Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 47
 If you only can have one ELO CD, this is the one! October 7, 2005
Robert G. Martinez (Brooksville FL)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
We all recall back in the 70's, when we had the time to sit and listen to an entire ELO album. We may have had all their albums. Times have changed. I don't believe anyone sits down and listens to an entire album anymore. Everyone is in a hurry!
There's not enough time anymore. So behold, the greatest ELO CD you'll ever have. It's chock full of the hits that made Jeff Lynne and his band, production wizards. The sound is superb. Favorites included: Telephone Line, Livin' Thing, Sweet Talking Woman, Evil Woman, Do Ya, Turn to Stone. I realize there may have been a favorite or two left off from previous albums, but these are truly the best of ELO. These were the big hits and they still sound great! Buy It! It's great for beginners and old pros alike. Shoot...I forgot to pay my cell phone bill..gotta go now!
Great Album August 9, 2005
Ben Kizer (Dallas, TX USA)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
I love ELO's music, and their usage of orchestra instruments in many of their songs. A pop/rock song with violins? Much more, a hard rock song with violins??? ELO was one of the classic rock bands from the 70's who could pull off such moves, and be successful. This collection is a great overview for casual ELO fans. Songs such as "Evil Woman", "Sweet Talkin' Woman", and "Do Ya" are hard rocking music with a tinge of orchestra, the slower ballads "Can't Get You Out of My Head" and "Telephone Line" are just beautiful pieces of music with the added instrumentation. Even their 80's new wavish synth-pop entry "Don't Bring Me Down" is catchy, cheesy, and just plain fun to listen to. The only thing that really stinks is the missing "Four Little Diamonds", another entry from their new sounding 80's stage that is sorely miss. However, this is a great start for casual fans of ELO or classic rock junkies looking for another album to add to their collection.
 Mixed emotions...lost opportunities August 7, 2003
Allan Yorke (Houston, TX)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I have a lot of mixed emotions about this CD collection of a few my favorite band's best songs. While there's not a weak song in the bunch, this particular complilation is far from being what it could be. As has been mentioned, Sony has given ELO the short shrift...one CD, instead of the two they gave Billy Joel, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and so many of their other important artists. And make no mistake, ELO is one of the most important bands in the Sony catalog! Even the liner notes here are flawed and perfunctory. One really doesn't come away from this collection with anything new or unique in terms of knowledge and experience in comparison to so many of the other fine ELO collections. The "Strange Magic" collection is far superior, or better yet, try the "Flashback" or "Afterglow" box sets. Sure, for one disc, this CD is loaded with some killer tracks, but I mourn yet another Sony missed opportunity to have done something special and noteworthy for such a deserving band. One final note: I must agree with the *real* music fans here and correct the misinformation put forth by the so-called "music fan" concerning the composition of ELO's band. ELO never tried to fool anyone about synthesizers or strings; from the get-go, they had both. ELO has always been a somewhat quirky, albeit lovable experimental art-pop band that attempted to "pick up where the Beatles left off" with tracks like "Strawberry Fields" and "I Am the Walrus." And they succeeded brilliantly with an amazing catalog of memorable classic songs and albums. The late John Lennon praised them repeatedly; George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and Paul McCartney demonstrated their esteem for ELO leader Jeff Lynne by having him produce each one of them individually...and also corporately as the Beatles. On each ELO album from 1972-1979, Lynne employed REAL cellists and violinists as members of the ELO studio band and the touring band. From "Discovery" in 1979 until "Balance of Power" in 1986, ELO did, in fact, move away from their organic orchestral sound, BUT they never abandoned it totally (strings appear on each album during that period). Even on the 2001 comeback album, "Zoom," ELO featured cellists and violinists on several tracks (not to mention George Harrison and Ringo Starr). And...as far as "The Ace," there is no track by that name ever recorded by ELO. There was an Ace Kefford in The Move, the incredible pre-cursor band to ELO. And Ace Frehley once did a fair cover of the ELO/Move classic, "Do Ya." Other than that, my friend, "the ace that's hiding up your sleeve/will cause the world to grieve," to quote from "Poker." HEY...WAIT A SEC...is "Poker" the song you mean, Music Fan?
ELO Rocks! February 11, 2005
A. Rothchild (Rockford, IL)
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
Man, what can I say about this CD? This is one CD that there isn't a single bad song on it. I can listen to the entire thing front to back. Even if you're not in the mood for rocking out to it, it also works great for background music.
 It's a Living Thing March 28, 2007
Tim Brough (Springfield, PA United States)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Jeff Lynne has got to be one of the most underrated pop geniuses of the seventies and eighties. While the world of prog-rockers was bombasting themselves with side-long double album extravaganzas (Yes, I am talking about Yes...), Jeff Lynne and his mates in Electric Light Orchestra decided that "I Am The Walrus" and "Good Vibrations" were all the inspiration they needed.
The end result is a body of work that sounds even better to these aging ears than they did in 1975. From their orchestral rave-up on Chuck Berry's "Roll Over Beethoven" to the "bama-lama-lama" chorus on the rockabilly "Rock and Roll Is King," Lynne mastered styles effortlessly for three decades. (Even if "Zoom" is not represented here.) Despite the fact that ELO had pretty much abandoned the "orchestra" part of their name by "Time," the 'pocket-symphony' concept stayed with them till the last hit on this CD, "Calling America." Songs like "Rock and Roll Is King" hint at the production chops Lynne would eventually bring to the likes of Tom Petty, Travelling Wilburys, George Harrison and Dave Edmunds.
I chose this "Essential ELO" CD to be in my collection over "All Over The World" primarily because this set includes "Do Ya." "All Over The World" does have a few choice classic-rock cuts ("Ma Ma Belle" and "The Diary Of Horace Wimp" to name two), but if you're looking to get the sugar coated buzz of the 70's singles, this is the collection to own. My rating is held to four stars because of ommissions like "Four Little Diamonds," "10538 Overture" or "Showdown." (This should have been a double set, ala "Strange Magic.") Now that all the albums are back out in pristine remasters, you can pick and choose the classic ELO to fit your whims.
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