![]() ![]() Secret Messages was originally conceived as a double album and having heard all of the tracks that would have comprised the album, I am glad it was edited down. It just has to be heard, along with the whole album, in a darkened room while wearing headphones. The prologue segues into the epic Twilight, which blows my mind every time I hear it. Superb.įans of today’s electronic genres would do well to listen to Time, possibly the finest synth rock album of its era. Tension builds in the verse narrative, which is then released in a big glossy chorus. The soundtrack, however, is some of the finest pop ever written and produced by both Jeff Lynne and my compatriot John Farrar (Farrar’s eponymous 1980 solo album is worth a listen if you can track it down). It has a cult following of (mostly) gay fans (“not that there’s anything wrong with that”), but by all objective measures it’s an abysmal film. Strap on your skates and turn up the volume as it’s time to enter the magical world of Xanadu. I’ve chosen the fifth single, It’s Over, for its (relative) simplicity and those jangly 12-string guitar layers, which bind it all together. Lynne’s “everything-including-the-kitchen-sink” approach to production was in full flight for Out Of The Blue and spawned five singles, four of which charted well in many territories. Now we’ve reached the point in ELO’s career where things really started to get out of hand. I chose the lush-yet-introspective ballad Shangri-La for its nod to Lynne influencers, The Beatles, its beautiful chord progression and its dreamy coda. The landmark 1976 release is packed full of hits and hit-worthy album tracks. Picking a favourite from A New World Record is not an easy task. ![]() The song is the sonic equivalent of a warm hug and the lyrics are pure poetry. It was a completely unexpected inclusion and a truly sublime experience. During the taping of 2001’s Zoom Live DVD, Jeff and the band surprised us all by performing the song live. The track opens ELO’s fifth album, Face The Music, with a Hitchcock-esque eeriness and launches into an epic duel between acoustic guitar and violin.įace The Music is the only album to feature twice in this Toppermost, as One Summer Dream is an enduring favourite for many fans. The other instrumental among my selections, Fire On High, has a much higher profile having been used extensively as a musical embellishment for television sports coverage, other live events and occasional radio airplay. Daybreaker was somewhat overshadowed by a rocking Grieg rendition on the same album and hasn’t received the recognition it deserves. The fusion of strings and moog on this track combined with a driving rock shuffle combine to create a track full of excitement and urgency. My selection kicks off with one from their third LP, On The Third Day. One thing ELO did particularly well in the early days was instrumentals. Zoom (2001) was the first ELO album I purchased on the day of release and since Jeff Lynne revived the moniker as “Jeff Lynne’s ELO” in late 2015 for Alone In The Universe, this is as good a time as any to revisit the back catalogue and pick out the standout tracks that have meant so much to me since I first boarded the Wurlitzer-inspired neon space ship. Since I had yet to be born when their 2-LP epic, Out Of The Blue was released in 1977, I came to be a fan of ELO long after their heyday. Well, Mamma Mia, here I go again … this time taking on another iconic seventies band … Ladies and Gentlemen, the Electric Light Orchestra! Who else would be crazy enough to do a Toppermost about ABBA, right? Starting price: $1000.As readers of my previous contributions will know, I don’t shy away from taking on the big guys. Ironically, Rolling Stone amended their prior criticism when they put in 29th place on their greatest albums ever made list. While some people felt that it was a rather vain work, with Rolling Stone magazine tearing it to shreds, this record struck gold instantly. Today, you would not be disagreed with if you used the word ‘iconic’ when speaking about this record. They were beginning to experiment with other genres, particularly the blues, releasing a compilation of covers of the greats in the moody genre. That being said, there are many who put an incredible value into vinyl records, and if you happen to own the following ones, you could earn yourself a tidy sum of cash! Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin (1969)ġ969 was a phenomenal time for Led Zeppelin. We might be preaching to the choir here, but so many people have little appreciation for the classic methods of playing the world’s favorite albums. People would purchase or rent large, black discs called vinyl records, which they would mount onto large devices called record players. Long before the days of iTunes and Spotify, before CDs and even cassettes, humanity’s earliest method for capturing and replaying music was with records.
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