Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
How 'bout a review on the merits of the music?, April 16, 2006
As I'm not an "audiophile" or professional sound engineer, I'm not going to get into the merits of "lack of tape hiss" or "bad EQ" or the engineering expertise of EMI's Peter Mew. What I will say is that as a long-time ELO fan, I'm very impressed with what I hear on this disk. If you weren't fortunate enough to get the original "First Light" 2-disk UK edition of this album (probably only for die-hard early ELO fans to be honest), then this CD is definitely the next best thing, at a very reasonable price. This is the original concept of ELO, conceived by Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne. Very experimental pieces of music, most of which work beautifully. The magnificent "10538 Overture" is the template for all that went after, even during the "hit-making" years. Roy Wood's contributions are some of his best work - "Look At Me Now", "Whisper In The Night", and "First Movement (Jumpin' Biz)". "The Battle Of Marston Moor" is probably a hard listen for those who loved "Discovery" and "Xanadu", but an interesting example of the sincere attempt to meld classical and rock together in one piece of music. The bonus tracks are also interesting insights into the creative process that went into making this album.
If you like this, you should also check out the EMI remastered edition of the Move's "Message From The Country", which was recorded simultaneously with this album. In fact "10538 Overture" was originally intended to be a Move "B-side".
It really doesn't matter what the technical aspects of the remastering process are if the music isn't good - so if you're into progressive, experimental music with an early 1970's English pop music basis, you should check this out.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
No Answer, the way it ought to be heard, September 6, 2006
I've listened to ELO since before I could speak. My dad was into them from the start so I've grown up listening to his CDs and LPs. I always thought "No Answer" had some funky sounding stuff on it, but it's unbelieveable how much better (and it's already an amazing album to begin with) it is on the newly remastered edition. And the extra takes on 10538 Overture, Mr. Radio, Nelle Takes Her Bow, and Battle of Marston Moor (always thought that one was kind of freaky actually) are absolutely amazing. What is this whining about noise reduction? Discounting the live DVD of the "Zoom" concert in LA, I've never heard ELO sound better than in the new remastered series, especially "No Answer" and "ELO II." I highly recommend the entire remastered series, including "No Answer" and "ELO II."
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Balance of EQ, April 22, 2006
I would imagine it's difficult for some one to decide about buying this CD based on some of the other reviews. I can sum up my opinion this way: if you are a sound expert (for real or just self-proclaimed) you may have some difficulty with No Answer or ELO II. Clearly, in eliminating tape hiss, some of the high end sound is gone. But I'm not a sound expert so that's where my EQ analysis ends.
The fact is that both ELO remasters sound better than the US originals. There's really no comparison even if it's just the fact that CD mastering techniques have improved with time. It's worth updating your collection with these excellent new versions.
If I have any complaint it's that Sony had chosen to market these CDs as US remasters. They aren't. They are just re-reissues of the UK remasters of a few years back. Sony couldn't even be bothered to use the US cover of ELO II and from the looks of things to come the same goes for the reissue of On the Third Day.
The other complaint I have is the touting of these reissues as "Jeff Lynne approved" as if that really means anything. The fact that JL is involved at all probably hurts the reissues more than it helps... just look at the lack of fully unreleased songs. So, yes, these reissue are "Jeff Lynne approved" but... so what.
The bottom line is that No Answer (as it was named in the US) is a wonderfully strange album and this remaster is very good. It's not perfect but given that most of the CD buying public could care less about ELO we're never going to get perfect reissues. This CD is definitely worth buying.
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