Jeff Lynne's ELO to release new live album 17.11.17

the lack of 5.1 is weird, to say the least. Loads of stuff going on on most of the tracks. A proper surround mix would open it up nicely.

anyways - still looking forward to it

 

I never actually associate ELO with having a dry sound.

And maybe I'm missing something...but ELO seems to have plenty of reverb on their albums.

But I'm not ruling out that it's some other effect.

 

Your ears definitely aren't deceiving you - there's reverb all over some of the classic era tracks. In just the period I'm looking to cover at greater length alone, Time has plenty of the effect, the AMS RMX 16 was used extensively on the Secret Messages album (mostly for this very purpose), and Getting To The Point has some of the most extreme use of echo on Jeff's lead vocal across the whole of his catalogue, and that was released as the original group's final pre-split single!

From what I can tell, Jeff suddenly moved away from reverb after starting to work with George Harrison, who encouraged him to head into more of a natural direction that was heard fully formed on Cloud Nine and the first Traveling Wilburys album, continuing through to Zoom, which stands as the first ELO project to be recorded with this new approach. Outside a few rare exceptions, he's never gone back to anything beyond this overall production style.

 

First of all, some people seem to mix up reverb and slapback. Even though I am NOT a sound engineer, I am aware that these are actually different effects. With regard to the classic ELO era Jeff Lynne has gone on record as saying that he liked slapback a lot, but had never been a big fan of artificial reverb. When he recorded the orchestra for Eldorado some critics compared his approach to Phil Spector's, with Jeff replying that this may be true to some degree, but that he would prefer a drier sound for the strings.

"I very rarely used echo although I often used slapback, but not reverb." Sound On Sound Vol 11 Issue 2 December 1995

Sound engineer Mack, in a 2011 Tape OP interview, confirmed that Lynne actually "dreaded reverb. He still does. ... So I always had to sneak in a little." Please note that it "was a lot of real-room sounds" in those days (Lynne mainly complains about digital reverb these days).

Of course, there are tracks where artificial reverb plays a considerable role (Diary of Horace Wimp, for example), and he definitely went through a longer period in the Eighties when he actually experimented with digital reverb quite a bit, with this culminating in Balance Of Power's Getting To The Point. But shortly afterwards he obviously gave up this approach, opting for a drier sound.

When talking about studio effects in 2012, Lynne stated that he hates the fact that there always seems to be a little bit of reverb on other people's records as a matter of course (on the voice, guitar, whatever). Why, he asked. So for me it doesn't sound like he completely refuses reverb (although he generally prefers a dry sound). He seems to like natural reverb (room sounds) sometimes. In the interview, he also added that he might even use digital reverb, but only for a special effect. What he really hates is that most producers these days would simply make use of it because everyone else does.

 

So I got the DVD/2 CD set and the audio on the DVD is very very loud. It's PCM 24 bit but I have never heard a concert DVD this loud. I had to really lower it. The audio was mastered by Adam Ayan(I think that's his name) at Gateway Mastering as he works under Ludwig. I hope some other people will chime in about the audio as it's really loud. I didn't A/B the CD's to the DVD but I think the CD's maybe lower in volume then the DVD. Also I wasn't crazy of the cutaway scenes between songs every 4-5 songs.

The show was great and the lights etc are stunning. I really liked Last Train To London and Shine A Little Love. They weren't carbon copies of the album and had some nice little twists to them. Also Jeff did say that Richard wasn't feeling well and will be back next year so I'm happy Jeff said that. It was a very enjoyable DVD but the audio is just way too loud.

 

I give Jeff credit, no lead vocal overdubs. Just listen to “Do Ya”. If those are overdubbed, i hate to hear original

 

Thanks.

 

Could someone check the Blu Ray at about 36 min 23 seconds in - as the camera pans down across the empty stadium, just above the microphone a 'line' quickly appears on the screen? Blink and you miss it, but just wondered if anyone else noticed it?

 

While I don't have any empirical evidence to support my opinion, I do not think that ELO would have succeeded in the 1970s if it was Jeff and a bunch of no name session musicians (and titled like Jeff Lynne's ELO). Bev and Kelly were personable and engaging on the performing and PR stages, and Mike Kaminski was the violinist. The beginning of Livin Thing? That's Mik. And in the 70s, there was no way to compare Jeff with Paul McCartney (Jeff Lynne's ELO does not equal Paul McCartney and Wings in the 1970s).....

 

Bought the 2 CD set yesterday and played last night. Sounds muddy and very compressed (the volume level on my system bares this out). Also, the break in applause between tracks before the next one starts is really annoying. Ended up stopping the second CD on Telephone Line as I couldn't take anymore. Would like to bet that this will be totally in the red if it goes on the DR database. Really disappointed.

 

Yeah I thought this too. Also for a live album there appears to be minimal audience noise almost as if it was recorded in Jeff's front room. The 2013 ELO Live recorded on the 2001 PBS recording sounds more live than this and that was a tiny crowd compared to the one at Wembley Stadium.

 

I may be betraying my lack of technical knowledge here, but is it possible that there's no 5.1 because Jeff doesn't want people to have access to the isolated channels/tracks to play with as they may wish? Is this just another way of "protecting the product"?

 

The 2001 will firmly remain my go to for live ELO (sounds great to my ears) along with The Night The Light Shone... for the early stuff.

 

Ordered the cd (just to complete my ELO-collection, to be honest) and listened to the album on Spotify. Strangely enough they faded the crowd noise, there's almost no evidence of interaction between Jeff and his band members and the fans, it all sounds very clean. I don't mind if a live recording is a bit rough around the edges and I always like some one-liners between the songs. None of this here. After hearing this, I finally decided not to buy tickets for the live show in Amsterdam, on September 2018.

 

Has the 2001 Zoom concert been released on CD? Or just DVD?

 

An abbreviated CD version was released in 2013 on the Frontiers label...

 

There is also a Japanese SHM which sounds fantastic. Its an 'in your front room' sound.

 

After watching the Blu-ray and then listening to the CDs, I've over the moon for this one. I absolutely love it.

The concert itself is beautifully shot. The interview links and scenes from the rehearsals reveal a great spirit among the band members. It's clear that they adore Jeff.

I think my favorite scene was from the end of the production rehearsal when Jeff says "That's the best ELO has ever sounded." Followed by..."You lucky people" as he takes a sip of tea. And then (remembering the camera and wanting to clarify that his tongue was planted firmly in cheek)... "Just kidding!"

I'll enjoy this one for many years.

 

This is exactly the kind of reaction I'd feared upon hearing those samples for the first time - knowing that Jeff was about to announce a tour for next year (including dates in a country that hasn't always sold out for him in the past, back when ELO's profile was much higher), a live recording that contains the major hits performed by a lively-sounding band to a warm and receptive audience could have been the ideal promotional device. Instead, we have a clinical document that robs such a grand venue as Wembley of any real energy, yet the aforementioned Zoom era DVD and even the later edited CD had more of an atmosphere despite having a far smaller crowd. Sure, those of us familiar with Jeff's method will already be aware that he's never been the most talkative person to grace a stage, but if you want back-to-back songs flawlessly reproduced with little interaction or evidence of anyone else being there, why not just issue a new compilation of the best studio material? Taking this latest effort's title into consideration, my worry is that many will choose to go bust...

 

I'm sorry to read all these comments. I am still waiting for my copy of the cd/dvd package. I'll look forward to hearing the technical breakdown of this release.

 

I listened to half in Hi Rez thru Qobuz. Very soft and dull sounding. No instrument separation....very muddy. I think the mix is terrible and the mastering engineer probably did best they could.

 

So maybe this was rushed to the marketplace?

 

Hmm I have the Frontiers release and I wasn't very impressed with this CD. It just sounds kind of dull and thin sounding. I guess it's possible the SHM CD could sound different?

 

The album is a bust but I got 4th row tix to the Toronto show and it appears to be sold out already.

 

Personally I must say I enjoyed the Blu Ray film, though the lack of 5.1 is a shame. It's certainly nice to have some songs performed live that are not on Zoom Live or the later live CD (Standing In The Rain in particular).

However I have also decided not to purchase a ticked to see the tour in 2018. Not on the strength of Wembley or Bust, but because the top price tickets are £130.