Electric light orchestra album by album thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Meddle, Jul 25, 2015.

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  1. formu_la

    formu_la I'm not a robot

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Good thread indeed. I love the ELO, but I'd never got into the early ones . Now it must change, I have that surround CD, will listen it tomorrow.
     
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  2. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I love any classic lost 70s quad mix. So glad that the record labels got desperate and down on their knees asking us to buy music once more that we already own, but kicking in with rare quadraphonic mixes in the deal. About F'in' time.

    But anyway yeah I need to crank it loud and feel it, soon too.
     
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  3. Comet01

    Comet01 Forum Resident

    I love Message From the Country. For me, it is more listenable than the ELO debut. The title track IMO is the equal of 10538 Overture (and that's saying a lot!).
     
    Last edited: Jul 26, 2015
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  4. Blue Cactus

    Blue Cactus Forum Resident

    Location:
    Illinois
    Good for you!

    I've heard one too many ELO fans saying they love 'em except those first 2 albums. :rolleyes:

    The first two IMO are what the ELO concept was originally all about. To pick up where The Beatles Strawberry Fields Forever and I Am The Walrus left off.
     
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  5. latedep31

    latedep31 Forum Resident

    Well, this thread inspired me enough to get on eBay and buy the first two albums (US pressings, but I'm not paying $89 for a UK copy of the first album.)
     
    c-eling and Meddle like this.
  6. Meddle

    Meddle Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    waxahachie TX USA
    :edthumbs:
     
  7. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member

    I can't join in until 'Face The Music'.

    See you all then.:)
     
  8. tmwlng

    tmwlng Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denmark
    Agreed, Message from the Country is much more listenable, and personally I have listened to that particular album way over 100 times over the past few years, whereas I think I've only heard The Electric Light Orchestra 3 or 4 times - of course I've listened to certain songs now and again.

    I feel Message from the Country stands on its own even though The Move's last singles before they morphed into the Electric Light Orchestra are great. They were a perfect singles band. I don't think they expected 10538 Overture to be a hit single, and in comparison with e.g. Message from the Country, the Electric Light Orchestra debut is very much non-commercial. Certain parts of the album makes the hard rock klezmer masterpiece It Wasn't My Idea to Dance from Message seem like a perfect send for Top of the Pops.
     
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  9. the no guy

    the no guy Cat on the moon

    Location:
    Lisboa
    Love this album! I never got to hear it until I bought the complete albums box, but had a battered copy of olé elo for many years.
     
    Lostchord likes this.
  10. Thank you very much for such an informative and detailed OP! I've recently been re-acquainting myself with 10cc and E.L.O. and am finding that I would like more of their output. I'll be following this thread to discover some must-haves ELO albums that are missing, and I hope we venture into a discussion about some recommended pressings.
     
  11. howlinrock

    howlinrock Forum Resident In Memoriam

    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    Love this LP after Roy's Boulders, OLD Move fan here. I played 10538 Overture into the ground. I dug how they handed off the lead vocal back to Roy and Back to Jeff. Loved this LP as a whole the next one ELO II was weak in compairsion. They hit their stride on El Dorado and Face the Music. Saw them live once in SF at The Cow Palace. They pretty much played the hits verbatim. Love Jeff's Library & body of works.
     
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  12. applebonkerz

    applebonkerz Senior Member

    That's about when I'll drop out... well after A New World Record.
     
  13. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member

    Oh, I'll just be getting going then.:D
     
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  14. You rang?

    I fondly remember the last album-by-album thread, but I might not be able to contribute as much second time around *groan* due to various real world commitments (including writing my book on the making of ELO's Secret Messages, which I've pitched to Bloomsbury for its 33 1/3 series very recently). Still, I'll give whatever I can when it's possible... Just bear in mind that I might not have time to provide my usual lengthy comments, although it might be a good opportunity to share some new information with you all that I've found out regarding the later material.

    So, the self-titled, or No Answer to our American friends. As much as this is the official start of ELO, many of its tracks were recorded at the same sessions as The Move's Message For The Country, with songs including strings kept for this project. I never covered this particular point before, though it's definitely true that despite being his latest major project, Roy Wood sure was holding back material - I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if he'd already written many of the hits that he'd go on to release under the Wizzard name.

    As a standalone piece, stripped of all the historical context, ELO is a decent enough start, with certain great songs such as 10538 Overture or Whisper In The Night nearly lost because of the more experimental efforts (Roy's unprecedented Battle of Marston Moor) and blatant classical-styled filler. This may seem rather shocking based on what I perceive to be the general consensus, but I've always preferred its immediate follow-up as a whole, mainly because it was the true beginning of Jeff's sole vision for ELO, plus the lengthy instrumental sections of Kuiama and Boogie #1 were the "band" at its progressive peak.
     
  15. ccbarr

    ccbarr Forum Resident

    Location:
    Iowa, USA
    Fantastic post. I discovered the "hits" version of ELO first (Discovery, A New World Record) but when I finally got "No Answer", as it's called, on CD and heard 10538 Overture I knew this version of the band was very special too. As much as I love Lynne's version of ELO in the following years, I always wonder what they would have sounded like had Roy Wood not left.
     
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  16. I'd like to think Roy Wood left because he knew that Jeff Lynne wasn't as likely to succeed without ELO, needing a few more years to develop into the hitmaker that he became in the mid '70s. Also, Roy never seemed the kind to remain stuck in a box for too long, being a genre-hopper with The Move and quickly outgrowing the confines of Wizzard. By contrast, Jeff's potential was impossible to ignore, but he'd only been with The Idle Race and then The Move a short time, deserving to be in full-blown charge of ELO, which better suited his own musical preferences. Still, he was clearly tiring of the ELO formula as early as 1978, with the strings taking more of a back seat to synthesisers and even acoustic drums being replaced before he turned away from any electronical interference in his production style (after describing his role as increasingly that of a typist) - an approach I call the "Wilbury" sound.
     
  17. Victor/Victrola

    Victor/Victrola Makng shure its write

    A decent enough debut, but much greater things are to come...
     
  18. Meddle

    Meddle Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    waxahachie TX USA
    If we move on to the next album on Tuesday Will that be fine?
     
  19. ibanez_ax

    ibanez_ax Forum Resident


    Look at Me Now sounds like Eleanor Rigby on crack. I love it.
     
  20. ibanez_ax

    ibanez_ax Forum Resident


    I'll be at least lurking here up to and including Out Of The Blue. Then I'm gone. :wave:
     
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  21. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member

    But you'll miss 'Discovery'.. That's the best one.:)
     
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  22. ibanez_ax

    ibanez_ax Forum Resident


    Sorry to "let you down".
     
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  23. applebonkerz

    applebonkerz Senior Member

    :laugh: you're such a kidder. :shh:
     
  24. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member

    I never joke about great albums like 'Discovery'..
     
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  25. Are we just covering the main discography, or will other albums be discussed as well? Apart from exclusive tracks scattered across Afterglow, Flashback, the remaster series and Xanadu, there are two live albums plus various releases from related acts, including Violinski, Tandy-Morgan Band, Kelly Groucutt, ELO Part II/The Orchestra and even Jeff Lynne's own Armchair Theatre... if Zoom counts as an official ELO title, why can't this? If possible, at some point I'd also like to cover a few other titles such as First Light, The Lost Planet, Harvest Showdown and Mr. Blue Sky, plus Long Wave and the handful of concert videos that have now been compiled onto the single Wembley '78 Blu-ray, potentially making this the definitive thread for both new fans and die-hards such as myself. What I can definitely promise you is that once we get to about Time and definitely Secret Messages then I will be sharing a few recently-discovered facts about the making of these, possibly extending to Balance Of Power, too.
     
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