Time is an underrated masterpiece. Can we just appreciate how many years ahead Jeff and ELO were with tracks like Yours Truly 2095? That rocking almost electronic vocoder is fucking incredible. Miles ahead of its time.
It's a shame Jeff has pretty much abandoned his 80's work. I saw Jeff and his band on their last two US tours and he does almost nothing from 1981 on. No "Twilight", "Rock and Roll Is King", "Hold on Tight to Your Dreams", etc. I still loved each show and his ELO band is spectacular but I do miss some of his later work with ELO. I saw the "Time" tour in 1981 at Brendan Byrne Arena in New Jersey (the place is long gone). The original band was fantastic. They even had an R2D2 type robot come out on stage to do the opening monologue from Twilight. Great memories.
Definitely agree Time is a bit of a forgotten masterpiece. Jeff Lynne does The Buggles (consequently bettering them)! At the very least better than anything else after Out of the Blue. Unfortunately, Time was the beginning of a commercial slide, so Jeff will likely not see it in the same light.
For those who've heard all the ELO albums, I'd recommend checking out their earlier incarnation, 'The Move.' Contrary to what is said in the video, it marks the real testing ground for ELO's initial attempts to establish a signature sound. Once Roy Wood leaves the group, Jeff Lynne indulges his Beatlesque influences unchecked, creating the ubiquitous ELO output. I especially recommend 'The Move' if you're rather enamoured with ELO's debut album and its eclecticism.
To tell you the truth, I'm a millennial, and I hardly know anyone from my generation who even know what ELO is, yet so many from my generation praise Pink Floyd, Led Zepplin, Genesis, etc. I grew up with ELO. It's my mom's favorite band.
ELO between 1975 and 1979 could not be touched. A New World Record is simply incredible and Out Of the Blue is one of THE greatest studio double albums ever
Oddly, "Eldorado" and "Time" are my two favorites! Those both show the emotion and musical relevances of the time they were released, and still sound great decades later!
Eldorado is what the peak of prog rock should've been. Unfortunately, most prog rock mostly relied on electric guitar. Eldorado is the spiritual successor to Pet Sounds and Sgt. Peppers.
Paul Geary First time for me - and I thought Paul McCartney said that - so I’ve learned something today. Maybe I should spend more time on RUclips - or maybe not.
Eldorado is a perfect album. You can't just listen to one song on it, if you pull out one song you have to go back and just listen to the whole thing! It's a great length too, not too long.
To me A New World Record was ELO’s Best overall balanced album although I love some of their earlier works like Eldorado and what came after in Out of the Blue.It was the first ELO that I purchased after hearing so many great tunes on the radio such as Can’t Get it Out of My Head, Evil Woman , Rock ‘N Roll Beethoven and others.
Oh I'm so glad that someone else likes ELO 2 as much as I do. I never hear anyone else talk about it as much. Definitely their prog-iest album, and it has quite possibly the best cover of "Roll Over Beethoven". Definitely in my top 3 with Eldorado and Face the Music.
Have always liked ELO II. Personally, I'd rate it ahead of On the Third Day. Remarkably tight for an album consisting of 7-minute+, drawn out arrangements. Wilf Gibson stands out on violin and the cello parts are uniquely crunchy and powerful.
I’m the opposite Balance Of Power is my favorite. Heaven only knows especially the alternate version. The harmonies and weird time signature changes in the chorus are phenomenal
My Ranking of the ELO Albums 1. A New World Record 2. Eldorado 3. Out of the Blue 4. Face the Music 5. Time 6. Discovery 7. On the Third Day 8. Secret Messages 9. ELO 2 10. Xanadu 11. Balance of Power 12. No Answer
Excluding the All Over The World greatest hits compilation from ELO, _Out of the Blue_ was the first album I purchased from this band. There's a reason why I consider ELO the most uplifting artist, and _Out of the Blue_ is a big factor to why I think that. Fantastic album, man!
I decided to give ELO a listen after watching this and after having now listened to every album from the debut to _Secret Messages_ , I can honestly say I've enjoyed all of them. I'm weary about giving the last three a listen. Though a new album is coming out next month so I may just skip to that and give _Balance_ , _Zoom_ and _Alone_ a chance, too.
Oh man, I can't believe you put Balalnce Of Power at the very bottom. It's got some very good songs: "Heaven Only Knows", "Calling America", "So Serious"
Yeah, BoP is one those albums that can actually be considered "underrated". So Serious is one of my favorite songs, period. The album's only flaw is its version of Endless Lies, as the Secret Messages one is more fleshed out.
Balance Of Power has some great B-Sides! By the way Notes, if you haven’t already, you should check out Kelly Groucutt’s eponymous solo album from 1981. Better than the ELO Part II records (in my opinion) and stays faithful to the late 70’s arrangements when Jeff Lynne had already moved onto synthesisers. It needs a remaster though.
1 Out of the Blue OUTSTANDING!!! 2 Time MAGIC 3 A new world record MASTERPIECE 4 Discovery 5 Xanadu 6 Face the music 7 Zoom 8 Balance of power 9 Secret messages
I really don't think the ELO part II albums should've been included in this list. I feel like even though they had original ELO band members, it was more of a tribute band than anything. To me, Jeff Lynne is ELO. To me, the best album ELO ever released is New World Record with Face The Music being a close second.
from a big ELO fan here is my list from number one spot : 1st place... Out of the Blue (elo at their best and a total classic album and also the first E.L.O. album I ever bought) 2. A New World Record 3. Face the Music (love the reversed bit on 1st track) 4. Discovery (Jeff and the band going more towards the pop disco) 5. Eldorado 6. Time (there is also a sci fi story based on the album, the book is called "yours truly 2095") 7. Secret Messages (packed with hidden messages and now that it has come out as the double album it should have been, it's even better) 8. On the Third Day 9. E.L.O. 2 (without Roy Wood being in the line up the band was the beginning of E.L.O.) 10 The Electric Light Orchestra (or also known as "no answer" basically the band was still the Move at that time) 11. Zoom ( Jeff Lynne with a new line up ) 12. Alone in the Universe ( again it's Jeff with another new line up, but did see them play live recently and it works ) 13. The Night The Light Went on in Long beach ( the only live album from the early days ) 14 Balance of Power (you could tell Jeff Lynne lost his passion by the quality of the songs.) 15. Xanadu ( I include this album even though I see this album as a soundtrack and not an actual E.L.O. album. (also has not got one track that should have been on it called "Drum Dreams" which is brilliant )) the last two I have put on my list only because the band is a part of E.L.O. though I do not see this version of the band as true E.L.O. 16. Electric Light Orchestra part 2 ( a good ish album but without that Jeff Lynne touch which makes E.L.O.) 17. Moment of truth (not a good album though tries to keep that E.L.O. feeling)
Right ON Keith! Agreed, "Out of the Blue" was and STILL IS incredible! I remember buying it at a local WHEREHOUSE as a punch out, if you're and oldie like me, you know what that is. I could not believe a double album masterpiece like this was discounted! Great memories from High School blasting this on my Pioneer Stereo, yes I still have it and the album!
MisterAlga not that unpopular. Face the Music is by far the most focused album in the discography. I’m very partial to Time because it was my entry point, but FTM is the album I keep going back to again and again.
I think in 50 years when people look back on the most innovative music of the last 100 years, Time will be the only album that cuts through the fog of music. It sounds like it came 50 years too early.
Great video! Although my favorite is Discovery as my first ELO love was Shine a Little Love🔥. I wonder if you would do a worst to best of your native Canadian band Saga?
Eldorado is #1. I have so many copies of this album. When vinyl started to disappear I bought two sealed copies just to have in years to come. I bought the 1st CD pressing when that came out in the 80's and bought the remastered version when that was released. Last year I bought the ELO box set and got another version. It may be my all time favorite album by anyone. I can't listen to it and turn it off part way through. I never put it on unless I am relaxing or on a long drive because I have to play it beginning to the end. You got it right.
ELO part II arguably is ELO in name only, as Lynne wrote, produced and sang nearly every song in ELO. Zoom was Lynne and Tandy only, not "the band". And it featured 2 Beatles on some tracks, but I would hardly call it a "Beatles Clone". That's ridiculous. Didn't make it much farther.
TIME is my all-time favourite album of ELO even above OUT OF THE BLUE. It is just perfection, a real masterpiece ! Probably one of the best concept albums of the 80's with MISPLACED CHILDHOOD from Marillion. And BALANCE OF POWER is by far much better to the "Part 2" albums for a start. For other releases you praised the backing and harmony vocals but on BALANCE OF POWER, all vocals and especially all the harmonies are on top !! Jeff at his best on that specific one, forget the cover, forget the absence of classical instruments, listen to it without prejudice ! The first album, SECRET MESSAGES, ZOOM, not to mention the half album XANADU, the Jeff Lynne's ELO albums and even DISCOVERY (disco tracks suck) are also below this very solid and compact album filled with great songs and a very good sonic approach. A very underrated 80"s album gem from a popular band of the 70's !
13. ELO 2 12. Secret Messages 11. No Answer 10. Alone in the Universe 9. Balance of Power 8. On the Third Day 7. Discovery 6. Eldorado 5. Face The Music 4. Zoom 3. Out of the Blue 2. A New World Record 1. Time
You mean...it would be ELO without ELO? There were more members of ELO in part2 than in Jeff Lynne’s ELO. The Zoom album had as many members of the Beatles on it as ELO members...so perhaps Zoom should have been a Beatles album? For my money....NO ROY WOOD...no ELO!
nice list- sorry you feel as low as you do about their debut lp, tho I get it. It would've helped to have given some history on that lp seeing as Lynne, Bev Bevan, and Roy Wood (who you should have mentioned) were also recording what was the last lp by the Move at the same time, so there is some bleed over between those lps and also explains why what became the classic ELO sound wasn't fully defined until "On the Third Day" and beyond. Still, it has the monumental "10538 Overture", ""The Battle of Marston Moor (July 2nd 1644)", "Whisper in the Night" and "Queen of the Hours", which makes it a very solid debut lp. The first 2 lps should also be treated differently due to the involvement of Wood (who would leave during the recording of the 2nd lp and form Wizzard), who had his own vision of ELO but was ultimately trumped by Lynne's emergence as a first rate songwriter. Once Wood left, Lynne took over and the rest is history. Wood is a personal hero of mine- his multi-instrumental talents are second to none, and his songwriting is as quintissentially British as that of Ray Davies, Pete Townshend, Syd Barrett, and later Andy Partridge of XTC. despite my beef, a great list for a great band!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE ELO!! I saw Jeff Lynne in concert this year and he was amazing. It was great hearing all their old classics. Thanks for sharing this video. Although I disagree with your rankings, it was still fun to watch and you seem like a real fan. So all good to me. 😉
Out of the Blue is one of those popular choices I can't help but agree with. For a group that intentionally positioned themselves at the crossroads of classical music, prog rock, and pop, no singular album of theirs represents that crossroads better than Blue. And despite being a pretty heavy double album, which in prog especially tend to be a bit dense or bloated, the LP never has a wasted moment. It's not as proggy or poppy as what came before or after, respectively, but it is definitive ELO.
you GOTTA do a king crimson worst to best. you'll undoubtedly piss off all of their fans but i'm so curious to hear your thoughts on their discography!
Jeff Lynne was/is ELO. He wrote and sang everything on all the albums except a few Roy Wood songs on the first I think. Zoom was Jeff Lynne playing all instruments except guest musicians like for instance his girlfriend, his daughter, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Richard Tandy on a couple of songs.
Thought you'd probably be into it. Thanks for the channel, has helped me with my pretty recent exploration of prog! And my Halloween playlist for that matter.
The other thing to know. Jeff Lynne’s ‘Can’t Get It Out Of My Head’ musical arrangement and background was influenced by John Lennon/ Paul McCartney joint songwriting efforts ‘Long And Winding Road…..’. Similar concept and maybe, different meanings.
FYI, Zoom was really more of a Jeff Lynn solo album under the ELO moniker similar to Alone in the Universe. The only former member other than Jeff who contributed was Richard Tandy, and he only plays on one track. Jeff played most of the instruments himself.
3:24 6:40 First off, I would just like to say that this isn’t even ELO. Need I remind you that Jeff Lynne was NOT in the part two band! When you see the part two, it was actually a whole different band. ELO didn’t even release any albums in the 90s! Jeff filed for a lawsuit for stealing the band name, hence the part two. Jeff Lynne was working for other artists at the time of this release.
Time is my personal favourite, but I understand why you couldn't get into it. It's definitely one that you either get into it or you don't. All I know is that it's special for me, being the first album I looked to as a "concept album".
Time seems to be divisive. For me, it's my favorite. And I always forget that Third Day exists (the one album I didn't have way back) and yet I adore Eldorado.
My all time favourite band! My personal ranking is: 1. A New World Record 2. Time 3. Eldorado 4. Out of the Blue 5. Discovery 6. Xanadu 7. Face The Music 8. Secret Messages 9. Alone in the Universe 10. Zoom 11. On The Third Day 12. From Out of Nowhere 13. ELO 2 14. Balance of Power 15. No Answer
Really pleased to see ELO2 make it so high. I think it's a true prog album and many people who say they like elo would be shocked to hear it. Very inventive and challenging als cool to see Eldorado win. This was not a hit in uk but I know was the album that launched elo to USA. How old were you when you first heard it? Roy wood is quoted as saying it's their Sgt pepper and his favouite too
Your video gave me the Payoff I wanted.”Eldorado”!!!!! So significant in my transition from New England to California in 1974..leaving Kansas and coming to Oz. It spoke to me, and guided me, and remains a pivotal masterpiece in my personal and musical journey 👠👠💥 💗
Here's the top of my list. These are the albums that I'd always be happy to play: (1) A New World Record, (2) El Dorado, (3) Face the Music, (4) Out of the Blue, (5) Time, (6) Discovery, (7) Zoom, and (8) Secret Messages. I'm going with NWR as #1, but "El Dorado" is an extremely close second-place for me. It's a great album. On a different day I might switch the order of those two. I like "Out of the Blue" a lot, although I'll be the weird guy and say that I'm not particularly fond of "Mr Blue Sky". I like it, but there are several other songs on that album which I like more than MBS. On a different day I might switch the order of "Out of the Blue" and "Face the Music". You can see that I like "Time" a lot more than you do, and for me I'm particularly amused by the song "Yours Truly, 2095". And for "Discovery" I do really enjoy the song "Last Train to London". I don't think of it as a disco song, but just another song where the band is having fun. Sure it's disco-ish, but the main focus (IMO) is just to have fun. I liked "Zoom" a lot when it came out, but something about it always bugged me. I never could quite figure out what the problem was, but I think you've hit it by saying that it's a Beatles' clone. Thanks for making that connection! - - - - I like these next three albums a lot, but I'd have to admit that I almost never play them. Nothing against them, but they always lose out to the top eight. But I'm quite happy to listen if someone else decides to play them. So in order: (9) On the Third Day [I can hear you gasp here], (10) Electric Light Orchestra II, (11) No Answer. - - - - As to the rest: I'd rate "Balance of Power" above "Moment of Truth", although that's not much of a complement. I never bought "Jeff Lynne's ELO". By the time this came out I had enough albums that I wasn't in any hurry to buy this one. I also never bought "ELO part 2", and in fact I'm not sure that I had heard about it before this! And I categorize "Xanadu" as a very good soundtrack album, and not an ELO album. I don't want to compare it to the other albums. It's still an album which has to fit a movie, and not just some standard ELO album which happens to have Olivia NJ as a guest star.
My list is quite a bit different than yours, but there's nothing much in your list which upsets me. For one, I've always felt that "El Dorado" has been grossly over-looked or under-rated, so your list makes me happy just to see that as #1. 😊
Listening to Zoom now, and I'm actually liking it better now that I realize what used to bother me was that it is so close to a clone of a Beatles’ album. 😊
Ummm... “the band” did not come back to record Zoom. It was essentially the same as Alone In The Universe, a near solo effort. I won’t even comment about your claim it was a Beatles clone. “Discography”? Diary Of “HORANCE” Wimp? Secret “Message”? Yeah, an ELO fan since a kid.
ELO was in the vanguard of PROG Rock with YES, Supertramp, Rod Stewart, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest also comes to mind, and a whole mess of other British Invasion bands that were at their most creative during the mid to late 70's and early 80's.
I think you’re dead wrong on Zoom. It was a reunion for the band to perform live on tour, but not on the actual album. Richard Tandy appeared on one song, the rest of the instrumentals was recorded by Jeff Lynne (a few appearances from George Harrison and Ringo). There wasn’t too much ‘70’s return’ with the harmonies: sure a few songs had it, but a majority of the album was Lynne trying to do a blues rock (ZZ Top) effort.
You do realise that Zoom (2001) was just Jeff Lynne on his own and none of the original ELO members although original band member and Lynnes right hand man, keyboardist Richard Tandy appears on a few tracks.
El Dorado is definitely number one. It is in a different league than anything else they ever did, and I like a lot of their music. I walked into a record store one day having never heard this album, and it was playing in the store. I browsed until it was over, walked up to the cashier, and told them I wanted to buy whatever it was I just listened to. Out of the Blue and Face the Music are my next two. Fire on High, and Mr. Blue are great, great, great, great songs. Though A New World Record, is easy to listen to, I wouldn't put it in their top five, because it's just to pop, and sappy for my taste. I can not stand Telephone Line. I do like Rockaria from that album.
Good review! I do like “Time” in my top 6. Zoom actually features George and Ringo on some tracks. Xanadu basically has 4 ELO songs. Not really sure how it even ranks above full albums (Zoom, Time, Discovery), but I agree the songs are decent. I’m glad you liked “Secret Messages”, def underrated. “Eldorado” is hugely over-looked as far as I am concerned. Mystical, emotional and conceptually creative second to no one.
I'm kinda shocked that no one has mentioned the very recent release of Secret Messages's original double album configuration. You should check it out, it's way better than the single album!!
Of all the cut tracks that were restored to the new release, there is only one I have any use for - Hello My Old Friend. The rest is just Jeff churning out something to fulfill his contract and move on.
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
Time is an underrated masterpiece. Can we just appreciate how many years ahead Jeff and ELO were with tracks like Yours Truly 2095? That rocking almost electronic vocoder is fucking incredible. Miles ahead of its time.
100%!
It's a shame Jeff has pretty much abandoned his 80's work. I saw Jeff and his band on their last two US tours and he does almost nothing from 1981 on. No "Twilight", "Rock and Roll Is King", "Hold on Tight to Your Dreams", etc. I still loved each show and his ELO band is spectacular but I do miss some of his later work with ELO. I saw the "Time" tour in 1981 at Brendan Byrne Arena in New Jersey (the place is long gone). The original band was fantastic. They even had an R2D2 type robot come out on stage to do the opening monologue from Twilight. Great memories.
Luv Luv Luv Time 💞
Definitely agree Time is a bit of a forgotten masterpiece. Jeff Lynne does The Buggles (consequently bettering them)! At the very least better than anything else after Out of the Blue. Unfortunately, Time was the beginning of a commercial slide, so Jeff will likely not see it in the same light.
Time is a Masterpiece
Who doesn’t like Electric Light Orchestra?
Literally no one
For those who've heard all the ELO albums, I'd recommend checking out their earlier incarnation, 'The Move.' Contrary to what is said in the video, it marks the real testing ground for ELO's initial attempts to establish a signature sound. Once Roy Wood leaves the group, Jeff Lynne indulges his Beatlesque influences unchecked, creating the ubiquitous ELO output.
I especially recommend 'The Move' if you're rather enamoured with ELO's debut album and its eclecticism.
To tell you the truth, I'm a millennial, and I hardly know anyone from my generation who even know what ELO is, yet so many from my generation praise Pink Floyd, Led Zepplin, Genesis, etc. I grew up with ELO. It's my mom's favorite band.
I’m 12 and I Freaking Love Them so much from “Don’t Bring Me Down” to “Jungle” theres always new Experiences
People who never listened to them
My personal favorite of theirs is time, love that album
Man twilight into yours truly is just 8mins of pure Bliss. Listened to it twice back to back the first time I heard it. What a blast
There is not a bad song on that entire album IMO!
Yeah
Same.
Ditto
ELO between 1975 and 1979 could not be touched. A New World Record is simply incredible and Out Of the Blue is one of THE greatest studio double albums ever
Oddly, "Eldorado" and "Time" are my two favorites! Those both show the emotion and musical relevances of the time they were released, and still sound great decades later!
Same here!
Eldorado is what the peak of prog rock should've been. Unfortunately, most prog rock mostly relied on electric guitar.
Eldorado is the spiritual successor to Pet Sounds and Sgt. Peppers.
@@neonfroot don't forget the spiritual successor of Days of future passed
John Lennon himself said that ELO was pretty close to what the Beatles would have sounded like had they continued into the 70s.
That is pretty much the 1,455th time that comment has been made on youtube... He was talking about Showdown at the time of course :-)
Paul Geary First time for me - and I thought Paul McCartney said that - so I’ve learned something today. Maybe I should spend more time on RUclips - or maybe not.
Eldorado is a perfect album. You can't just listen to one song on it, if you pull out one song you have to go back and just listen to the whole thing! It's a great length too, not too long.
You should have just left out ELO part 2
You cant have an ELO album without Jeff Lynne
@@stephencarberry1727 Yeah, including the Part II albums was generous on the reviewer's part.
Yes it was not good
Eldorado is not only the greatest ELO record, it's the greatest rock album of all time, period. Bar none.
Couldn’t agree more
Same
I'd say Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is number two after it.
Time is the best elo album
The songs on this album are great but the production is rather thin...
The mispronunciations used to bother me but at this point it's just kinda funny. Keep up the great work!
Dude, it scares me the amount of discography you already listened to. Nice video, btw!
You referring to him calling the album "Discography" instead of "Discovery" at 12:25?
1:00-"im not saying the first one i talk about is the definitive worst..."
2:00-"yep, this is definitively the worst..."
To me A New World Record was ELO’s Best overall balanced album although I love some of their earlier works like Eldorado and what came after in Out of the Blue.It was the first ELO that I purchased after hearing so many great tunes on the radio such as Can’t Get it Out of My Head, Evil Woman , Rock ‘N Roll Beethoven and others.
3 Eldorado
2 A New World Record
1 Out of the Blue
@David Thom Different strokes for different folks.
I agree that best three albums A New world record/Out of the blue/Eldorado
Time is an instant pick for me. There's no such an album like this. It feels different
ELO is one of my favorite bands, the only part I really disagree with you on is their first album. I really love a lot of the material on that album
same!
The first album is amazing
@@youtoo2233 mr. radio is fucking sick
@@quinnnosbod3673 Mr radio is my top 10 favorite Elo songs
@@quinnnosbod3673 yep
Sad to see time so far down your list as I really fell in love with it. But eldorado absolutely deserving of the top spot.
Oh I'm so glad that someone else likes ELO 2 as much as I do. I never hear anyone else talk about it as much. Definitely their prog-iest album, and it has quite possibly the best cover of "Roll Over Beethoven". Definitely in my top 3 with Eldorado and Face the Music.
I cut my teeth on ELO 2 and in many ways it's my favorite ELO Album
Have always liked ELO II. Personally, I'd rate it ahead of On the Third Day. Remarkably tight for an album consisting of 7-minute+, drawn out arrangements. Wilf Gibson stands out on violin and the cello parts are uniquely crunchy and powerful.
From the sun to the world is the most underrated elo song ino
I’m the opposite Balance Of Power is my favorite. Heaven only knows especially the alternate version. The harmonies and weird time signature changes in the chorus are phenomenal
Can't believe you didn't list Time higher. Brilliant album.
Mission and One Summer Dream: are hands down their best songs! Third Day, Eldorado, Face, New World, Blue all their best albums!
One Summer Dream their best song. No argument.
ELO Part 2, without Jeff Lynne, is not ELO. Jeff Lynne is ELO. I do appreciate your love of the band however.
Yes I agree it's not Elo with Jeff Lynne.
William Ashford - You meant it’s not ELO WITHOUT Jeff Lynne, right?
Michael Norman But is it ELO without ELO!
My Ranking of the ELO Albums
1. A New World Record
2. Eldorado
3. Out of the Blue
4. Face the Music
5. Time
6. Discovery
7. On the Third Day
8. Secret Messages
9. ELO 2
10. Xanadu
11. Balance of Power
12. No Answer
Excluding the All Over The World greatest hits compilation from ELO, _Out of the Blue_ was the first album I purchased from this band. There's a reason why I consider ELO the most uplifting artist, and _Out of the Blue_ is a big factor to why I think that. Fantastic album, man!
I decided to give ELO a listen after watching this and after having now listened to every album from the debut to _Secret Messages_ , I can honestly say I've enjoyed all of them. I'm weary about giving the last three a listen. Though a new album is coming out next month so I may just skip to that and give _Balance_ , _Zoom_ and _Alone_ a chance, too.
Thanks for putting out this video Notes you have inspired me to check out elo’s stuff!
Woot! Mission accomplished!
What about the new album "From Out Of Nowhere"?
The debut album is underrated!!!
Lmao “Discography”
Dude the album is Discovery
😂😂😂
I'm glad you found it so enjoyable :)
Notes Reviews dude I live for your mispronunciations!
If you love notes you know there will be a major mispronouncement somewhere and he knows it and it's just the way it is!
😛
On NWR they found it. It’s their Srgt Pepper or Exile on Main St. It has it all start to finish. It is by far and away their best
Oh man, I can't believe you put Balalnce Of Power at the very bottom. It's got some very good songs: "Heaven Only Knows", "Calling America", "So Serious"
Yeah, BoP is one those albums that can actually be considered "underrated". So Serious is one of my favorite songs, period. The album's only flaw is its version of Endless Lies, as the Secret Messages one is more fleshed out.
Meh album, but I love calling america and so serious
I love No Answer. Roy Wood is an awesome musician. I wish they would've kept The Move and ELO going simultaneously beyond the first couple records.
Balance Of Power has some great B-Sides!
By the way Notes, if you haven’t already, you should check out Kelly Groucutt’s eponymous solo album from 1981. Better than the ELO Part II records (in my opinion) and stays faithful to the late 70’s arrangements when Jeff Lynne had already moved onto synthesisers. It needs a remaster though.
I do like the songs, but I think there was only one CD release of it, and the mastering on that seems pretty bad (to my ears, at least).
Agree with you on both the b-sides comment and the Kelly album. ELO 2 was awful, period.
@@joeturner6192 their work with the Moscow Symphony was outstanding
@@Jigger2361 I respect your opinion Jigger, but for me, Kelly's work fronting ELO2 just didn't work. For me anyway.
My favorite will always be Out Of The Blue.
1 Out of the Blue OUTSTANDING!!!
2 Time MAGIC
3 A new world record MASTERPIECE
4 Discovery
5 Xanadu
6 Face the music
7 Zoom
8 Balance of power
9 Secret messages
I really don't think the ELO part II albums should've been included in this list. I feel like even though they had original ELO band members, it was more of a tribute band than anything. To me, Jeff Lynne is ELO. To me, the best album ELO ever released is New World Record with Face The Music being a close second.
from a big ELO fan here is my list from number one spot :
1st place... Out of the Blue (elo at their best and a total classic album and also the first E.L.O. album I ever bought)
2. A New World Record
3. Face the Music (love the reversed bit on 1st track)
4. Discovery (Jeff and the band going more towards the pop disco)
5. Eldorado
6. Time (there is also a sci fi story based on the album, the book is called "yours truly 2095")
7. Secret Messages (packed with hidden messages and now that it has come out as the double album it should have been, it's even better)
8. On the Third Day
9. E.L.O. 2 (without Roy Wood being in the line up the band was the beginning of E.L.O.)
10 The Electric Light Orchestra (or also known as "no answer" basically the band was still the Move at that time)
11. Zoom ( Jeff Lynne with a new line up )
12. Alone in the Universe ( again it's Jeff with another new line up, but did see them play live recently and it works )
13. The Night The Light Went on in Long beach ( the only live album from the early days )
14 Balance of Power (you could tell Jeff Lynne lost his passion by the quality of the songs.)
15. Xanadu ( I include this album even though I see this album as a soundtrack and not an actual E.L.O. album. (also has not got one track that should have been on it called "Drum Dreams" which is brilliant ))
the last two I have put on my list only because the band is a part of E.L.O. though I do not see this version of the band as true E.L.O.
16. Electric Light Orchestra part 2 ( a good ish album but without that Jeff Lynne touch which makes E.L.O.)
17. Moment of truth (not a good album though tries to keep that E.L.O. feeling)
Right ON Keith! Agreed, "Out of the Blue" was and STILL IS incredible! I remember buying it at a local WHEREHOUSE as a punch out, if you're and oldie like me, you know what that is. I could not believe a double album masterpiece like this was discounted! Great memories from High School blasting this on my Pioneer Stereo, yes I still have it and the album!
This to me is a much more accurate breakdown of ELO's best. Thank you.
What's better; The album Xanadu by ELO, or the song "Xanadu" by Rush?
I think the Jeff Lynne solo albums are strong as well. One of them is a cover album. Both hold their weight with the rest of the ELO discography.
Unpopular opinion: I think that Discovery and Face the Music are their best albums. Eldorado is their third best.
MisterAlga face the music is great
Alga!? Usted que hace aquí?
MisterAlga not that unpopular. Face the Music is by far the most focused album in the discography. I’m very partial to Time because it was my entry point, but FTM is the album I keep going back to again and again.
if you're going to include ELO part II, then you really ought to include No Rewind by The Orchestra (ELO part III)
Ok now this is actually pretty clean
I think in 50 years when people look back on the most innovative music of the last 100 years, Time will be the only album that cuts through the fog of music. It sounds like it came 50 years too early.
I agree.
Great video! Although my favorite is Discovery as my first ELO love was Shine a Little Love🔥.
I wonder if you would do a worst to best of your native Canadian band Saga?
Eldorado is #1. I have so many copies of this album. When vinyl started to disappear I bought two sealed copies just to have in years to come. I bought the 1st CD pressing when that came out in the 80's and bought the remastered version when that was released. Last year I bought the ELO box set and got another version. It may be my all time favorite album by anyone. I can't listen to it and turn it off part way through. I never put it on unless I am relaxing or on a long drive because I have to play it beginning to the end. You got it right.
Melvin Gale was never fully credited for Wild West Hero. He wrote it and played piano on it and boy, can he play the piano-wow !
zoom was Jeff Lynne on his own.....do you ever read the album covers???
Exactly!!
It’s the same as alone in the universe and from out of nowhere it’s just Jeff lynne by himself but is just branded elo
@@patrickkillen8569 none of ´em is better than Balance of Power
TIME is in the conversation of top album by any artist.
ELO part II arguably is ELO in name only, as Lynne wrote, produced and sang nearly every song in ELO.
Zoom was Lynne and Tandy only, not "the band". And it featured 2 Beatles on some tracks, but I would hardly call it a "Beatles Clone". That's ridiculous.
Didn't make it much farther.
TIME is my all-time favourite album of ELO even above OUT OF THE BLUE. It is just perfection, a real masterpiece ! Probably one of the best concept albums of the 80's with MISPLACED CHILDHOOD from Marillion. And BALANCE OF POWER is by far much better to the "Part 2" albums for a start. For other releases you praised the backing and harmony vocals but on BALANCE OF POWER, all vocals and especially all the harmonies are on top !! Jeff at his best on that specific one, forget the cover, forget the absence of classical instruments, listen to it without prejudice ! The first album, SECRET MESSAGES, ZOOM, not to mention the half album XANADU, the Jeff Lynne's ELO albums and even DISCOVERY (disco tracks suck) are also below this very solid and compact album filled with great songs and a very good sonic approach. A very underrated 80"s album gem from a popular band of the 70's !
13. ELO 2
12. Secret Messages
11. No Answer
10. Alone in the Universe
9. Balance of Power
8. On the Third Day
7. Discovery
6. Eldorado
5. Face The Music
4. Zoom
3. Out of the Blue
2. A New World Record
1. Time
uHm WhEre'S ThE OrChEsTra - No ReWiNd
Should not have included ELO part two totally different bands should have stuck too Jeff Lynne's work.
Totally agree. Nothing to do with Jeff Lynne. Sounds nothing like ELO.
You mean...it would be ELO without ELO? There were more members of ELO in part2 than in Jeff Lynne’s ELO. The Zoom album had as many members of the Beatles on it as ELO members...so perhaps Zoom should have been a Beatles album? For my money....NO ROY WOOD...no ELO!
How could you not love a movie based around rollerskates? Believe it it's quite easy. 😄
nice list- sorry you feel as low as you do about their debut lp, tho I get it. It would've helped to have given some history on that lp seeing as Lynne, Bev Bevan, and Roy Wood (who you should have mentioned) were also recording what was the last lp by the Move at the same time, so there is some bleed over between those lps and also explains why what became the classic ELO sound wasn't fully defined until "On the Third Day" and beyond. Still, it has the monumental "10538 Overture", ""The Battle of Marston Moor (July 2nd 1644)", "Whisper in the Night" and "Queen of the Hours", which makes it a very solid debut lp.
The first 2 lps should also be treated differently due to the involvement of Wood (who would leave during the recording of the 2nd lp and form Wizzard), who had his own vision of ELO but was ultimately trumped by Lynne's emergence as a first rate songwriter. Once Wood left, Lynne took over and the rest is history.
Wood is a personal hero of mine- his multi-instrumental talents are second to none, and his songwriting is as quintissentially British as that of Ray Davies, Pete Townshend, Syd Barrett, and later Andy Partridge of XTC.
despite my beef, a great list for a great band!
I see that CR merch you got there. Nice video!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE ELO!! I saw Jeff Lynne in concert this year and he was amazing. It was great hearing all their old classics. Thanks for sharing this video. Although I disagree with your rankings, it was still fun to watch and you seem like a real fan. So all good to me. 😉
Out of the Blue is one of those popular choices I can't help but agree with. For a group that intentionally positioned themselves at the crossroads of classical music, prog rock, and pop, no singular album of theirs represents that crossroads better than Blue. And despite being a pretty heavy double album, which in prog especially tend to be a bit dense or bloated, the LP never has a wasted moment. It's not as proggy or poppy as what came before or after, respectively, but it is definitive ELO.
We need King Crimson!!!!
I was actually thinking of doing one on that band myself.
Lauscho's Reviews and VLOGS do it, please man!
Nope
you GOTTA do a king crimson worst to best. you'll undoubtedly piss off all of their fans but i'm so curious to hear your thoughts on their discography!
Time is a classic.
Jeff Lynne was/is ELO. He wrote and sang everything on all the albums except a few Roy Wood songs on the first I think. Zoom was Jeff Lynne playing all instruments except guest musicians like for instance his girlfriend, his daughter, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Richard Tandy on a couple of songs.
Out of the blue - easily #1
What do you think of Strawbs' Hero and Heroine? I can't believe it isn't mentioned more often.
It's a fantastic album! I love that last track
Thought you'd probably be into it. Thanks for the channel, has helped me with my pretty recent exploration of prog! And my Halloween playlist for that matter.
The other thing to know. Jeff Lynne’s ‘Can’t Get It Out Of My Head’ musical arrangement and background was influenced by John Lennon/ Paul McCartney joint songwriting efforts ‘Long And Winding Road…..’. Similar concept and maybe, different meanings.
Great video, thanks!!!
I agree. Time are often underrated. It's on my top five list for sure.
Awesome seeing you're a fellow Critter
Also I heard you call Discovery Discography there.
He's probably just not very familiar with that album
1. Out of the Blue
2. Face the Music
3. A New World Record
4. Eldorado
Need to go back and listen to the rest.
Thanks for sharing!!!
I beg you, stop calling "Discovery" "Discography"
And he called "Time" Twiglight... lol Time a really great concept album deserves a better placement. .. I would rank it in the top 5.
I didn't think anyone was gonna call him out on it and I thought....wow
How much of a fan are you if you get 2 album titles wrong?
FYI, Zoom was really more of a Jeff Lynn solo album under the ELO moniker similar to Alone in the Universe. The only former member other than Jeff who contributed was Richard Tandy, and he only plays on one track. Jeff played most of the instruments himself.
3:24
6:40
First off, I would just like to say that this isn’t even ELO. Need I remind you that Jeff Lynne was NOT in the part two band! When you see the part two, it was actually a whole different band. ELO didn’t even release any albums in the 90s! Jeff filed for a lawsuit for stealing the band name, hence the part two. Jeff Lynne was working for other artists at the time of this release.
Balance Of Power worse than ELO Part 2, please put the crack pipe down, my guy.
Where would you put from out of nowhere? I am a huge elo fan and in my opinion it’s one of my favorites!
Time is my personal favourite, but I understand why you couldn't get into it. It's definitely one that you either get into it or you don't. All I know is that it's special for me, being the first album I looked to as a "concept album".
Discovery? More like "Disco? Very!"
My favorite thing about ELO is that there is no real consense when it comes to which albums are the best.
Btw. that album is called discovery not discography and is a word game because it can be read as discovery but also as disco very.
how could you put time so low down
Am i confused or did he call Discovery "discography" and Time "Twilight"?
What are your opinions on Steely Dan?
Steely dan is awesome
Time seems to be divisive. For me, it's my favorite. And I always forget that Third Day exists (the one album I didn't have way back) and yet I adore Eldorado.
How can you put their best album on fifth place?
My all time favourite band! My personal ranking is:
1. A New World Record
2. Time
3. Eldorado
4. Out of the Blue
5. Discovery
6. Xanadu
7. Face The Music
8. Secret Messages
9. Alone in the Universe
10. Zoom
11. On The Third Day
12. From Out of Nowhere
13. ELO 2
14. Balance of Power
15. No Answer
Really pleased to see ELO2 make it so high. I think it's a true prog album and many people who say they like elo would be shocked to hear it. Very inventive and challenging als cool to see Eldorado win. This was not a hit in uk but I know was the album that launched elo to USA. How old were you when you first heard it? Roy wood is quoted as saying it's their Sgt pepper and his favouite too
A New World Record - bought it back in the day - my first pop/rock album and always my #1 ELO album :)
Your video gave me the Payoff I wanted.”Eldorado”!!!!! So significant in my transition from New England to California in 1974..leaving Kansas and coming to Oz. It spoke to me, and guided me, and remains a pivotal masterpiece in my personal and musical journey
👠👠💥 💗
Here's the top of my list. These are the albums that I'd always be happy to play:
(1) A New World Record, (2) El Dorado, (3) Face the Music, (4) Out of the Blue, (5) Time, (6) Discovery, (7) Zoom, and (8) Secret Messages.
I'm going with NWR as #1, but "El Dorado" is an extremely close second-place for me. It's a great album. On a different day I might switch the order of those two.
I like "Out of the Blue" a lot, although I'll be the weird guy and say that I'm not particularly fond of "Mr Blue Sky". I like it, but there are several other songs on that album which I like more than MBS. On a different day I might switch the order of "Out of the Blue" and "Face the Music".
You can see that I like "Time" a lot more than you do, and for me I'm particularly amused by the song "Yours Truly, 2095". And for "Discovery" I do really enjoy the song "Last Train to London". I don't think of it as a disco song, but just another song where the band is having fun. Sure it's disco-ish, but the main focus (IMO) is just to have fun.
I liked "Zoom" a lot when it came out, but something about it always bugged me. I never could quite figure out what the problem was, but I think you've hit it by saying that it's a Beatles' clone. Thanks for making that connection!
- - - -
I like these next three albums a lot, but I'd have to admit that I almost never play them. Nothing against them, but they always lose out to the top eight. But I'm quite happy to listen if someone else decides to play them. So in order:
(9) On the Third Day [I can hear you gasp here], (10) Electric Light Orchestra II, (11) No Answer.
- - - -
As to the rest: I'd rate "Balance of Power" above "Moment of Truth", although that's not much of a complement.
I never bought "Jeff Lynne's ELO". By the time this came out I had enough albums that I wasn't in any hurry to buy this one. I also never bought "ELO part 2", and in fact I'm not sure that I had heard about it before this!
And I categorize "Xanadu" as a very good soundtrack album, and not an ELO album. I don't want to compare it to the other albums. It's still an album which has to fit a movie, and not just some standard ELO album which happens to have Olivia NJ as a guest star.
My list is quite a bit different than yours, but there's nothing much in your list which upsets me. For one, I've always felt that "El Dorado" has been grossly over-looked or under-rated, so your list makes me happy just to see that as #1. 😊
Listening to Zoom now, and I'm actually liking it better now that I realize what used to bother me was that it is so close to a clone of a Beatles’ album. 😊
I like Balance of Power
me too
Ummm... “the band” did not come back to record Zoom. It was essentially the same as Alone In The Universe, a near solo effort. I won’t even comment about your claim it was a Beatles clone.
“Discography”? Diary Of “HORANCE” Wimp? Secret “Message”? Yeah, an ELO fan since a kid.
The only 2 original members in the album was Jeff Lynne and Richard Tandy
DOH!
Tandy only played on 1 song on the album
ELO was in the vanguard of PROG Rock with YES, Supertramp, Rod Stewart, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest also comes to mind, and a whole mess of other British Invasion bands that were at their most creative during the mid to late 70's and early 80's.
Time and a new world record are way above the rest. ANWR is a freaking masterpiece
I'm not sure you can include ELO Pt 2 in a review of The Electric Light Orchestra albums. The band without Lynne is not the same band.
I think you’re dead wrong on Zoom. It was a reunion for the band to perform live on tour, but not on the actual album. Richard Tandy appeared on one song, the rest of the instrumentals was recorded by Jeff Lynne (a few appearances from George Harrison and Ringo). There wasn’t too much ‘70’s return’ with the harmonies: sure a few songs had it, but a majority of the album was Lynne trying to do a blues rock (ZZ Top) effort.
How about their new 2019 album from out of nowhere?
You do realise that Zoom (2001) was just Jeff Lynne on his own and none of the original ELO members although original band member and Lynnes right hand man, keyboardist Richard Tandy appears on a few tracks.
Kinda unpopular opinion: Time is the best ELO album. On the third day was the worst
Time is a real trip
Agree and disagree.
RIP Kelly G, of course. What a great great singer.
Sorry to disagree. I've been an ELO fan since 1973 and Balance of Power is a great album.
Eldorado is one my top five albums of all time. I am huge ELO fan but Eldorado is by far my favorite.
El Dorado is definitely number one. It is in a different league than anything else they ever did, and I like a lot of their music. I walked into a record store one day having never heard this album, and it was playing in the store. I browsed until it was over, walked up to the cashier, and told them I wanted to buy whatever it was I just listened to.
Out of the Blue and Face the Music are my next two. Fire on High, and Mr. Blue are great, great, great, great songs. Though A New World Record, is easy to listen to, I wouldn't put it in their top five, because it's just to pop, and sappy for my taste. I can not stand Telephone Line. I do like Rockaria from that album.
Good review! I do like “Time” in my top 6. Zoom actually features George and Ringo on some tracks. Xanadu basically has 4 ELO songs. Not really sure how it even ranks above full albums (Zoom, Time, Discovery), but I agree the songs are decent.
I’m glad you liked “Secret Messages”, def underrated. “Eldorado” is hugely over-looked as far as I am concerned. Mystical, emotional and conceptually creative second to no one.
I'm kinda shocked that no one has mentioned the very recent release of Secret Messages's original double album configuration. You should check it out, it's way better than the single album!!
Of all the cut tracks that were restored to the new release, there is only one I have any use for - Hello My Old Friend. The rest is just Jeff churning out something to fulfill his contract and move on.