Customer Reviews

Out of the Blue: 30th Anniversary Edition (W/Book)

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Out of the Blue" sounds better than ever! This reissue sounds terrific with much better dynamic range, better clarity and sharper sounding music than ever before. This edition features a 12 page booklet discussing the making of the album and some amusing stories about the tour with the giant spaceship to support the album. An excellent album from Lynne and company, "Out of the Blue" caught the band at their creative and musical pinnacle. This edition features the booklet but not a replica of the promo items in a standard jewel box. By the way, if you have the first pressing Japanese edition of this on CD reportedly this isn't a huge improvement on the sound quality from that release. It does however have a great bonus track and a good instrumental new to the CD. Be aware that the master tapes do have a couple of drop outs that occur (particularly at the beginning of "It's Over")but given the age of the tapes (and how unstable the tapes were during the 70's), I'm not surprised. I am a bit surprised that these drop outs weren't digitally repaired (I'm sure they could have been) but overall I'm very pleased with this terrific album.

I have read some complaints that his doesn't compare or improve on previous editions. Actually, it depends on which edition you have. The Japanese edition (where the album was divided over two discs reportedly still sounds the best--keep in mind that loudness doesn't always equate to better sound as the signal may have been compressed and much of the dynamic range lost, etc.--that said this sounds to my ears much better than the previous American edition mastered by Joe Gastwirt (who probably did the best with what he had at hand within the time frame he had). Sadly, no one thought to ever put this out in an audiophile edition (that would make sense given the sales and appeal of the band)which is a pity because of all of ELO's recordings this has the sonic detail and lush soundscapes that demand it. Nevertheless, this version sounds really good.

This is one of ELO's most infectious albums and while it may lack some of the more experimental touches on the band's first three albums, there are plenty of melodic experiments here such as the sythsizer driven "The Whale". "Turn to Stone" has never sounded so good on CD before. While the band would continue to put out hits after this, "Out of the Blue" captured the band at a commerical and artistic climax. They never got better than this!

We get three bonus tracks. The first is an alternate bridge for the song "Wild West Hero" and runs about 24 seconds. The second is an unfinished instrumental "The Quick and the Daft" that runs under a minute and a half. The last is "Latitude 88 North" which Lynne finished for this reissue. It's a terrific song that would have fit in well with the rest of the album. I'm glad that Lynne went back to finish it as it makes a fitting finish to a terrific album.

ELO's ambitious "Out of the Blue" remains the standard by which all other ELO records would be judged. This is no doubt ELO's finest moment, a whopping double album of well crafted songs, each with a mini symphony of its own. It boggles the mind how so many good songs were written in such a short amount of time with such good production values. Many of the songs have a Broadway-like quality to them; For example, listen to "Wild West Hero", you will see what I mean.

There are also the radio staples: "Turn to Stone" and "Sweet Talkin' Woman", no strangers to heavy rotation on the FM airwaves to this day. However, the underrated star of side one is "Across the Border", a sweet mixture of Beatles, Symphony Orchestra and Aculpulco. This is Jeff Lynne on top of the world, doing what he does best...Beatles inspired rock and roll with an experimental twist.

Side three gives us the "Concerto for a Rainy Day"..a mini record unto its own. "Big Wheels" and "Summer and Lightning" are timeless.

In short, if there were one ELO collection to get, this is the one.

For all of you reading the negative reviews now thinking "I shouldn't buy this because it doesn't sound good" forget that! From a technical side this album has always sounded great but now it sounds fantastic. Using state of the art technology Jeff Lynne personally oversaw and conducted the remastering. I too have compared the two CD releases and even the vinyl release and concluded this one just sounds best! But here's the thing, one can't fix something that's not broken. So when one thinks of a remaster one may expect a dramatic improvement in sound quality. Not so much on this remaster BUT! One will hear things that weren't as noticible before; actually make out the words on believe me now. Performances are more apparent so on and so forth. The only thing kinda lame about this expanded edition is that it gives the listener only three more tracks: two short ones and one brand new song; all of them are amazing.

Out Of the Blue is Electric Light Orchestra's most famous album, many consider it to be the best and that's difficult to argue with. The album was even more successful than another release prior to that and has some of the most famous ELO tunes on it, like Sweet Talkin' Woman and Turn To Stone and Mr. Blue Sky! This album released more singles than any other ELO album, and all of them shine. So If one is even a little interested in ELO, he/she should make sure that this decade defining album is in their possession!

This is ELO's masterpiece. The 30th Anniversary remaster, however, is a disappointment. I'm not an audiophile, so I can't say exactly what the problem is or what happened. But I can say that the 2007 remaster sounds muddier than the comparatively crisp Gastwirt remaster from (I believe) 1990. As a result, the strings seem to have receded into the background. One has to wonder whether Jeff Lynne himself had something to do with this. Lynne is listed as one of the producers of the 2007 remaster, and it is well known that Lynne began to feel disenchanted with strings during the 1980's, so much so that strings are absent from ELO's 1986 album Balance of Power. I recommend finding a good used copy of Gastwirt's version which is now out of print. Failing that, the 2007 remaster is serviceable. The 2007 remaster includes three mediocre bonus tracks. One is a brief alternate vocal for "Wild West Hero" and is frankly not that interesting; another, "Latitude 88 North" sounds like a Zoom b-side.

I had been looking forward to this reissue for some time now as "Out of the Blue" is Jeff Lynne's masterpiece. Unfortunately this reissue, while fixing some major flaws in previous CD versions, falls very short of the mark in many other ways. Overall the stereo seperation has been greatly improved but the sonic fidelity seems to have suffered quite a bit. There is audible distortion on some tracks and a general lack of luster and sheen to most of them, This was not the case with the previous version on cd.

Also, although this product is described as "with book" , the only thing I got was a small booklet and a jewelcase, not the package with the pop out flying saucer. NO big deal, but Amazon should correct the item description.

Basically the main attraction for THIS reissue for me is that the drop outs at the end of "It's Over" have been fixed .. (pro tools anyone?)

Side by side with the previous CD release, it is obvious to MY ears that this product is not as good sounding. I would venture a guess that SOME of the tunes have been slightly remixed OR the incorrect masters were used resulting in a mix that is different to my ears.

All of this doesn't matter if you have never heard this album before. It is a bonifide masterpiece and belongs in any serious collection of pop music. The songs are as great as they were the day they were writen. Maybe even better!

I am not rating the album......Out of the Blue was a fantastic album in 1977 and it still is in 2009.

But this re-master is grossly lacking in any significant degree in audiophile improvement......to the contrary....I think it sounds noticeably worse than the original release of the CD I bought "way back when" (Jet Catalog # ZDK 35530). This release sounds "tinty" and as someone said earlier, no low end. This surprises me given it's the 21st century ! ! !

The Jet release also had a 28 page booklet (all the lyrics included, like the LP did).....though this one does have more narrative from Lynne and an interview.

I would agree with an earlier review that there is some historical improvement with the addition of "3" tracks....though they can hardly be called that.....one is like 24 seconds long !

You can no longer get the Jet release, I'm sure.....so this is your only chance at owning this piece of music history.....but for those of us who have been ELO fans for more than 30 years, this is a disappointment....certainly not an improvement. Just a good thing it's only $6.99.........for musical content, it grossly under-priced.....for sound quality it's about $3 too much.

Jeff Lynne was always a master tunesmith, but even at his best (Eldorado and Face the Music), he often tripped over his classical predelictions. "Out Of The Blue" was the climactic moment where Lynne's determination that pop music pinnacled at "I Am The Walrus" matched his classic experiments perfectly, and he was just beginning to let go of his rock and roll visions. (Even if the next tour was the infamous Spaceship Stage extravaganza.)

This is the album that yielded two flawless pop singles, "Turn To Stone" and "Mr. Blue Sky," inescapable some 30 years later. But Lynne also wanted to try out his inner "Abby Road" with the side long "Concerto For A Rainy Day." It flows like a good song suite should, more so than "Eldorado" did, and climaxed with "Mr. Blue Sky."

"Out Of The Blue" is loaded with moments of pop perfection. You can hear Lynne's evolution into Travelling Wilburys territory on "Across The Border" and "Birmingham Blues." His fascination with the American west (think "Poker" and "Down Home Town") on "Wild West Hero." His melancholy also comes to the fore on "hero" and "It's Over."

I will be one of those who is actually pleased with the remastering. The highs are a lot crisper and the soundstage seems to be broader. The annoying dropouts that plagued the previous CD are all but gone. This is the best version of "Out Of The Blue" yet. Don't be scared off by the audio-snobs - this is a brillant pop album and deserves a space in your CD collection if you're an ELO fan.

This is by far the BEST ELO album out there. I remember getting this on vinyl way back when and driving a life long obsession with this band. I think the variety of their work offered without this being a compilation album is great. If you want to dip your toe in the pool of music that is ELO this is the best place to start.

1977 was of course the year of punk and also the year of disco, but two inescapable albums also appeared in that year: 'Rumours' by Fleetwood Mac was released in February 1977 and in November that year, ELO released the double LP 'Out of the Blue'.

I disagree with some of the negative reviews. 'Out of the Blue' is a superb album from start to finish, and one which has really stood the test of time, as it still sounds as fresh today as it did when it was released over 33 years ago. Written and produced and arranged in its entirety by Jeff Lynne, and recorded at Musicland Studios in Germany, this is an ambitious album with 17 extremely well crafted songs, including three of ELO's massive hits, 'Turn to Stone', 'Sweet Talking Woman', and 'Mr Blue Sky'.

The lush string and keyboards/synthesiser arrangements are faultless.

On the original vinyl release (now a single CD):

Side 1:

1. Turn to Stone

2. Its Over

3. Sweet Talking Woman

4. Across the Border

Side 2:

1. Night In the City

2. Starlight

3. Jungle

4. Believe Me Now

5. Stepping Out

Side 3:

Concerto for a Rainy Day

1. Standin' in the Rain

2. Big Wheels

3. Summer and Lightning

4. Mr Blue Sky

Side 4:

1. Sweet is the Night

2. The Whale

3. Birmingham Blues

4. Wild West Hero

All 17 tracks are superb and there is not a weak moment on the album. Pick of the bunch: 'Turn To Stone', 'Sweet Talkin' Woman', 'Night In the City', 'Starlight', and the four tracks that make up the 'Concerto for a Rainy Day'. These are absolutely brilliant and the rest of the set comes close to matching them. 'The Whale' is the best instrumental track ELO ever did and 'Big Wheels' is their finest ballad ever.

Without doubt this is ELO's best work, 'Face the Music' and 'A New World Record' are good but this is better. Its miles better than 'Discovery' and the band's later work. If you ever own one ELO album, buy this one.

The sound of the remastered CD doesn't have any major enhancements on the original CD, so if you don't want the bonus tracks stick to the original CD, although this is best heard on vinyl.

One not to be missed.

when I was a kid everybody was into Floyd,but I didnt get to them until I was an adult!when I was a kid I had ELO,Alan Parsons project;you get the picture.I had this album as a kid,had to have it back in my collection!