Out of the Blue (Remastered)
by Electric Light Orchestra$8.99 Free Shipping
- Released
- 2/26/07
- Music Genre
- Rock
Description
Composer: Jeff Lynne.
Personnel: Mik Kaminski (violin); Hugh McDowell, Melvyn Gale (cello); Richard Tandy (ARP synthesizer); Kelly Groucutt, Jeff Lynne, Bev Bevan (background vocals).
Nowadays, 1977 is remembered as both the year of punk and the year of disco. At the time, though, it was the year of Fleetwood Mac's RUMOURS and Electric Light Orchestra's OUT OF THE BLUE, two albums that were simply inescapable. But where overexposure made RUMOURS feel somewhat stale and dated, OUT OF THE BLUE sounds as fresh now as it did at the time. This is due in large part to the obsessive insularity of Jeff Lynne's aesthetic. He seems not to be ignoring musical trends, but to be simply unaware of them.
Lynne's mid-period Beatles fixation combines with his love of lush orchestrations and pristine production to create some of his strongest music, including the enormous hits "Turn to Stone," "Sweet Talkin' Woman" and "Mr. Blue Sky." However, the autobiographical "Birmingham Blues" suggests that Lynne was tiring of the rock-star grind, which might explain ELO's lowered profile after this release.
Product Details
- Artist
- Electric Light Orchestra
- Year of release
- 2007
- Label / Studio
- LEGACY RECORDINGS
- Media Content Format
- Album
- WOW HD Sales Rank
- #12361
- Media Format
- Audio CD
- Recording Environment
- Studio
- Number of Discs
- 1
- Run Time (minutes)
- 76
- Original year of release
- 1977
- CD 30days Sales Rank
- #9091
- Cast & Crew
- Elo (Music Performer)
- J (Producer)
- Jeff Lynne (Producer)
- Jeff Magid (Reissue) (Producer)
- Ryan Ulyate (Sound Engineer)
Press Reviews
5 stars out of 5 -- "[I]t shows ELO at their most lush and broad: the choral arrangements have something of '30s Hollywood, the strings arrive simultaneously from several eras -- past and future... Mojo (p.114)
4 stars out of 5 -- "Their virtuoso musicianship dazzled. But the real genius was in the songwriting and wonderfully unorthodox arrangements. Q (p.119)
4 stars out of 5 -- "The symphonic pretensions and STAR WARS-via-Sergio Leone imagery have impacted everyone from Air to Muse. Uncut (p.95)
Tracklisting
Disc 1:
-
Turn to Stone
-
It's Over
-
Sweet Talkin' Woman
-
Across the Border
-
Night in the City
-
Starlight
-
Jungle
-
Believe Me Now
-
Steppin' Out
-
Standin' in the Rain
-
Big Wheels
-
Summer and Lightning
-
Mr. Blue Sky
-
Sweet Is the Night
-
Whale, The
-
Birmingham Blues
-
Wild West Hero
-
Wild West Hero - (Previously Unreleased, Alternate Take)
-
Quick and the Daft, the - (Previously Unreleased)
-
Latitude 88 North - (Previously Unreleased)
