Fifteen years after their last major hit (‘Calling America’) and subsequent break-up, Jeff Lynne revived Electric Light Orchestra. The move seemed to come from necessity, since his own recording in the interim (‘Armchair Theatre’) was not as successful as many predicted it would be. It was by no means a flop – and Lynne, too, achieved critical and commercial success as a member of Traveling Wilburys in the wake of his former band – but it seemed that any recordings made with the bespectacled and bearded Brummie at the helm (supergroups notwithstanding) stood a far better chance of acceptance if the ELO moniker came attached.
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Electric Light Orchestra’s ‘Out of the Blue’ live DVD to get SD blu-ray reissue
A firm favourite among ELO fans, the bands live concert from Wembley 1978 is to be reissued by Eagle Rock on blu-ray in March. Given the archive nature of the material, the disc will not be in high definition (HD), but SB, upscaling the material to the best quality standards.
Given that SD isn’t always much of a step up from DVD, why should fans buy this reissue? The host of extras are worth the price of admission. In addition to the main feature – a fourteen song, hour-plus performance – there’s a whole lot more ELO to enjoy on the new disc.
JEFF LYNNE – Armchair Theatre
In 1987, Electric Light Orchestra head honcho Jeff Lynne sat in as producer with ex-Beatle George Harrison on his hugely popular ‘Cloud Nine’ album. The combination of Harrison’s gift for pop melodies and Lynne’s very distinctive production sound (often revolving around filtered harmony vocals and a gated snare drum leading to a very compressed sound) led to the album being a multi-million seller. The sessions also gave birth to the greatest supergroup ever – The Traveling Wilburys, comprising Harrison, Lynne, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Roy Orbison. While some people overlook Lynne’s contribution to the group, it is his studio expertise which, perhaps, brings the most to what we now think of as the “Wilbury sound”.