Unlike either its predecessor Alone in the Universe or 2001's Zoom, From out of Nowhere didn't appear after a prolonged period of silence from Jeff Lynne's ELO. It arrived in November of 2019, nearly exactly four years after Alone in the Universe, a rapid turnaround that recalls Lynne's work schedule as a bandleader and producer in the 1970s and '80s. That's not the only way From out of Nowhere conjures memories of the past. From the spaceship hovering on its record cover to the song title "Sci-Fi Woman" stirring up the ghost of "Evil Woman," the album is designed to sound and feel like an Electric Light Orchestra album from the late 1970s.
Jeff Lynne revived Electric Light Orchestra in 2015 – due to legal reasons, they were now called Jeff Lynne's ELO – releasing a comeback album called Alone in the Universe and steadily mounting a return to the road. Several dates happened in 2016, but the tour reached its apex in June 2017, when the group played in front of 60,000 people at London's Wembley Stadium. Released five months after that June 24 gig, Wembley or Bust – which was accompanied by a concert film – features the entirety of the gig, and if it's not heard too closely, it could sometimes be mistaken for an ELO greatest-hits album.
Electric Light Orchestra (or ELO for short, now going by Jeff Lynne's ELO) is a British rock group formed from The Move in Birmingham, England, which released eleven studio albums between 1971 and 1986 and two more albums…
Alone in the Universe isn't the first Jeff Lynne album of the 21st century, nor is it the first Electric Light Orchestra of the 21st century. That honor belongs to Zoom, a 2001 comeback that faded quickly into history books, its lack of success blamed in some quarters on Lynne's reluctance to tour. If Jeff didn't want to hit the road, his old bandmate Bev Bevan had no problem constituting a lineup and touring under the name ELO Part II, whose presence somewhat explains why Alone in the Universe is credited to the somewhat convoluted Jeff Lynne's ELO – a truncation of the band's full name that also assigns credit where it's due, as most listeners associate this majestic post-Abbey Road pop with Lynne alone.
By ignoring the band's first two albums, the Roy Wood-dominated Electric Light Orchestra and the transitional ELO II, the 1979 singles compilation ELO's Greatest Hits presents a somewhat skewed vision of the band. Ironically, this revision has become the normative view of the band: slick, almost mechanical purveyors of undeniably catchy but somewhat soulless hit singles. "Evil Woman," "Showdown," "Turn to Stone," "Telephone Line," "Strange Magic" – anyone who was anywhere near a radio in the latter half of the '70s knows them all by heart, whether they like them or not. But ELO's Greatest Hits does a far graver disservice to the Electric Light Orchestra's oeuvre. For some reason, the original vinyl LP sounded somewhat muffled and distant, as if the EQ was perceptibly off. The result is that while this is otherwise a fine survey of Jeff Lynne's most successful – if not necessarily his best – songs, it just doesn't sound very good.
Electric Light Orchestra Part II was formed in 1988 by drummer Bev Bevan, a founding member of the original ELO, the successful progressive pop group led by frontman Jeff Lynne from 1971 into the mid-1980s. After Lynne officially dissolved the band, Bevan assembled a new line-up including vocalist Neil Lockwood, keyboardist Eric Troyer and bassist Pete Haycock to tour under the Electric Light Orchestra banner; Lynne soon filed suit against the group, the resulting settlement appending the "Part II" tag to any new albums or live performances. One Night is a live album recorded and released by ELO Part II. The concert was recorded on 18-19 March 1995 at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, Australia while the band was on tour. It was called One Night since ELO Part II was in Australia only for one night. The album's official release was UK, 1996 2 CD and US, May 20, 1997 1 CD. This album contains a lot of ELO's greatest hits performed live. This release are taken from the same 1995 show.
The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters-multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of Beatlesque pop, classical arrangements and futuristic iconography. After Wood's departure in 1972, Lynne became the band's sole leader, arranging and producing every album while writing nearly all of their original material. For their initial tenure, Lynne, Bevan and keyboardist Richard Tandy were the group's only consistent members.
By ignoring the band's first two albums, the Roy Wood-dominated Electric Light Orchestra and the transitional ELO II, the 1979 singles compilation ELO's Greatest Hits presents a somewhat skewed vision of the band…
Unlike either its predecessor Alone in the Universe or 2001's Zoom, From out of Nowhere didn't appear after a prolonged period of silence from Jeff Lynne's ELO. It arrived in November of 2019, nearly exactly four years after Alone in the Universe, a rapid turnaround that recalls Lynne's work schedule as a bandleader and producer in the 1970s and '80s. That's not the only way From out of Nowhere conjures memories of the past. From the spaceship hovering on its record cover to the song title "Sci-Fi Woman" stirring up the ghost of "Evil Woman," the album is designed to sound and feel like an Electric Light Orchestra album from the late 1970s.