Customer Reviews

ELO'S Greatest Hits

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I liked Electric Light Orchestra from the very first song I heard on the radio. Putting their music into perspective, I now consider ELO to be Progressive Rock - Light, or heavy pop. Their heavily orchestrated and symphonic works, loaded with electronics and high-pitched vocals, have the trappings of progressive rock, yet were firmly rooted in pop music.

This CD chronicles many of the better known Electric Light Orchestra songs from the 70s, all of which received various amounts of air play. My favorites tend to be the longer compositions, reflecting my enjoyment of progressive rock. "Mr. Blue Sky" starts out like a Beatles song, but progresses quickly into traditional ELO. My all-time favorite ELO song.

"Can't Get It Out of My Head" starts out with wonderfully evocative lyrics:

Midnight on the water.
I saw the ocean's daughter.
Walking on a wave's chicane,
staring as she called my name.

I've never quite understood what this song is about. It mixes surreal images with a section about bank robbery and heroic historic figures that is somewhat confusing to me. I've wondered whether it is just a song about meditating on life and the choices we make, or something else.

"Livin' Thing" starts with an almost Gypsy feeling, then jumps into a pop beat, but then flips back into the Gypsy violin sound. The lyrics again rely on strange imagery versus clearly trying to convey a point.

Enjoying "Strange Magic" is a guilty pleasure. The music is beautiful, and the lyrics are poetic, but the choruses are repetitive and lengthy. The song is easy on the ears, and easy to sing, but there should have been more meat to the lyrics. But the song is still catchy and I enjoy it.

Because of the juxtaposition of lyrics that rely on emotional imagery and flashes of insight barely tasted and music that ranges from near-classical to hard rock, I find it easy to consider that ELO is progressive rock. With the strong pop beat that infuses much of their music, that progressive rock is in a different category from Yes, The Moody Blues, King Crimson and others, but so too are those groups very different from each other. The best way of describing ELO is that they are what might have resulted if The Beatles combined with members of Yes and The Moody Blues. The result can sometimes be a little strange, but for those who enjoy it, this is wonderful music.

If you've heard ELO music somewhere and liked it, you will like this collection of ELO music. It's a great introduction and sampling of the group. It's not comprehensive by any means. For that you will have to look to another collection, such as "Strange Magic: The Best of Electric Light Orchestra", which includes every song in this collection plus another CD's worth. Likely a better buy if you are looking for a more comprehensive collection because that CD is relatively inexpensive.

Jeff Lynne is one talented musician and producer. Though I haven't heard many of his non-hit songs, E.L.O.'s "Greatest Hits" is 11 songs of pure tunefulness, with Lynne working as the mastermind behind them. You can tell the guy enjoyed making music for himself and his fans; he sang, produced, wrote the lyrics and played guitar on each of these songs. E.L.O.'s tunes don't exactly boast a big, bad sound, but the band is a tight outfit that incorporates classical snippets of violin, piano and even vocal arias, like in the operatically themed but rugged rocker "Rockaria," where Lynne tips his hat to Wagner, Beethoven, Puccini and Verdi. Truly, what rocker has the stones to do that these days? Further, what rock band nowadays comes remotely close to E.L.O.'s stylish sound and showboat experimentation. For what the band sacrifices in trends and "cool points," it makes up for with genuinely crafty songs that everyone and their grandmother could love. Lynne and the gang in E.L.O. are very talented musicians with great voices. Offhand, Queen (see Queen II), Def Leppard (see X), the Bee Gees (see Their Greatest Hits: The Record) and Supertramp (see Breakfast in America) are the only groups I can think of who put so much emphasis on the backing vocals. I also like the piano on these songs, as well as the various string arrangements in the background. I've also noticed Lynne's meat-and-potatoes penchant for sometimes making the drums sound big and bassy, such as on the song "Don't Bring Me Down," which isn't on this album, unfortunately. It's also cool to hear a retro-sounding '50s doo-wop on the tunes "Telephone Line" and "Sweet Talkin' Woman." Overall, if you love good melody, sweet-sounding vocals and unique song arrangements, E.L.O. are a classic/classical/pop-rock band you should check out.

I bought this album back in 1990 when I just bought CD player and rush for major Greatest Hits albums in CD version. This album was great introduction for me to the greatest magic creator on earth Electric Light Orchestra. Although their complete compilation Strange Magic is there, it is still the album to play for me. Some of the tracks such as Showdown and Rockeria become the mainstay of classic rock station thanks to this compilation. Yes, every track deserves the airplay and rebooming will be sure to follow...

ELO, Styx, 10cc, Toto, and Queen, were all pretty much fused together in my mind in the progressive rock genre listening to the radio in the mid to late '70's. I always enjoyed ELO's hit tunes, but only wound up buying one of their albums, "Face The Music." ELO did great some great music, but overall, I always found their albums to be a bit uneven and I was never motivated enough to consistently go out and purchase their discs.

What made ELO a great rock band to me was that much of their music has a "classical base" to it. The orchestrations are rich, multi-layered, and still amaze me today. Trust me... I can pop this CD in my car or home player and it'll be days later before I take it out! <heh heh> It is just fun to listen to over and over again. The energy this band created with their songs is as fresh today as when these tunes were first released.

The playlist on this album does a good job of covering their more memorable hits and this selection to me is better than a couple of other "best of" ELO compilitations I have seen. The rock and ballad songs on this CD are as infectious as they have ever been- you can't help but sing along. ELO always had a bit of a chameleon-like quality to it too, and I say that as a respectful compliment to this band's abilities. "Mr. Blue Sky" is my favorite ELO tune. Listen to the lyrics, singing style, and the melodies to this song. I can close my eyes today and swear I'm listening to The Beatles.

Anyone not familar with main-stream pop hits of the '70's will give themselves a nice introduction to the better music that traversed the airwaves with this album. Sit back and enjoy this set of songs. It will have a mind-altering effect on you- and in a good way! <heh heh>

When ELO was bad, they were corny and saccharine. But, when they were good, they were just fantastic.

To dismiss something as gorgeous as "Can't Get It Out Of My Head" as 'fluff' or 'lightweight' is beyond my comprehension. Like the bulk of ELO's stuff it is a soundtrack in search of a film: technicolor cinemascope on a huge curved wrap-around screen, with six dozen audio speakers and a plush scarlet curtain 60 feet high and 180 feet wide...

Well, ELO does that to you: leaves you to glory in the wonder and beauty of art, even if it is pop (small 'p') art. "Rockaria!" may seem trivial to some, but it is such a sincere celebration of music itself--a Pop (large 'p') praise for Classical in a light Rock format--that it is a cold man who won't let himself enjoy it.

"Strange Magic" is just that, an oddly effecting piece carried by Lynne's breathy vocal. When he says he's never going to be the same again, you know just what he means. Avoiding this tune on the radio in the summer of 1975 was an impossibility.

And there is the overlooked masterpiece, "Mr. Blue Sky," an entire full-color cinematographer's blueprint in 5 minutes, the soundtrack to some forgotten Disney short.

Perhaps ELO's critics were right all along, maybe these are little LSD episodes for the post-60's generation. Maybe this is Pop of a lighter brand than Lynne's 60's-icon heroes would have have messed with, made more pallitable by masterful production.

But it's still great Pop.

ELO - Electric Light Orchestra - came out with a number of great hits during the 1970s. They were great to dance to, and sometimes slipped in a meaning or two.

That's not to say the songs weren't great! I love this album and listen to it fairly frequently. But really, you don't get dense soul searching in here. You get "Evil Woman" where the guy is annoyed with his ex, saying "You made the wine, now drink the cup."

There are cool instrumental parts of "Livin' Thing" - and I love the sliding harmonies in the song. "Can't Get it Out of my Head" with its keyboard is more melancholy but also manages to capture the feeling of being stuck on someone.

The next three - Showdown, Turn to Stone and Rockaria are fine for pure enjoyment, but often I am waiting anxiously for the series of 5 songs that are simply magic. They are Sweet Talkin' Woman, Telephone Line, Ma-Ma-Ma-Belle, Strange Magic and Mr. Blue Sky. I've owned this CD for so long that they run together into a giant opus of fantastic music. "Don't know what I'm gonna do - I've gotta get back to you!" The harmonies are just fantastic, the rhythms are great, they are just so dance-around-the-houseable. What do the lyrics really mean? He misses his woman. Does it really matter? You get swept along with the songs and by the time it's all over, you feel so much better.

I bet we could invent an ELO diet where you played this every morning, danced around your kitchen while you made yourself toast and coffee, and ended up happy and in better shape than before. I highly recommend it!

If you've loved ELO for long, you will have had these songs on all the original albums, but if you're an ELO newbie, this is an excellent, though very brief, introduction. I am sick of ELO being bashed as the poor man's Beatles, as sappy, as "disco-flavored violin trash," and as infantile muzak. All of these criticisms are from people who haven't bothered to listen to ELO from beginning to last and who are too obtuse to realize that Jeff Lynne is a musical genius (and no, I don't use that word lightly). Yes, his lyrics are banal, but with this type of music, who on earth cares? The lyrics to "Ob La Di, Ob La Da" are trite too, but with such catchy music, one can overlook the banality of the words.

This set is by no means the definitive set of the three issued ELO compilations, but it hits the high notes. I wish they would have included ELO's most underrated (and, I think, best) song, "Nightrider."

The sound quality is excellent and the track order is pleasing. There are no omissions and only a few questionable inclusions, such as "Telephone Line," one of the more vapid ELO entries.

I bought my first ELO single when I was 10 years old and I never looked back. If you've read this far, you're a fan like me and you will devour this set. Long live this sappy, trite, banal band... I still love 'em forever!

ELO's unique blend of rock instruments with the synthesized orchestral accompanyment leaves you looking for many more people on stage. The songs have distinct and audible lyrics, and some of the more upbeat tunes have a driving rock backbone. Many tracks on this CD bring goosebumps from memories of their live performances and all the good times we had singing along with each song in their debut years. A thoroughly enjoyable album With "their own" sound, jammin' keyboards, guitar licks, and a listenable soft side for classic (hard) rock fans. You'll reminisce with every track!

ELO evolved from another British group, The Move, which was successful in the late sixties with such hits as Flowers in the rain and Blackberry way. Bev Bevan, Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne, all previously with The Move, created ELO. With other new members, they recorded their debut album, which yielded the UK top ten hit 10538 overture. After that, there were a series of line-up changes but the biggest change came because Roy and Jeff disagreed about the way that ELO should develop. Roy and two others quit and formed their own group, Wizzard (essentially a rock'n'roll group, updated for the seventies) who had a couple of UK number one hits (See my baby jive, Angel fingers), but is now best remembered for the top five hit, I wish it could be Christmas every day.

With Roy gone, Jeff was free to do what he wanted. He added classical music influences to a basic rock sound, making something unique and distinctive, though this vision took a few albums to be fully realized. ELO had a long string of hits on both sides of the Atlantic in the seventies, particularly from the albums A new world record, Out of the blue and Discovery, but were unable to sustain that success in the eighties. Their last UK top ten hit was in 1981 and they only came close once after that - in 1983, with Rock'n'roll is king. In America, their fortunes faded equally dramatically but they had already recorded a body of work that is well worth listening to.

This brilliant compilation contains most of ELO's big British and American hits from the period 1973 to 1978. Six of the tracks here come from the two albums for which they are best remembered - A new world record (Living thing, Telephone line, Rockaria) and Out of the blue (Mr Blue sky, Sweet talking woman, Turn to stone). The other five tracks are older.

There are stronger ELO compilations than this, but if you only want a sample of their music and your favorite songs are here, this might suit you. The most comprehensive compilation is the British double-CD, Ultimate collection, which lives up to its title (unlike some compilations titled Ultimate).

Well, gang, here is something for your musical sweet tooth! This CD collects some of ELO's biggest radio hits from '73-'78 in one concise disc. Also included are two prime album cuts, "Rockaria" and "Ma-Ma-Ma Belle," both of which showcase ELO's rockier edge. Most of the other cuts are sweet pop confections of the highest order. Jeff Lynne is one of the great art pop/rock producers and his artistry shines through on cuts such as the synth epic "Turn to Stone," the yearning ballad "Can't Get it Out of My Head," the sunny stomp "Mr. Blue Sky," the sugary "Sweet Talkin' Woman," and the funky foreboding of "Evil Woman." Bev Bevan's signature drum romping, Kelly Groucutt's indispensible vocal backing, Richard Tandy's lively keys, and Mik Kaminski's stunning violin work all shine brightly here. Of course, 1995's STRANGE MAGIC double disc offers a more complete and up-to-date overview of the band, but for a quick hit of pop brilliance, this HITS disc is tough to top. (Also check out the more recent ESSENTIAL ELO collection.)