obviously I bought the album and do not regret it, although I am far more interested in Lynne's forthcoming solo album featuring all-new material.
POINT OF NO RETURN
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I didn't know about the new album. That was one of the first bands I liked when I was younger.
ReplyDeleteI'm an old time, violins-and -cello guy. Don't think this qualifies as a must have for me... nor did anything this side of Discovery. Thanks for posting it, though.
ReplyDeleteHey, stranger! How have you been? Sorry I have been away so long. I was stuck in my writer's cave, doing my level best to crank out that second novel. Thankfully, I'm all done with that and free to get back to blogging once again.
ReplyDeleteI'm not the biggest ELO fan, but I do like their huge hits very much. I do like this new tune. I'll probably fish around iTunes and see whether I can find some other songs in their catalogue that I might have missed.
I hope life is taking care of you and treating you well, my friend.
-Jimmy
It's new old ELO
ReplyDeletewith an old BOSTON-ish album cover?
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
Alex-they did rock back in the day.
ReplyDeleteCW-it's a good album, but it you have a hits collection already it becomes a little redundant.
Jimmy-welcome back, and best of luck with the second novel. I have a few literary "works" in drawers that I never had the discipline to finish, so kudos to you for sticking to it!
McDogg-they had a spaceship on "Out Of The Blue" back in 1977, so there is a bit of grey area here.
To all-the "new" Jeff Lynne album was a HUGE disappointment!! All covers. You know how I feel about covers. Technically, this makes two covers albums back-to-back.
Thanks to all for dropping by and commenting!
LC