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album review
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 no less so here. The songs were flowing fast and freely from Jeff Lynne at the time, however, and well more than half of what is here is very solid, at least as songs if not necessarily as recordings. "Sweet Talkin' Woman" and "Turn to Stone" are among the best songs in the group's output, and much of the rest is very entertaining. The heavy sound of the orchestra, however, as well as the layer upon layer of vocal overdubs, often seem out of place. All in all, the group was trying too hard to generate a substantial sounding double LP, complete with a suite, "Concerto for a Rainy Day." The latter is the nadir of the album, an effort at conceptual rock that seemed archaic even in 1977. Another chunk is filled up with what might best be called art-rock mood music ("The Whale"), before you finally get to the relief of a basic rocker like "Birmingham Blues." Even here, the group couldn't leave well enough alone -- rather than ending it on that note, they had to finish the album with "Wild West Hero," a piece of ersatz movie music that adds nothing to what you've heard over the previous 65 minutes. In its defense, Out of the Blue was massively popular and did become the centerpiece of a huge worldwide tour that earned the group status as a major live attraction for a time. [Out of the Blue was reissued in 2007 as a 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".] ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
more albums by this artist
See all-
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- ELO's Greatest Hits
- Released 1979
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- All Over The World: The Very Best Of ELO
- Released 2005
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- The Essential Electric Light Orchestra
- Released 2003
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- Strange Magic: The Best Of Electric Light Orchestra
- Released 1995
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listener reviews
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one of the top ten must haves
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- By Zen1462
- 5/12/2009 18:38:51
- Over the years, this is the quintiscential ELO album that grows as you do. It's a masterpiece work of art, Mozart with lyrics, that shows Jeff Lynns' genius. Not a "bad" song on the entire album... one of the few that you can drop a needle and listen to the entire side and not be disappointed. It has it's pop faves that are staple for "oldies" & "classic rock" radio but it's at it's best on the album tracks that don't get played. Songs like Wild West Hero or Steppin' Out stand out as worthy of inclusion on any play list. If I dared to make a comparison, this is ELO's "Sargent Peppers" album.... yeah, it's that good.
- 1 out of 1 people
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One of my long time favorites
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- By klaks
- 1/29/2009 16:24:32
- The diciplined sound of ELO and Jeff Lynne's vocal is unmistakable. Out of the Blue is a remarkable album, and the four songs that make up A Concerto for a Rainy Day are among my favorites of all time.
Popular songs from the CD are:
Turn to Stone
Mr. Blue Sky
Sweet Talkin' Woman - 1 out of 1 people
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