I just bought their greatest hits last weekend and I had forgotten how much I used to love this group. They were the perfect combination of rock and disco. Some of my favorites are:

Shine A Little Light
Evil Woman
Don't Bring Me Down
Turn To Stone

Good songs

Don't forget sweet talking woman.

Great studio band. I wonder how they were live.

Yes! Discovery was one of the first albums I ever bought and ELO was one of the very first bands I ever became a BIIIIIG fan of.. but that was waaaayyyyy back in my highschool years


Mr. Blue Sky
Livin' Thing
Can't Get it Out of My Head
Turn To Stone
Sweet Talkin' Woman
Confusion
Shine a little Love
Don't bring me down
Hold on tight
Rock&Roll is King
and of course everything on Xanadu

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[Edited 8/12/05 7:31am]

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[Edited 8/12/05 7:30am]

That one was on the tip of my tongue but I couldn't place the name of it.

What a cheesy band...

But man do I love them. Strange Magic, Turn to Stone, Mr Blue Sky, Evil Woman...how can you listen to these and NOT get in a good mood immediately?

Discovery and Out of the Blue are two of my faaaavorite albums. Yeah, they're cheesy, but it's the kind of cheesy I need in my life.

Fire On High also (yeah I know it's used as a sports-news overture).

I enh=joy th e little ELO revival (using Mr Blue Sky) in movies and more lately. Jeff Lynne gets no respect (or not as much as he deserves). I think because critics felt he was trying to be the Beatles/Martin.

I collect and love anything with Jeff Lynne's seal and I believe he's totally underrated.

Love em'. One of my favorite bands. I ran a thread over a year ago on my favorite cut by them "Telephone Line". That song is the shit.

oh, and i can't forget "all over the world", "the fall", "don't walk away" and "i'm alive" from...ummm...i forget the album, it was a movie soundtrack or something i think...

and don't forget the Ultimix of "don't bring me down"

Don't bring me d-ow-ow-ow-own....

(it doesn't translate well when you write it)...

The 3 cd box set is good as well and it has their version of Xanadu on it!!!!
I nearly screamed when I found that!!!!

I haven't heard it but I know "Ultimix" does a great job on all the songs they remix. "Hot Tracks" makes great remixes also. I wish they would sell them in stores instead of only having them available for club owners.




That one's on my greatest hits CD but I like the version with Olivia Newton John better.
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[Edited 8/12/05 10:50am]

vainandy said:

Vain Baby, those songs you mentioned and Xanadu Soundtrack were some of my favorite stuff from ELO. They were pretty cool back in the day. It was cool how they blended Rock, Disco, and Classical.

Synth punked through the arteries of poppy Yes is poison.

Clubkid said:

shit, I didn't even know this existed!!

Dancelot said:

there's another version of XANADU?!?!?

oh, i gotta find this now.

i just downloaded a crazy live version of olivia singing xanadu from some japanese variety show, but THIS takes the cake!

That's what I said!!!!

I'd been looking for an ELO version for years, and i happened upon the box set one fine day and at that time, it had been out for years and I had no idea.

It's a little different than the ONJ version (the part "now that I'm here..." is just music on the ELO version)... I also think it wasn't the demo of the song, but instead recorded years later.

Clubkid said:

which box set is it on? they have several.

Anxiety said:

Flashback (released 1997)

From AMG:

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 three discs spotlighting a different era, then sequenced for maximum listenability within that — so "10538 Overture" segues to "Showdown" and "Ma-Ma-Ma Belle" then doubles back to the first album. It's a gambit that works, since Flashback winds up flowing as gracefully as ELO's best albums. And, make no mistake, this is one of their best albums, a rare box set that satisfies the needs of both casual and mildly dedicated fans, while offering the hardcore not just a bunch of rarities but an enjoyable album with its own character. So, it trumps Afterglow in every possible way, then, and thereby eliminates the need for yet another three-disc ELO box.


Tracks





1 10538 Overture Lynne 5:32
2 Showdown Lynne 4:12
3 Ma-Ma-Ma Belle Lynne 3:55
4 Mr. Radio Lynne 5:03
5 Roll Over Beethoven Berry 7:48
6 Mama [New Edit] Lynne 4:06
7 One Summer Dream Lynne 5:21
8 Illusions in G Major Lynne 2:41
9 Strange Magic Lynne 4:29
10 Eldorado Overture Lynne 2:12
11 Can't Get It Out of My Head Lynne 4:24
12 Eldorado Lynne 5:18
13 Eldorado Finale Lynne 1:29
14 Do Ya Lynne 4:09
15 Mister Kingdom Lynne 5:08
16 Grieg's Piano Concerto In A Minor [#] 2:58
17 Tightrope Lynne 5:23
18 Evil Woman Lynne 4:19
19 Livin' Thing Lynne 3:33
20 Mr. Blue Sky Lynne 5:07
21 Mission (A World Record) Lynne 4:31
22 Turn to Stone Lynne 3:48
23 Telephone Line Lynne 4:45
24 Rockaria! Lynne 3:15
25 Starlight Lynne 4:45
26 It's Over Lynne 3:55
27 The Whale Lynne 5:07
28 Sweet Talkin' Woman Lynne 3:49
29 Big Wheels Lynne 5:32
30 Shangri-La Lynne 5:36
31 Nightrider Lynne 4:24
32 Tears In Your Life [#] Lynne 3:05
33 Don't Bring Me Down Lynne 4:04
34 The Diary of Horace Wimp Lynne 4:17
35 Twilight Lynne 3:43
36 Secret Messages Lynne 4:38
37 Take Me On and On Lynne 4:58
38 Shine A Little Love Lynne 4:11
39 Rock & Roll Is King Lynne 3:15
40 Last Train to London Lynne 4:31
41 Confusion Lynne 3:40
42 Getting to the Point Lynne 4:51
43 Hold on Tight Lynne 3:07
44 So Serious Lynne 2:43
45 Calling America Lynne 3:26
46 Four Little Diamonds Lynne 4:06
47 Great Balls of Fire Blackwell, Hammer 3:06
48 Xanadu Lynne 3:21
49 Indian Queen Lynne :57
50 Love Changes All Lynne 3:28
51 After All [First Time on CD] Lynne 2:24
52 Helpless [#] Lynne 3:19
53 Who's That [#] Lynne 1:26

track #48

Clubkid said:

WHEEE!!!!

Anxiety said:

Once that rumour spreads, the truth is just a thing of the past.

blackguitaristz said:

I love "Telephone line" & "Strange Magic"

Huge fan of this band! I got a 2-CD 'best of' compilation by them,and I like all of their 70s hits,especially...

"Showdown" (1974)
"Sweet Talkin Woman" (1976)
"Strange Magic" (1975)
"Turn To Stone" (1977)
"Evil Woman" (1976)
"Don't Bring Me Down" (1979)
"Shine A Little Love" (1979)


interestingly,their 1979 hit "Shine A Little Love" found them riding the disco wave.The track sounds more like a Bee Gees song than ELO,lol.

Anxiety said:

I've gotta get some of their albums.I only have a few compilations of their hits.Are those the two that I should start off with?

vainandy said:

you gotta slow down....sweet talkin woman...you got me runnin'
you got me searchin


love that song! The swirling violins take their songs to another whole level.In the 70s,this was a really cool concept.

DavidEye said:

Yes!