There have been many ELO collections over the years -- some exhaustive, some not -- so it might initially seem that the 2003 collection The Essential Electric Light Orchestra is a little unnecessary, especially since the definitive 1995 double-disc set Strange Magic was still in print at the time of this release. This line of reasoning conveniently ignores the simple fact that not everybody needs two discs of ELO; some may prefer one career-spanning collection with all the big hits on one disc,    [ read more ]

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REISSUE. This is the 30th Anniversary Edition with new photos, liner notes and three bonus tracks, including "Quick and the Daft," "Latitude 88 North" and a home demo of "Wild West Hero". The last ELO album to make a major impact on popular music, Out of the Blue was of a piece with its lavishly produced predecessor, A New World Record, but it's a much more mixed bag as an album. For starters, it was a double LP, a format that has proved daunting to all but a handful of rock artists, and was n   [ read more ]

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This is the album where Jeff Lynne finally found the sound he'd wanted since co-founding Electric Light Orchestra three years earlier. Up to this point, most of the group's music had been self-contained -- Lynne, Richard Tandy, et al., providing whatever was needed, vocally or instrumentally, even if it meant overdubbing their work layer upon layer. Lynne saw the limitations of this process, however, and opted for the presence of an orchestra -- it was only 30 pieces, but the result was a muc   [ read more ]

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Electric Light Orchestra continued on their winning Top 40 ways with the release of Discovery. Now pared down to the basic four-piece unit, Jeff Lynne continued to dominate the band and they still got their hits (this time around it was the smash "Don't Bring Me Down"). Elsewhere on the disc there was, of note, "Last Train to London" and "Confusion." Though Discovery charted well, it was becoming obvious that ELO were starting to run themselves out of useful Beatles hooks with whi   [ read more ]

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Time takes its cues more from such bands as the Alan Parsons Project and Wings than from Jeff Lynne's fascination with Pepper-era Beatles. Sure, all the electronic whirrs and bleeps are present and accounted for, and Time did spawn hit singles in "Hold on Tight" and "Twilight," but on the average, ELO had begun to get too stuck on the same structure and content of their releases. "The Way Life's Meant to Be" echoes very early ELO hits like {&"Can't Get It Out of My Head,"   [ read more ]

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Most of ELO's biggest and best hits -- "Evil Woman," "Rockaria," "Telephone Line" -- are included on this solid but slightly skimpy collection. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

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The very fact that Electric Light Orchestra released a second three-disc box set is a tacit admission that, yes, 1987's Afterglow wasn't everything it should be. Happily, 2000's Flashback is. Assembled with the cooperation of Jeff Lynne, Flashback covers all the bases, featuring all the hits, a good selection of album tracks, and seven previously unreleased tracks, two alternate mixes and "After All," previously unavailable on CD. The sequencing is roughly chronological, with each of the t   [ read more ]

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ELO Classics is a budget-priced collection of some of Electric Light Orchestra's biggest hits. Although several of their finest moments are included, the album leaves off too much prime material to be definitive. Nevertheless, budget-minded casual fans should find ELO Classics an entertaining sampler. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

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