Customer Reviews

Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra 2 (Snyr)

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

 

 

I have heard ELO's music in the past.....never really thinking about the words too much, or about the musical arrangement. It was just background music, that was fun to sing along to and up beat. I have now started listening to ELO more and more to where I have become obsessed with the music. Jeff Lynne is a master at writing and arranging hit songs for himself and others! I have gotten all the proper studio albums and still have an appetite for more! This CD quenches the thirst for songs on the studio albums that are above the rest on their respected albums and deserve their proper due in a very best of cd. This CD is a companion to "All Over The World". That hits cd covered the radio play hits. This cd contains the deep cuts that have not gotten radio airplay or are not as popular but have been good songs. The cd actually claims Jeff picked these songs himself. It sounds wonderful and takes all tracks off the remastered cd album releases. If you like ELO and bought All Over The World very best cd, then do yourself a favor and get this one as a companion. These 2 cd's beat half of the hits packages the companies have put out over the years and it contains the remamstered songs in brilliant sound!!

Yes,this album is missing some of the hits, like a couple of the hit songs off Xanadu and some others, but we know how Jeff feels about his soundtrack work. It still has a fabulous mix of tracks. Latitude 88 North is a downright classic, as is the Wilbury sounding Surrender, these two tracks alone make this compilation worth purchasing. Throw in So Serious, the fabulous Calling America and the super rocking Four Little Diamonds and you have a sensational mix of tracks. Then you add in the amazing ballad Moment In Paradise and off course Do Ya which is surely one of Jeff's greatest compositions. But what about Twilight, how amazing is this song, what planet was he on when he wrote this, what are the chords to this incredible tune, words fail to be able to adequately describe the intense emotion and level of excellence in this song. Just buy this great set of songs and turn it up, hopefully we'll have some new Jeff Lynne music in 2010 as it's been way too long since Zoom and we all miss his incredible artistry and absolute wizardry when it comes to the art of songwriting and producing.

First off, I have to say that Electric Light Orchestra is my all-time favorite band. I seriously love a lot of 70s/80s bands (I've seen Styx in concert twice), but nobody can beat ELO. This CD covers mostly their 1980s songs that never really got a lot of attention, and a couple of the minor classics. Let me give you the run-down:
Twilight- Time. A good opener for the CD.
Do Ya- A New World Record. Pure ELO magic.
Can't Get It Out of My Head- Eldorado. One of those haunting ELO songs that won't (ha ha) get out of your head.
Latitude 88 North- Out of the Blue remastered. A good catchy song. It escapes me why it wasn't on the album originally.
It's Over- Out of the Blue. A nice slow one. Good for rainy days.
Ticket to the Moon- Time. Slightly mournful, but good nontheless.
Heaven Only Knows- Balance of Power. Really good. I played it at my church retro party and everybody started dancing
Starlight- Out of the Blue. 'Nother slow one (nothing wrong with that).
Four Little Diamonds- Secret Messages. This one is really really good. I never grow tired of it.
Secret Messages- Secret Messages (duh). One of ELO's little digs at the people who accused them of backwards Satanic messages. Very good.
Eldorado- Eldorado (duh again). This is the only track that doesn't really mesh with the rest of the CD. It sounds much better on its own album.
So Serious- Balance of Power. Nice little boppy song.
Last Train to London- Discovery. One of the very few disco-y ELO songs (but who cares? Still sounds good).
In My Own Time- Zoom. I didn't know this was a "new" song until I read about it on Wikipedia. You can't tell, really. Jeff still sounds exactly the same.
Destination Unknown- Afterglow (compilation) and Balance of Power remastered. In other words, previous to Afterglow, unreleased. Seems a shame it wasn't on an actual album; I really like it!
The Way Life's Meant to Be- Time. Not my favorite ELO song, but there's nothing wrong with it either.
One Summer Dream- Face the Music. Yet another haunting Lynne melody. How he could come up with so many very different-sounding songs is beyond me...
Calling America- Balance of Power. The whole CD is good, don't get me wrong. But if I had to pick ONE favorite track, this would be it.
Moment in Paradise- Zoom. A very nice song. Contains the lowest note I've ever heard Jeff Lynne hit.
Surrender- A New World Record remastered. A not-so-typical-ELO boppy song. It WILL get stuck in your head All. Day. Long.
So yes, this CD doesn't have all their mega-hits, but that's the point! There have been so many various ELO big hits CDs that I guess they decided to release the lesser-known songs to give them a chance to show off. Believe me, they can stand on their own. This is a highly enjoyable CD. Every serious ELO fan must have it.

ELO debuted in the early 1970s around about the same time of Curved Air, I recommend their album Air Conditioning.
Anyway ELO really shot to full blown success from 1975 with fantastic pop/orchestral songs which just seemed to flow from Jeff Lynne's pen straight into the top ten.
In my opinon The Very Best Of Volume 2 is unable to maintain the highest standards which came before.
Having said that Can't Get It Out Of My Head is a fantastic song, no lack of quality there.
Do Ya is OK, while the rest appear to be too similar sounding.
If Volume 1 is enjoyed, this could be considered with the above warnings.

this second set contains everything not included on the first set. a must have for anyone not wanting to buy every single elo cd.

Anyone who liked the Electric Light Orchestra should find something they remember on this CD. The sound is clear and bright, the presence is excellent. Artie

When announced we were told that this companion volume to the first All Over The World CD would mop up the hits that did'nt make it to the first volume. So what went wrong? This second volume is a real missed opportunity. What we have are some album tracks and bounus tracks from the recent remasters of Out Of The Blue and A New World Record. None of these were of course hits. BUT there are some very big ELO hits missing. The remaining ELO hits from the Xanadu soundtrack are missing (Xanadu - the original hit, Jeff Lynne's mankled version was put on volume 1, I'm Alive and Don't Walk Away)together with Here Is The News, Getting To The Point and many others. Quite why these have been left off is a mystery particularly the Xanadu songs which were all big hits. So it's best to avoid this and get the Flashback 3cd boxset (with unsurpassed remastered sound) and the 1998 Sony UK Xanadu CD soundtrack (remastered). with these 2 you'll have the complete picture of ELO's mighty 15 year reign.

If you're an ELO fan, then this CD is for you. Lot's of their newer stuff - plus some of their old

This one like the first volume should have been released years ago right after ELO broke up! Anyway, nice choice of tracks but really this one is better bought by the collector. there are two CD sets imported that easily rival this release as well as vol 1. search judemac Forever on msn, Google or Yahoo