Listmeister listens -- Electric Light Orchestra

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Listmeister



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  • #71
  • Posted: 07/18/2017 21:23
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How it all started.


The Birthday Party by The Idle Race

BEA Ranks: 80th of 1968; 424th of 1960s; 6286th of All Time
Ranked highest by TrekkiELO (33rd of All Time)

"Skeleteon and the roundabout is creepy and brilliant in equal measures."--gussteivi

I made a mistake in my early research for this project, and I completely missed The Idle Race, Jeff Lynne's first band, from before he joined the Move. By the time I discovered this, I was half-way through the project. What can I say? My bad.

It's a fun little album, not too pretentious. About the same level as what the Young Rascals or the Grassroots were doing in America at the time. Harmonies are great, instrumentation is really good (they weren't just messing around when they plugged in their guitars), and doesn't overwhelm the vocals. There's even a bit of chamber-orchestra violin ('Happy Birthday') which foreshadows the orchestral sound Lynne would be pursuing in the early-to-mid 1970's.

Each track has its own style, which could be a bad thing, like the band was trying to find its sound. But they don't do any of the styles badly, and there is a unifying stylistic theme of the music of childhood. There's pre-war music (which the band members would have associated with childhood), circus music, skiffle, marching band.

It's not just the Jeff Lynne show by any means. The drumming (by Roger Spencer) is excellent, and the band stays together and sounds like a well practiced unit. One song, 'Pie in the Sky' was written and sung by Dave Pritchard, and it may be the best one on the album.

Listmeister ranks: 14th of 1968; 78th of 1960s


Last edited by Listmeister on 10/11/2017 00:06; edited 1 time in total
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Listmeister



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Location: Ohio
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  • #72
  • Posted: 08/03/2017 00:06
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The sophomore jinx


The Idle Race by The Idle Race

BEA Ranks: 187th of 1969; 829th of 1960s; 13,555th of All Time
Ranked highest by: TrekkiELO (32nd of All Time)

The sophomore jinx is a phenomenon where a band has been building up songs for the whole lives of all the members. They get a recording contract, and put so-far-lifetimes worth of creativity on a record and it's awesome. Then what do you do? You try to put out a second album (often pressured by the studio to put another disk out while the momentum is still going). This second record, for some reason, just isn't as good as the first. I think that's what's happening here.

This album is not as much fun as The Birthday Party. It's more Jeff-intensive, and takes itself too seriously. He (Jeff Lynne, I mean) soon left the band to join the Move, and you can read what happened next on page One of this diary, starting with "Looking On".

The Idle Race kept going. We're going to do one more album, "Time Is" by the Idle Race, and then we'll wrap up and summarize the Electric Light Orchestra and peripheral acts.
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Listmeister



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Location: Ohio
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  • #73
  • Posted: 08/06/2017 01:37
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Last one, for realski.


Time Is by The Idle Race

BEA Ranks: 223rd of 1971; 2160th of 1970s; 15,433rd of All Time
Ranked highest by: TrekkiELO (35th of All Time)

I have become a Dave Pritchard fan. The songs that he wrote have become my favorites on each of the albums. Birthday Party had "Pie in the Sky". Idle Race had "Reminds Me Of You" and "Someone Knocking". Time Is is about half Pritchard's, and half Dave Walker's, plus a bit Roger Spencer's. Unfortunately I could not find much about Pritchard's career (if any) outside of "the Idle Race". If anybody knows what became of him, post a reply.

Each song is well crafted. This album was not just thrown together. "Dancing Flower" and "I Will See You" is beautiful, with a medieval quality. "By the Sun" and "We Want It All" are works of slow psychedelic art. "And the Rain" mixes the voices of all three vocalists into a marvellous early-70's Pop Song of the sort Three Dog Night would have been proud to cover. Even "She Sang Hymns Out Of Tune", which might be the dullest song on the album, ends with a beautiful rich harmony.
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Listmeister



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Location: Ohio
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  • #74
  • Posted: 08/06/2017 22:25
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Stupid &@$%* Undocumented Name Changes


Beyond The Dream by OrKestra

BEA Ranks: 227th of 1991; 2889th of 1990s; 14,075th of All Time
Ranked highest by TrekkiELO (65th of All Time)

I thought I was finished. I really did. I was working on making the final lists, which was going to include rankings of the albums by ELO superfans TrekkiELO and Clouds2095. TrekkiELO's 65th album listed was a 1991 opus called "Beyond the Dream" by OrKestra.

Wikipedia had nothing about it. The album does not have an article, OrKestra does not have an article. ELO Part II has an article but does not mention it. I was about to write it off as a coincidental name thing, but I figured I'd better Google it just to be sure. I found an image of the back cover of it the album, and most of the songs were written by M. Kaminski and K. Groucutt. So I had to count it. [Footnote]

I know I sound like I'm complaining, but I'm actually grateful to TrekkiELO for calling this one to my attention, because when I listened to it, it became clear that it had a place in the ELO story. It fits well, both chronologically and artistically, in between Part Two (1990) and Moment of Truth (1994). Released in 1991, it has some of that sort-of-eighties sound that Part Two had, and it has some of that good we're-gonna-do-what-we-want sound of Moment of Truth. Plus it has more of that classical touch thanks to Mik Kaminski's string work.

[Footnote] TrekkiELO's 64th album was "Kelly" by Kelly Groucutt. I was aware of this one, but decided not to included it because (a) ELO was still a big thing at the time (1981) so this was not the case of it being a tangential band (b) I didn't want to try to track down every single solo album by every single ELO member ever. Beyond the Dream included two former members and could be considered tangential to the main band.
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Listmeister



Gender: Male
Location: Ohio
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  • #75
  • Posted: 08/07/2017 00:59
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I made some lists. It's what I do.


Out Of The Blue by Electric Light Orchestra

BEA says this was their best. It was also their coolest album cover.


BEA Ranks of the bands (minimum two albums)
Electric Light Orchestra (ELO): 174th
The Traveling Wilburys (TW): 705th
The Move (Move): 2146th
The Idle Race (IR): 2630th
Jeff Lynne (JL): 2930th
ELO Part II (P2): 3560th
Roy Wood (RW): 5414th
Wizzard (Wzz) 12,795th

BEA Ranks of the Albums:

1. Out of the Blue - ELO 1977
2. Time - ELO 1981
3. A New World Record - ELO 1976
4. The Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 - TW 1988
5. Eldorado - ELO 1974
6. Discovery - ELO 1979
7. Face the Music - ELO 1975
8. On the Third Day - ELO 1973
9. Secret Messages - ELO 1983
10. Xanadu - Olivia Newton John & ELO (O&E) 1980
11. The Traveling Wilburys Vol 3. (TW) 1990
12. Balance of Power - ELO 1986
13. Armchair Theater - JL 1990
14. ELO 2 - ELO 1973
15. Move - Move 1968
16. The Birthday Party - IR 1967
17. The Electric Light Orchestra (No Answer) - ELO 1971
18. Alone in the Universe - JL's ELO 2015
19. Message from the Country - Move 1971
20. Zoom - ELO 2001
21. Electric Light Orchestra Part II - P2 1990
22. Moment of Truth - P2 1995
23. Boulders - RW
24. No Rewind - The Orchestra (TheO) 2001
25. Idle Race - IR 1969
26. Beyond the Dream - OrKestra (OrK) 1991
27. The Night the Lights Went On in Long Beach - ELO 1974
28. Long Wave - JL 2012
29. Time Is - IR 1971
30. Shazam - Move 1970
31. Earthrise - Tandy & Morgan (TM) 1986
32. Lookin On - Move 1970
33. Performing ELO's Greatest Hits Live - P2 1992
34. Wizzard Brew (Wzz) 1973
35. Eddie and the Falcons (Wzz) 1974
36. Starting Up RW 1987
37. Mustard RW 1975
38. Main Street Wzz 2000
39. Super Active Wizzo - Roy Wood's Wizzo Band (RWWB) 1979
40. On the Road Again - RW 1979
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Listmeister



Gender: Male
Location: Ohio
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  • #76
  • Posted: 08/07/2017 01:15
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Here's some more lists from you, the Superfans. Albums are by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) except where otherwise noted.


A New World Record by Electric Light Orchestra

Electric Light Orchestra - Sons of Beatles by NowhereMan

1. Time 1981
2. Secret Messages 1983
3. Discovery 1979
4. Out of the Blue 1977
5. Balance of Power 1986
6. A New World Record 1976
7. Face the Music 1975
8. Eldorado 1974
9. Xanadu - ONJ & ELO 1980
10. ELO2 1973

Electric Light Orchestra Albums Ranked by Fischman
1. A New World Record 1976
2. Out of the Blue 1977
3. Face the Music 1975
4. Eldorado 1974
5. On the Third Day 1973
6. ELO 2 1973
7. The Electric Light Orchestra 1971
8. Discovery 1979
9. Secret Messages 1983
10. Time 1981
11. Zoom 2001
12. Balance of Power 1986

Ranking the Electric Light Orchestra by Captain Dude
1. Out of the Blue 1977
2. A New World Record 1976
3. Eldorado 1974
4. Time 1981
5. Face the Music 1975
6. Discovery 1979
7. The Electric Light Orchestra 1971
8. Electric Light Orchestra Part Two - P2 1990
9. On the Third Day 1973
10. Alone in the Universe - JL's ELO 2015
11. Secret Messages 1983
12. Zoom 2001
13. Xanadu 1989
14. Balance of Power 1986

Extracted from Clouds2095's Top 100
1. Time 1981
2. Out of the Blue 1977
3. A New World Record 1976
4. Face the Music 1975
5. Discovery 1979
6. On the Third Day 1979
7. Eldorado 1974
8. The Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 - TW 1988
9. Secret Messages 1983
10. The Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3 - TW 1990
11. The Night the Lights Went On in Long Beach - 1974

Extracted from TrekkiELO's Top 100
1. Time 1981
2. Balance of Power 1986
3. Zoom 2000
4. Secret Messages 1983
5. Out of the Blue 1977
6. New World Record 1976
7. Face the Music 1975
8. Eldorado 1974
9. Discovery 1979
10. On the Third Day 1973
11. ELO 2 1973
12. The Electric Light Orchestra 1971
13. Xanadu - ONJ & ELO 1980
14. Alone in the Universe - JL's ELO 2015
15. Electric Light Orchestra Part Two - P2 1990
16. Armchair Theatre - JL 1990
17. Moment of Truth - P2 1995
18. No Rewind - TheO 2001
19. Beyond the Dream - OrK 1991
20. Message from the Country - Move 1971
21. Idle Race - IR 1969
22. The Birthday Party - IR 1967
23. Long Wave - JL 2012
24. Time Is - IR 1971
25. The Night the Lights Went On In Long Beach 1974

Thank you for these lists. Any other rankings of ELO albums would be welcome.
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Listmeister



Gender: Male
Location: Ohio
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  • #77
  • Posted: 08/07/2017 01:34
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Near the beginning of this I posted a riddle: Are they a Light Orchestra with Electric instruments? An ensemble band that used electric light bulbs as instruments? Or an Electric Orchestra with fewer calories? My answer is:

The Electric Light Orchestra was an Orchestra that shone like Electric Lights.

There you go. I think they peaked artistically with Eldorado (1974), and musically and lyrically with Time (1981). Jeff Lynne, the front man and chief songwriter, peaked as a musician around On the Third Day 1973, as a writer with Time (1981), and as a producer with Secret Messages (1983). The rest of the band is hard to evaluate, but they had consistent quality from ELO2 all the way through their post-ELO albums, all the way to Moment of Truth.

AND SO, here is my ranking of the 40 Electric Light Orchestra (and friends) albums that were reviewed in this diary. In countdown format, because I like countdowns.

40. Armchair Theatre - Jeff Lynne 1990
39. Main Street - Roy Wood & Wizzard 2000
38. Starting Up - Roy Wood 1987
37. Boulders - Roy Wood 1973
36. Super Active Wizzo - Roy Wood's Wizzo Band 1977
35. Mustard - Roy Wood 1975
34. Alone in the Universe - Jeff Lynne's ELO 2015
33. Zoom - Electric Light Orchestra 2000
32. Idle Race - The Idle Race 1969
31. Long Wave - Jeff Lynne 2012
30. The Bithday Party - The Idle Race 1967
29. Message from the Country - The Move 1971
28. Electric Light Orchestra Part Two - Part Two 1990
27. On the Road Again - Roy Wood 1979
26. Beyond the Dream - OrKestra 1991
25. Balance of Power - Electric Light Orchestra 1986
24. Moment of Truth - Part Two 1995
23. The Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3 - Traveling Wilburys 1990
22. Performing ELO's Greatest Hits - Part Two 1992
21. Time Is - The Idle Race 1971
20. Move - The Move 1968
19. The Night the Lights Went On In Long Beach - Electric Light Orchestra 1974
18. Lookin On - The Move 1970
17. Wizzard Brew - Wizzard 1973
16. ELO 2 - Electric Light Orchestra 1973
15. Shazam - The Move 1970
14. Face the Music - Electric Light Orchestra 1975
13. Out of the Blue - Electric Light Orcestra 1977
12. Earthrise - Tandy & Morgan 1986
11. Eddie and the Falcons - Wizzard 1974

10.

The Electric Light Orchestra by Electri... Orchestra

9.

On The Third Day by Electric Light Orchestra

8.

No Rewind by The Orchestra

7.

A New World Record by Electric Light Orchestra

6.

Eldorado, A Symphony By The Electric Li... Orchestra

5.

Xanadu (Soundtrack) by Olivia Newton-Jo... Orchestra

4.

Discovery by Electric Light Orchestra


3.

Secret Messages by Electric Light Orchestra

2.

The Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1 by The T...g Wilburys

And the Best One:

Time by Electric Light Orchestra
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Romanelli
Bone Swah


Gender: Male
Location: Broomfield, Colorado
United States
Moderator

  • #78
  • Posted: 08/07/2017 05:16
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Listmeister wrote:
Here's some more lists from you, the Superfans. Albums are by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) except where otherwise noted.

Electric Light Orchestra Albums Ranked by Fischman
1. A New World Record 1976
2. Out of the Blue 1977
3. Face the Music 1975
4. Eldorado 1974
5. On the Third Day 1973
6. ELO 2 1973
7. The Electric Light Orchestra 1971
8. Discovery 1979
9. Secret Messages 1983
10. Time 1981
11. Zoom 2001
12. Balance of Power 1986




THANK you!!!!!!!!!
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'Fore the devil knows we're dead...
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dihansse



Gender: Male
Age: 60
Belgium

  • #79
  • Posted: 08/07/2017 19:41
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I was mostly a greatest hits lover of ELO (especially the ones of the mid seventies because I grew up with them), but especially since the discovery of Eldorado, I learnt to appreciate them as album artists as well.
ELO is ranked 75th on my overall top chart (one album per artist), which might be a bit of an underestimation if I look at their total legacy especially after following your thread.

My current list is (only sticking to ELO):
1. Face The Music (mainly because I love Strange Magic and Evil Woman)
2. Out Of The Blue (again mainly because of the hits Turn To Stone, Sweet Talking' Woman and especially Mr. Blue Sky)
3. Eldorado: because of the whole album.
4. Discovery
5. Zoom

But I still have to listen to some others, mainly A New World Record and Time although I already know a lot of tracks from those albums.

In any case I thoroughly enjoyed reading this trip into ELO, Jeff Lynne, Roy Wood, etc...!
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