betocool Posted August 16, 2014 Posted August 16, 2014 So, I got myself an account at Qobuz, the french streaming music portal, and these nice people gave me two weeks access to download their FLAC's as a test. Now I'm listening to some CD's I thought I'd buy by now but haven't, and checking a priori if I'd like some records or not. I downloaded "Mr. Blue Sky - The Very Best of ELO" and "Long Wave", a cover album by Jeff Lynne. I have always liked ELO, not only because I used to be one*, but because it brought very nice childhood memories, the most important one was this Disney Special show in the mid eighties where Snow White's mirror is presenting various clips from different movies, and the clips were joined together with as popular song in the background. The last feature was about Disney's evil women, from Snow White's witch up till Cruella de Vil, all with ELO's "Evil Woman" playing. And then the feature ended because Cruella started shooting from a shotgun and hitting the mirror. And Jeff Lynne, he's pretty cool too, all the works he's done with former Beatles, organizing the George Harrison tribute concert, part of the Travelin' Wilburys and an excellent producer. Back to both albums, "Mr. Blue Sky...", the guy went into the studio and re-recorded all ELO tracks all over again. I was listening to the music while cooking and during dinner, and during that casual listening you wouldn't notice they are remakes, it's pretty cool, I'll have to listen to it in peace and quiet again. I was very sceptic, so I checked that up in Wikipedia and Rolling Stone, at least all agree on the same. "Long Wave" is only cover versions Mr. Lynne used to listen to when he was a boy, so there are some nice oldies in with a "ELO" vibe to it. Only complaint, it's 27 minutes long. Not even half an hour. Come on! But he did play all instruments himself as far as I read. I'm going to listen to "Armchair Theatre" next, in a few days or so (don't want to scare my better half with an ELO invasion!), see what it's about. Bottom line, "Mr. Blue Sky..." I'll get when I can, "Long Wave" I guess I'll download it from time to time when I feel like listening to it. Cheers, Alberto *The electronic studies department at my former University (el Departamento de Electrónica) was known by all as ELO. I was an ELO student.
wolster Posted August 16, 2014 Posted August 16, 2014 Good taste, Alberto. Thanks for sharing. You might be interested in a previous thread about Jeff Lynne here. When I went looking for it I was surprised to see it was from four years ago.
emesbee Posted August 16, 2014 Posted August 16, 2014 I like ELO too, but have a marked personal preference for their earlier albums. 'A New World Record' and 'Out Of The Blue' contain good material, but I think the albums they did before these were far more interesting musically, and much better produced too. 'Eldorado' is a bit of a standout, in my opinion. The remastered 40th anniversary 2 disc edition (CD/DVD) of their first album is particularly good. I personally don't care very much for ELO's recordings after 'Out Of The Blue'. By then, I think they had strayed too far away from the original concept of the band, and become rather boring. At this stage they were ELO in name only. Production on the later albums leaves a lot to be desired too (in my opinion). And, if you delve back far enough, it will inevitably lead you to The Move, the band which Jeff Lynne joined after leaving The Idle Race, and which morphed into ELO with Roy Wood and Bev Bevan. The Move were a great band, and are really worth having a good listen to. The SALVO remasters of their albums 'Shazaam' and 'Looking On' are very good indeed, and contain a lot of worthwhile additional tracks. ('Looking On' was the first Move album to feature Jeff Lynne.) And, if you get this far, you might even get a bit curious about Roy Wood. ELO was essentially his idea, and he got together with his old mate Jeff Lynne with the express idea of starting ELO. Musical differences resulted in Roy Wood leaving ELO part way through recording their second album (ELO II) though, and Jeff Lynne ran the show from then on, eventually taking ELO in a somewhat different direction. Roy Wood's 'Boulders' album is worth a listen too, if you can find a copy. Quite a curious album, covering a wide range of styles, with Roy Wood playing all instruments and doing all the vocals himself. And then there is his band 'Wizzard'. Have a listen to 'Wizzard Brew', if you are brave enough. It is a strange, bizarre cacophany. My initial introduction to ELO was through their cover of Chuck Berry's 'Roll Over Beethoven', back in the early/mid 70s, and look where that led me! 2
Hergest Posted August 16, 2014 Posted August 16, 2014 Long Wave is longer than 27 minutes, it's a full length album (at least it is on lp) so the streaming Frenchies must offer up a truncated version.
betocool Posted August 17, 2014 Author Posted August 17, 2014 I went through the older thread (How cool is Jeff Lynne, great title!), I guess I was too lazy to search for it, or go beyond page 1. Anyway, it reflects my thoughts exactly and there's heaps of cool information. A very nice read, and nice to know there's people out there that like ELO. According to Wikipedia, the "Long Wave" LP is a full length album alright, but it's 27:19 minutes long. No wonder, 11 tracks each one less than 3 minutes long. The Japanese edition includes one extra track, at 2:51, it would make it 30:10 in that case.
krebetman Posted August 19, 2014 Posted August 19, 2014 Had a bit of a listen to Mr. Blue Sky (thanks Spotify) and enjoyed the remakes as an alternative/comparison point with the original tracks. I particularly liked the inclusion of one or two pretty early pieces such as 10538 Overture, which was better polished than the original, but less raw - times and moods for each.
Hergest Posted August 19, 2014 Posted August 19, 2014 According to Wikipedia, the "Long Wave" LP is a full length album alright, but it's 27:19 minutes long. No wonder, 11 tracks each one less than 3 minutes long. The Japanese edition includes one extra track, at 2:51, it would make it 30:10 in that case. My apologies, you were indeed correct in the first place. I've got the album on lp and have never thought it a short album when i played it and it just seemed to be a standard 40 + minute lp but after giving it another spin this evening it is a shorter than normal album. Not that i feel dudded or anything.
Al Leece Posted August 19, 2014 Posted August 19, 2014 Second the recommendation to look into Roy Wood and his work. He has produced both good music of his own (sadly underrated IMNSHO ) and done a whole heap of work producing, star spotting and practically anything in the Biz. He, Sabbath and Zeppelin were probably the best things to come out of the Midlands UK. Possibly in that order. *dons flame proof suit*
betocool Posted March 2, 2019 Author Posted March 2, 2019 Been a while.... How come we missed this? You be the judges... I know how I felt. Enjoy! Cheers, Alberto
Paul Faulkner Posted March 2, 2019 Posted March 2, 2019 I saw ELO at the Sydney Myer music bowl in 79,search for the Mr blue sky doco,a new world record takes me back big time
Guest Muon N' Posted March 2, 2019 Posted March 2, 2019 Another person that has always liked ELO, here. Takes me back to teenage years when listening to the ELO classics.
Janjuggler Posted March 3, 2019 Posted March 3, 2019 Hi All, A top 10 band for me, I cannot think of a poor album. JJ 2
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