Jeff Lynne's ELO to release new live album 17.11.17

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Larsen, Oct 6, 2017.

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  1. Comet01

    Comet01 Forum Resident

    There are folks on this forum who refuse to believe that an ELO performance could be anything less than 100% live.
     
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  2. Larsen

    Larsen Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Bergen, Norway
    My thoughts exactly! I'm not denying that some, or even most, tracks were recorded live, but listening to this recording on my headphones it sounds way to slick for a live recording.
     
  3. extravaganza

    extravaganza Senior Member

    Location:
    San Diego, CA USA
    I am beyond happy that Jeff Lynne is playing live again. The live releases don't really excite me so I will probably pass on this ... I don't really need 3 or 4 nearly identical sounding live versions of the same basic set list. Slightly off topic, but I had a random fantasy come into my head the other night ... just imagining an alternate universe where Lynne enjoyed playing deep cuts and was on stage playing stuff like "Message from the Country" and "Boy Blue" and stuff like that. Then he strolls over to a piano and bangs out "End of the Road" by The Idle Race. So many great set lists could be put together from that amazing catalog of his, it is kind of a shame we will never hear anything like that. Not complaining though ... Jeff is Jeff and he rolls how he rolls. Just glad he is back playing live.
     
  4. Pelo

    Pelo Forum Resident

    Not willing to tour??? As far as I remember Jeff Lynne had a bit of a hard time after the cancellation of the Zoom Tour. Even Paul Mccartney said that there was a point when Jeff had nearly given up, not doing much at all. I suppose Lynne really believed that no one would be interested in ELO live. He definitely needed encouragement. It was the BBC/Chris Evans who kind of convinced him to do Hyde Park, and that was some sort of turning point, for suddenly Jeff realized how much people were longing for new ELO live performances.

    In my opinion the AITU tour was the best of his 'slick production'-tours he ever did. Fantastic space show, unbelievable visuals (thanks to Tim Routledge). It was't the same kind of experience as Hyde Park, more of a further development.

    Secondly, I don't think AITU is a mediocre album at all. The title track or When The Night Comes rank among his most atmospheric songs he has ever written (listen with headphones!) In a way the album is pretty conceptual music- and lyricwise. As Jeff has pointed out many times he was pretty much in the mood for sad songs, and the album was supposed to be reflective and nostalgic. Remember the Long Wave project?
     
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  5. Pelo

    Pelo Forum Resident

    Of course he has evolved since the 1980ies but in a different way than most of you would have expected. I think it was George Harrison who sent Jeff in a completely new direction. The Wilburys were a lot of fun, but at the same time they were a conceptual band (back to the roots, no computers-slogan). Armchair Theatre is actually an album by Otis Wilbury whereas Zoom tries to bring together the Wilbury and ELO approach and sees Jeff delving into the world of Pro Tools.

    The new album sounds more like a return to ELOs 80ies sound, but filtered through his more recent production approach and also rooted in the nostalgic Long Wave era.

    I would have liked the album to be a little longer, but in my opinion Lynne didn't want the album any longer: just 10 concise pop songs like in the good old days of his youth.

    Added to this it's wrong to believe that Lynne operates in a bubble. Read the Yamaha All Access interview in which he says that he is always interested in the latest technology and uses all this gear for his vision and purposes. He is also aware what other producers are doing these days, but he doesnt like the fact that there is always a little bit of reverb on the voice or the instruments. He usually prefers a dry sound, although he might use reverb for a specisl effect. Finally his daughter Laura sometimes plays him current chart songs that she likes.
     
  6. grimble

    grimble Forum Resident

    Location:
    Metroland, UK
    When have ELO ever played completely live? Probably around 1973. Listen to either of the official live alums so far and they've both been enhanced. Remastered Long Beach LP: the ambient crowd noise that is present throughout the songs is obviously added in post. Listen to the last live album. It's been sweetened to the extent that a song only played in rehearsal is presented as part of the show with audible cheers of recognition from a crowd that wasn't there.

    Exactly what new point is it you're trying to make? By your use of quotation marks it sounds like you're saying it's not live, yet most famous live albums are notorious for being fixed in the studio. If think that, why not just say it rather than vagueposting.
     
  7. grimble

    grimble Forum Resident

    Location:
    Metroland, UK
    I'd flip that and say that there are folks here who refuse to believe that most people here realise that live nowadays means some recorded stuff is flown in as part of the performance and aren't particularly bothered by it.
     
  8. Michaelpeth

    Michaelpeth Forum Resident

    Location:
    Durham, UK
    They are clearly played by keyboards. If you cant tell that's a keyboard I'd suggest a couple of drops of olive or almond oil to clear the blockage.
     
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  9. Instead of feeling a need to rant on more technical matters, this latest preview has me looking for something to dry my eyes first. Damn it, Jeff - why do you have to be such a fantastic songwriter with a voice that can still get through my typically critical exterior?

    (Yes, this is the real ShardEnder! Normal service will hopefully be resumed soon...)
     
  10. Eiricd

    Eiricd Forum Resident

    beautifully shot. Looking forward to this, come what may in the overdub department
     
  11. Michaelpeth

    Michaelpeth Forum Resident

    Location:
    Durham, UK
    London Premiere tonight. Q&A session....US dates next year including Madison Sq Garden and LA Forum.
     
  12. Kiss73

    Kiss73 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scotland
    On one hand I really want this set....on the other, I'm likley to listen to it once (not a live album fan).....and who knows when I'll get round to watching the DVD.

    But it does look and sound amazing.

    PS....good for Jeff sticking his name before the ELO and taking some credit... more than deserved!!!!
     
  13. I'm guessing it's still far too early for an announcement regarding the new ELO studio album that was supposedly delayed from November this year to instead coincide with these long-rumoured upcoming live dates, which will presumably mark the beginning of another visual concept rather than a continuation or evolution of the "Alone In The Universe Tour" theme?
     
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  14. Michaelpeth

    Michaelpeth Forum Resident

    Location:
    Durham, UK
    6 songs completed so far apparently
     
  15. mil0001

    mil0001 Forum Resident

    I guess that means it could be released anytime between 2018 and 2095 :)
     
  16. RickH

    RickH Connoisseur of deep album cuts

    Location:
    Raleigh, NC
    I hope the new one has more energy to it than AITU, and sounds less like a solo Lynne effort and more like classic era ELO.
     
  17. :goodie:
     
  18. Michaelpeth

    Michaelpeth Forum Resident

    Location:
    Durham, UK
    I disagree to a degree. It doesn't sound particularly like classic ELO, but I don't particularly want JL to be churning out stuff that's just a rip off of his stuff from 40 years ago. I'd rather he used Time or Secret Messages as a template and advanced from there rather than looking backwards.
     
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  19. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    It doesn't sound like classic ELO, but it does sound like one guy in his studio trying to mimic the sound of classic ELO.

    And that's the problem.
     
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  20. Jeff would never admit such a thing, but I suspect much of the approach established on those two albums came from their engineers, Mack and Bill Bottrell respectively. I've been told that Jeff felt he couldn't take the kitchen sink production style any further than Discovery or Xanadu, yet struggled to settle on a new sonic template - all he knew is that he wanted to take ELO in a different direction for their last three contractually required albums, perhaps due to the negativity he was starting to receive. Bill is supposedly the one who encouraged Jeff to push his guitar tracks up in the mix again, while Mack encouraged him to embrace new technologies (as he'd simultaneously been doing with Queen at Musicland, ending the appearance of the "no synths!" disclaimer seen on their previous efforts). After a lengthy period of experimentation, George Harrison ultimately convinced Jeff to drop any artificiality and instead focus on the songs, leading to the so-called Wilbury sound, which he's rarely ventured away from since the late '80s. As much as I'd love to hear Jeff continue on from the musical template he established on Time and Secret Messages, it's clear much of this was a result of his own uncertainty plus outside influences shaping the final products. The best we'll probably ever get is Earth Rise, conceived by Dave Morgan and heavily arranged by Richard Tandy. In a dream scenario, I'd give anything for Jeff to reconnect with either Mack or Bill in a proper studio, preferably bringing in Bev for the drums, Louis Clark to handle orchestration and at the very least, a token violin solo from Mik Kaminski. Maybe there's still an outside possibility for Jeff to consult Bill on the final mix of the next ELO album, though I realistically know there's little chance of the others I mentioned being involved in any capacity. For better or worse, Jeff operates mostly alone within the confines of Bungalow Palace now, only very occasionally calling back to his past musically.
     
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  21. The more I listen to it, Alone In The Universe sounds like a proper modern ELO concept album, and who honestly saw that coming from Jeff at this stage in his career? Rather than being forward-thinking, "AITU" seems as if it was inspired by the lessons Jeff learned from working on the Long Wave covers project, and the lyrics of several tracks definitely seem autobiographical - I'd even go as far as to say the standard edition's running order was designed to reflect his journey in life, ending with a reflection on his current status as the only band member still actively involved with studio material (quite where the various bonus songs might go is something I've yet to figure out). In terms of its musical content, there are moments when I can hear the same person who made Discovery or Balance Of Power returning to those very different periods in ELO's history, only with their production filtered through years of rarely venturing out from beyond the comfort zone that is the long-established Wilbury approach. Despite my initial cynicism, I'm now hoping that Jeff's latest will see him continuing to abandon the safety net he's relied on for too long. As I said in my last post, I fear his biggest problem is a reluctance to involve anyone else in the creative process, even when the likes of Reinhold Mack, Bill Bottrell, Bev Bevan, Richard Tandy and even Louis Clark made an undeniable impact on previous end results to some degree, which he'll probably never confess to...
     
  22. Larsen

    Larsen Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Bergen, Norway
    Yet another sneak peek at the new release:

     
  23. oh1

    oh1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    exeter
    Watching the Blu-ray now. It's all very slick in a MTV fast editing fashion. Possibly as many cameras as humans in the stadium with a lot of crowd reaction shots ( not necessarily a good thing, but hey they're enjoying themselves!) Occasionally dips into Jeff discussing playing Wembley with rehearsal footage and audience voxpops breaking the momentum of the show. It does sound fabulous though almost and perhaps too good to be true and some of his vocal mannerisms are shared with the backing vocalists (Livin' Thing, and Rockaria! is practically a duet ) which is slightly disconcerting. The accompanying CD might be the way to go if you want to listen just to the performance.
    At 68 at time of filming Jeff does look and sound fantastic, perhaps he's purchased Michael Jackson's hyperbaric oxygen chamber!
     
    Last edited: Nov 15, 2017
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  24. Gordon Lynne

    Gordon Lynne Forum Resident

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    Is the audio 5.1 or stereo? Put us out of our misery...

     
  25. oh1

    oh1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    exeter
    The only option is two channel PCM. The slip states Dolby True HD the audio information button states PCM. There is no audio option on the disc menu as there are no options. Sounds fine, I enjoyed the mix , but then I generally listen in two channel in preference to 5.1.
     
    Rick H. likes this.
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