wait.....holdup.....so there's B-Sides out there that were never put on the remastered cd's or the box set?? can someone provide a lit of all of them?? i gotta find these!
As others have said, it's a tough call. But: Out of the Blue Eldorado ELO 2 And my runners-up: Xanadu - I'm glad it's only half an ELO album, because then I might have to insist on the list being a top 4. Balance of Power - even though almost everybody hates its sound, I say the songs themselves under the production are still stellar. For me, only "Send Me" begins to lose steam. Maybe I have to insist on a top 4 after all. A New World Record - oh yeah, how could I forget this one? OK then, I must insist on a top 5!
Well, From the Main E.L.O discography there are two versions of the song Matter Of Fact. The first one was the B-side of the 7" single So Serious. The 12" had both the 7" version and one with different lyrics. The 7" B-side was on the CD Box Set Afterglow released in 1990, but neither version was on the 2007 remaster, sadly Annoyingly, Drum Dreams (B-side of the 1980 single I'm Alive) has never been released on CD, ever! From Jeff's solo career: Doin' That Crazy Thing/Goin' Down To Rio (a 7" single released in 1977) has also (As far as I'm aware) never been released on CD, ever. Sooner Or Later - B-side of the Video! single from 1984 has never been released on CD. I'm Gone - B-side of 1990 single Every Little Thing was not on the 2013 Frontiers remaster, neither was: Borderline - a bonus track on the 1990 Lift Me Up CD single (although there was an alternative version included). I wonder what Jeff's problem is with remastering these tracks
Time Secret Messages Eldorado Out of the Blue contains some great songs, but overall, I think the album is a bit bloated.
The 2013 edition of Armchair Theatre also lacked original single B-side Sirens, which is an invaluable missing link in the evolutionary chain that includes After All, Night Calls and Tears In Your Life. As for why Jeff had an aversion to reissuing many of these tracks listed, the only one I'm sure of is A Matter Of Fact, which ELO's former archivist explained was something that its creator strongly vetoed from the expanded Balance Of Power remaster in 2007.
My guess is that he’s forgotten about some 9f them. Some of the remasters that had bonus tracks that were clearly reworked or newer recordings weren’t necessarily any better or worse than some of these. The boxed sets would have been the ideal place to use them. Perhaps they couldn’t locate the tapes? It is possible also that he simply doesn’t like them as you pointed out.
I wonder what happened between Afterglow, where it was released, and the BOP Remaster where it was denied, for Jeff to change his mind about releasing it. Was Afterglow track listing beyond his control by any chance (If that's so, surely they could have got Beatles Forever on it)? So many questions
Jeff contributed a short introduction to the liner notes of Afterglow, but I can only assume he was more hands-off with the actual content of that retrospective. One of the more common complaints about this set was less than ideal sources being used for certain tracks and even a few having swapped channels, but my complaint was more that rarities like Destination Unknown or the previously unreleased No Way Out had their opening few seconds quite obviously clipped in what I can only assume was a mastering error. Also, I'd love to know how they managed to somehow find an alternate version of Four Little Diamonds with the longest documented introduction. Just a few years later, Sony issued the 2CD Strange Magic compilation as an apology of sorts, recycling some of the liners, providing a massive improvement in terms of sound quality while dropping the more interesting material of its predecessor.
FTM A New World Record OOTB Many fans seem to prefer El Dorado over FTM. I definitely like El Dorado, but to me, FTM has the better songs. Not just the standards, Evil Woman and Strange Magic, but also Nightrider, Waterfall, One Summer Dream, and Poker. What a collection of songs!
A New World Record The songs. The sequencing. The performances. The production. OMFG. From the first 10 or so tense and intriguing seconds of Tightrope, which I now can see seems to have been inspired by music from 2001 A Space Odyssey, you just know that you are in for something very special. Neither too commercial or experimental, ELO at its most focused, implementing the best of what was learnt from the previous albums. Including ehat worked and discarding what didn't. Not a millisecond is wasted. As far as I'm concerned, one of the best albums ever recorded by anyone, at least from a musical standpoint, even it it lacked social commentary, and was not groundbreaking or influential. Even more bonus marks from me as it was the first appearance of the logo. The only thing wrong with it is that it is all over too soon. I just want it to go on forever....... Out Of The Blue Like ANWR, a killer opening track. Lots of great non single tracks too. And even a concerto with a killer keyboard riff from Richard. Despite its double length, I honestly do not think there is any filler here, not even Jungle. Very consistent over 4 sides. What an album cover and artwork. Only problem is its almost too much of a good thing. Time The last truly great ELO album. On my first listen, I was somewhat shocked by the change in the sound, but quickly learned to appreciate it and then love it. Jeff was really trying to mix up the group's sound, and attempting to inject more thought into the music and lyrics compared to the lightweight Discover and Xanadu, even though they both had their own good moments. A bit ironic as he later became more or less stuck in a production/stylistic rut. Time is nothing like the chugging Wilburys sound and thank God for that... Again, a killer 1 2 3 opening punch with Prolouge, Twilight and Yours, Truly. Just about ever track has a different overall sound, even though From my recollection, it was mostly very unfairly treated by the critics when released, but in time may have been more influential that these critics would now admit. Only three things wrong with it. Hold On Right.... should have been shot into a black hole in deep space bty a rocket forded from Satellite 2 from whence it world never be heard by any lifeforms. Instead, the 3 bonus tracks should have been on the original release from day one. The cover art is not all that great. Oh and Jeff sadly and inexplicably does not seem to think much of it. Honourable Mentions: Eldorado The first album with a full orchestra. Any album with Can't Get It Out of My Head, Laurado Tornado, Mister Kingdom Eldorado has to be good. Face The Music Strange Magic. Evil Woman. Poker. Fire Oh High. Waterfall. Just wow. Down Home Town might be a bit too much for some, but all is forgiven when the orchestral instruction, Jeff's vocals and the phased acoustic strumming guitar all come to announce the arrival of the sublime One Summer Dream. What a way to end an album.
Out of the Blue and A New World Record were excellent and have aged well. I was mixed about Disco-Very because it was more dance than rock. I liked it more years later. This is one of the few bands that doesn't have a bad album. Also, a few friends became interested in ELO after seeing American Hustle and bought and listened to No Answer. They were not pleased. I told them that was not the ELO album to start with because it is more prog-rock than pop. They replied, "What is prog-rock?" Lastly, when the Mrs. gets annoying I sing to her "Evil Woman."
I suspect that a lot of Jeff's disdain in hindsight for Time comes from a combination of factors, starting with his initially hinting at the next ELO studio project being a concept album as early as the interview flexi disc sent out to fan club members in late 1979, only for him to be stuck in Munich for the first two thirds of 1980 instead overdubbing tracks intended for Xanadu because of how those were produced outside his usual working method. After that, he first confirmed when appearing on Rockline in 2001 that Time was originally to have been a 2LP set, now confirmed by the recent surfacing of an early assembly containing eighteen songs spread across four sides. He'd clearly put the effort in to make this even more of a cohesive narrative than Eldorado, yet it ultimately wasn't meant to be. There were also reports of him being reluctant to tour, with Don Arden almost begging for live dates to help shift a few extra units. Between the drastic change in sound and it being three years since ELO last took to a stage, it could be argued that the eventual Time Tour was as much a promotional vehicle for Discovery, since many songs from that album were also making their live debut going into early 1982. Alas, for some reason the band was drawing curtains on the back of many American venues to obscure the thousands of unsold seats, and things weren't much better behind the scenes, with the group's core disintegrating as sessions for Secret Messages began, eventually being dragged out across a total of eighteen gruelling months. (By comparison, Time being recorded in just three weeks seems miraculous until you consider that Jeff had most of this material written in advance.) On a far more personal level, it's known that Jeff committing to almost two years of non-stop work put a massive strain on his second marriage, and any confidence in the sound he was starting to establish going into the 1980s surely took a hit when his lead contribution to the Electric Dreams soundtrack was dismissed by one critic as sounding like "a poor man's Trevor Horn." With all that, I can't blame him for not thinking highly of Time, but it was my gateway to Electric Light Orchestra, there's still nothing quite like it, and it's the one album I can say in all certainty is going to be up there on its pedestal forever, closely followed by Out Of The Blue and Discovery. What a phenomenal run!
Not enough! Too much!! You can't please some people!!! There is one filler track on Side 4,... it's just that no-one has ever been able to work out which one it is... Rather snob-ly, I think that the mark of a true ELO fan is how highly they rate "Time". Only the peasants don't recognise its genius...
Sad news, Richard Tandy passed away on May 1. RIP and thank you for the music. ELO keyboardist Richard Tandy dies at age of 76
