ELO was the brainchild of Jeff Lynne, a veteran of the garage band "The Move" in the sixties. His blend of pop rock with symphonic flourishes could have been a disaster in the wrong hands. We need only to refer to the bloated prog and arty rock of yawners like Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Jethro Tull (the dullest band in musical history except for "Locomotive Breath") and Yes to see how hamfisted overplaying made for music that did anything but rock.
Lynne knew to keep his songs shorter, keep 'em filled with hooks and scored dozens of hits that livened up radio that was drowning under disco and pop fluff like James Taylor or Olivia Newton-John.
ELO's best LP was "Out Of The Blue", the double album now being re-released. "Turn To Stone" starts the set with a great rocker. "Sweet Talkin' Woman" also became a hit. Far more than just a hit machine, Lynne wrote every note and every lyric ELO did, which, when you consider the variety and depth of the songs on this CD, is nothing short of astonishing. "The Whale" is a dreamy instrumental, and what was originally the third side is a concept piece "Concerto For A Rainy Day", that ends with "Mr. Blue Sky", one of Lynne's best songs and worthy of Lennon and McCartney.
Other great musicians know what a master Jeff Lynne is - he was a member of the Traveling Wilburys, produced and co-wrote Tom Petty's best album ever, "Full Moon Fever", did the same with Paul McCartney's "Flaming Pie" and worked with Brian Wilson on his first solo album. Pretty heady company.
ELO's "Out Of the Blue" is a must have, in the same league as "Dark Side Of The Moon", "Sgt. Pepper", "Pet Sounds" or any number of great classic albums. Time to get Jeff Lynne into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame.