Customer Reviews

Kelly

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

 

 

I am very satisfied with this CD. Some of it sounds "very ELOish", but with Louis Clark doing the Orchestration and several members of the original ELO, performing on this production, it was only to be expected.
What a pity Kelly will never make another album!

I have owned the LP of Kelly since it was first released in 1982. Being an ELO fan at the time I quite liked the ELO sound of this album and always felt it was a shame that his song writing talents were never utilised when he was in ELO. As you can imagine I was looking forward to finally getting Kelly on CD so why have I given it only 2 stars? The sound quality.

This is the worst remastering effort I have ever heard. It sounds like the volume was boosted too much effectively clipping the peaks off the louder notes. CDs have a maximum volume audio can be recorded at, beyond this point the audio waveform is cut off creating distorted sound. It is a common procedure for remastered CDs to have the volume boosted as it creates the illusion of better sound. I cannot understand how this CD ever made it into production sounding the way it does.

So its 4 stars for the songs but 0 stars for the remastering.

If you are a fan of ELO then you will likely enjoy this album. I had a vinyl copy of it back in 1983; I am glad to finally have it once again.

The music on this album is very reminiscent of the most successful period of ELO albums Face the Music through Discovery. Kelly Groucutt was the bass player for ELO during this time and also helped out with some of the vocals. It is my understanding that he wished for a more creative role within the group but was not allowed to becuase Jeff Lynne was very protective of his own role as the leader and brains of ELO. It is my impression that Kelly's solo album was his way of showing that he could compose an "ELO" style song. During the 1990's and 2000's he would continue to show this by becoming a member of the various ELO style/tribute bands Orkestra, ELO Part Two, and finally The Orchestra.

The only draw back I find with new release of this album is that the sound quality of the CD is not very good. It sounds like the volume was turned up too high during the remastering process which at times causes the sound to be distorted.

Like so many others, I was saddened to read of Kelly's death earlier this year. I had remembered seeing him perform on American Bandstand in 1983, but had never owned his album at that time. I was glad to see it reissued on CD a few months ago, but the fact is, the original master tapes are in poor condition. I feel, however, that they could've done a better job with the mastering. What we get sounds like it was dubbed from an audio cassette. It's a real shame, because the music on the album is actually quite good. With that being said, it is still worth a purchase, because it's one of those albums you thought might never be able to listen to again, and you're simply grateful to have it.

Good music, but unfortunately another poorly disguised bad vinyl rip disguised as a re-issue by masters of deceit Renaissance Records. How this company stays in business is beyond me. Hopefully one day we'll get a re-issue done the legit way from the master tapes. Until then, stay away from Renaissance Records. Another one they burned me on was the reissue of "Red 7". Sounded like they used a cassette master for that one.

The man never got his due in life as singer or songwriter. This album (with the help of some of his ELO bandmates) showcases both attributes in a great collection of songs that should have been far more successful.
The problem, as noted, is the production. Not sure what they were thinking but the vocals are all but lost here (and it's too bad 'cause the man could sing) and the mix is really bad. I hear there's a better version floating around somewhere and I'm going to look for that because the album is certainly worth having in your collection, especially if you're an ELO fan!
"Old Rock and Roller" reminds of a Bob Seger tune and it's rapidly become one of my favorites (maybe because I'm an old rock and roller myself?) but there are some great tracks here. Buy it, turn it up loud to mask some of the production flaws (and hear Kelly's voice) and enjoy! Good stuff. RIP Kelly.