Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Electric Light Orchestra
Label: Epic Records
Released: 1977
Rating: 5/5
One of the key traits that separates great, talented bands from the smaller ones nobody talks about anymore is the ability to turn out several albums in a row, in a short span of time, that earn masterpiece status and still belong in every decent music collection years later. One of those albums, the kind that should sit in every household, or that everyone should hear at least once in their life, is without a doubt “Out Of The Blue”, the biggest triumph in the story of the legendary British art rock institution Electric Light Orchestra.
After the excellent “A New World Record” (1976), which finally gave the band a commercial breakthrough on home soil too and turned them into worldwide stars, their charismatic boss, singer, guitarist and producer Jeff Lynne stuck with the winning recipe of the previous album and cashed in on his extraordinary creative inspiration for all it was worth. At the time it was only climbing, and hits kept flying out of his hands in no time at all (he supposedly wrote the music for the whole album in under four weeks), which made “Out Of The Blue” not just the most successful ELO album on release, but, in the opinion of most fans, their greatest masterpiece too. The album yielded no fewer than five hit singles that still regularly find their way onto radio stations today. Every music gourmet has surely heard the ELO classics from this record, like “Turn To Stone”, “It’s Over”, “Sweet Talkin’ Woman”, “Mr. Blue Sky” and “Wild West Hero”.
“Out Of The Blue” was an ambitious album in other ways too, and also Lynne’s last adventure in symphonic (prog) rock. You could easily file it under pop rock as well, especially given how many bouncy, melodic songs it has (not just the hits mentioned). Even so, the orchestral arrangements were once again remarkably polished and formed a superb symphonic rock backdrop around Lynne’s vocals and guitar. That goes for the string arrangements – violinist Mik Kaminski laid down plenty of treats on his blue violin, together with both cellists, Melvyn Gale and Hugh McDowell – as well as for the keyboard passages in the domain of Richard Tandy, who was essential in creating the mystical, atmospheric curtains this record has in abundance. One of the album’s special features is that the third side of the original LP (it came out as a double album) contains the so-called “Concerto For Rainy Day”, a collection of four interlinked songs that make up a symphonically inclined suite with plenty of sound effects, wind blowing among them. It contributes to a great shifting of moods and makes for a fantastic contrast with the rest of the album.
Even though most of the songs on the album get into your ear very quickly thanks to their melodic accessibility, and many of the melodies keep ringing for a long time, don’t be fooled about the complexity of the individual arrangements and the outstanding technical skills of every member of the band. Besides an excellent vocal performance with some obvious Beatles-esque traits, Lynne left behind some of the best guitar passages of his career on this album. His mostly lovey-dovey-and-sarcastic lyrics were never exactly the peak of his lyrical abilities, but they sat perfectly in the romantic, bouncy nature of most of the compositions. Of the 17 tracks on the original release, there isn’t a single bad one, or even an average one. Lynne managed to realize a long-held dream and create an album packed with nothing but hits or potential hits, which let ELO rightfully claim, commercially too, to be the true heirs of the Beatles, their great idols. The album is also known for its great cover with the spaceship, which, after “A New World Record”, became the band’s signature logo. ELO cashed in very well on the sci-fi mania that Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind had stirred up at the time. Add Lynne’s protectively perfectionist production and a legend was born.
The album opens with the romantic-dramatic “Turn To Stone”, a big hit and one of the best and best-known songs in the ELO story. The extraordinary romantic pathos that runs through this excellent pop rocker comes from Lynne’s remarkably subtle vocal performance, dreamy orchestral arrangements, a bouncy rhythm and simple but well-oiled guitar passages. This dreamy combination makes its brilliant melodic chorus keep ringing in the ear receptors of music connoisseurs long after the song is over. Its evergreen popularity is also shown by the fact that, together with “Mr. Blue Sky” and “Don’t Bring Me Down” (from the next album, “Discovery”, 1979), it was used in an episode of the cult British sci-fi series Dr. Who. The next hit, “It’s Over”, is another of those splendid ELO power ballads that impress with their dramatic expressiveness, the subtle nature of the orchestral arrangements and plenty of excellent vocal harmonies. Even though it’s poetry of a broken heart, its mood, apart from the dramatic ending, is anything but sad, and the orchestral arrangements sound rather uplifting.
On “Sweet Talkin’ Woman”, another hit single, ELO once again demonstrate their ability to combine different elements of rock music in great style: from symphonic rock and pop rock to glam rock. There’s even a touch of disco, especially in the rhythm line of the chorus. After a baroque intro on the strings, it turns into an incredibly bouncy pop rocker that wins you over with its almost danceable chorus, marked by splendid vocal harmonies and tasteful orchestral arrangements. On “Across The Border”, which opens with the sound effect of a locomotive whistle, some blues elements come through via Lynne’s bouncy riffs, while the combination of strings and a rich palette of keyboards (the mini moog among them) provides symphonic breadth. After a Latin motif sweeps in on the strings, the listener truly feels like they’re on a train heading somewhere across the Mexican border. “Night In The City” is interesting for its dramatic string arrangements, varied backing vocal harmonies and a somewhat dark chorus that recalls some of their earlier work, before they stepped more decisively into pop rock. “Starlight” is the incarnation of romantic refinement, with an elegant piano build-up, plenty of esoteric Mellotron curtains, angelic vocal harmonies and a superb chorus that stays in your head for ages even though it never became a hit.
“Jungle” has an interesting experimental intro, with jungle animal sounds via a special synthesizer effect and a variety of exotic percussion from drummer Bev Bevan. It’s a bouncy, successful mix of symphonics, rock and ethnic elements, with the obligatory pop rock chorus. A song that echoes the band’s playful side. “Believe Me Now” is a very short and somewhat darker piece with lots of dramatic orchestral arrangements and effects. On the next composition, the calm and melancholic “Steppin’ Out”, the band’s Beatles heritage comes through especially strongly. Lynne’s colorful vocal performance sets the stage nicely for the central symphonic chorus with superb backing vocal harmonies. A few times in the chorus they also use a vocoder. And in one of the closing verses, after a dramatic orchestral section, an adapted bit of Lennon’s “Imagine” briefly “sneaks” in.
Next comes the suite “Concerto For The Rainy Day”, the previously mentioned symphonic prog rock concept cycle about changes in the weather, opened by “Standin’ In The Rain” with real rain recordings in the intro. Over time, via a thunder effect, it shifts into a dramatic section through a build-up of string arrangements and a Tandy keyboard solo. Here too there’s no shortage of a melancholic Beatles-esque chorus amid thunder effects and dramatic keyboard and string passages. Then comes the outstanding romantic ballad “Big Wheels”, without a doubt one of the most beautiful songs in the band’s story, if not the most beautiful. That applies above all to its gorgeous chorus with angelic vocal harmonies, a true paradise for every music gourmet, which fit wonderfully alongside the orchestral curtains of Mellotron and the other instruments. The way the vocal harmonies are built and the level of pathos Lynne puts into his singing can easily rival even the best work of Queen, the grandmasters of vocal drama. Without a doubt one of the best songs in their history, even though it often goes overlooked. “Summer Lightning” steers the composition into happier and more optimistic waters. Excellent orchestral arrangements and superb acoustic guitar accompaniment are enriched by great vocal harmonies and plenty of rain and thunder effects. The suite closes with the optimistic and incredibly bouncy “Mr. Blue Sky”, another big hit, where the sun shines again. This classic doesn’t hide its flirtation with the Beatles’ legacy either, mainly through its playful lyrics and bouncy rhythm. Despite its apparent simplicity, it’s a carefully structured song with plenty of twists in how the motifs shift. After the opening handclaps and a cheekily bouncy rhythm, a fun chorus kicks in along with subtle embellishments on Lynne’s guitar. Especially impressive are the operatic, choir-like vocal harmonies in its closing section.
“Sweet Is The Night” is another fun pop rocker with a splendid chorus and unmistakable British black humor in the lyrics. Prog rock fans get their fill with the ambient-experimental instrumental “The Whale”. Here the band, through dreamy whale-call effects, assorted keyboard passages and numerous ambient orchestral curtains, briefly returns to its prog rock roots and serves up one more esoteric treat. “Birmingham Blues”, as its title suggests, is an unorthodox blues rocker, and as such, for a band from Birmingham, it’s one of those offbeat experiments they usually liked to allow themselves at least once per album. This playful piece rests on cheeky orchestral arrangements, a swaying rhythm, handclaps and some interesting Lynne guitar passages. If I had to pick the least interesting song on the album, it would probably be this one.
The album closes with the excellent “Wild West Hero”, the last of the five hit singles. After an intro with horse-riding effects, it moves into a melancholic piano section and Lynne’s heart-wrenching vocals. Interestingly, the “cowboy” piano passages in this song were played by cellist Melvyn Gale. Eventually, through numerous orchestral passages, an optimistic and mighty chorus breaks through, with lyrics that make it easy to picture a lonely cowboy riding off into the sunset. Of the bonus tracks on the current reissue, the standout is the excellent pop rocker “Latitude 88 North”, which has a particularly magical chorus, the kind only ELO could create. This little bonbon, which originally had only the chorus written, was finished by Lynne in its final form specifically for the reissue of “Out Of The Blue.
“Out Of The Blue” remains an evergreen rock classic even decades later, and in my opinion also the best album (with “A New World Record” right on its heels) in this legendary band’s story. Lynne agreed too, calling both albums the band’s greatest achievements in the liner notes. At the time of “Out Of The Blue”, ELO reached the peak of their career and creativity, played sold-out arenas on a stage shaped like the spaceship from the cover, and became one of the most commercially successful bands of the era. The good times didn’t last long: with the next album, “Discovery”, the band set off on a short but remarkably interesting disco adventure, followed by an inevitable gradual decline in commercial and creative success, but while they were on top of the music world, they wrote one of the greatest success stories. Anyone who doesn’t happen to have this masterpiece in their rock classics collection yet shouldn’t hesitate and should fix that mistake as fast as possible.
Lineup
Jeff Lynne – vocals, guitar, mini-moog, percussion
Bev Bevan – drums, percussion, backing vocals
Richard Tandy – keyboards
Kelly Groucutt – bass guitar, percussion, backing vocals
Mik Kaminski – violin
Melvyn Gale – cello, piano
Hugh McDowell – cello
Production
Jeff Lynne
Tracklist
1. Turn to Stone (3:48)
2. It’s Over (4:08)
3. Sweet Talkin’ Woman (3:48)
4. Across The Border (3:52)
5. Night in the City (4:02)
6. Starlight (4:30)
7. Jungle (3:51)
8. Believe Me Now (1:21)
9. Steppin’ Out (4:38)
10. Standing in the Rain (4:20)
11. Big Wheels (5:10)
12. Summer and Lightning (4:13)
13. Mr.Blue Sky (5:05)
14. Sweet is the Night (3:26)
15. The Whale (5:05)
16. Birmingham Blues (4:21)
17. Wild West Hero (4:40)
Running time: 63:17
