Light Art

This is the album where Jeff Lynne finally found the sound he'd wanted since co-founding Electric Light Orchestra three years earlier. Up to this point, most of the group's music had been self-contained – Lynne, Richard Tandy, et al., providing whatever was needed, vocally or instrumentally, even if it meant overdubbing their work layer upon layer. Lynne saw the limitations of this process, however, and opted for the presence of an orchestra – it was only 30 pieces, but the result was a much richer musical palette than the group had ever had to work with, and their most ambitious and successful record up to that time.

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.

Balance of Power is the eleventh studio album by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) released in 1986. It is the final album by the band to feature co-founder Bev Bevan on drums, as well as the last album to feature keyboardist Richard Tandy in an official capacity. Balance of Power was the last studio album by the Electric Light Orchestra before their disbanding (the band would later reform in 2000). By this time Kelly Groucutt had departed and the group was pared down to a trio of Jeff Lynne, Richard Tandy, and Bev Bevan.

Time is the ninth studio album by English rock band Electric Light Orchestra. It topped the UK Albums Chart for two weeks. Time is a concept album written about a man from the 1980s who is taken to the year 2095, where he is confronted by the dichotomy between technological advancement and a longing for past romance. Time is a work of synth-pop that combines elements from 1950s music, new wave, reggae, rockabilly, the Beatles, Phil Spector and the Shadows. The album signalled a departure from the band's sound by emphasising electronics over its usual orchestra.

For the ELO lover who enjoyed the full sound from the early days heavy on cello and classical strings to accompany the developing ELO sound. These recordings were done live in the BBC studio in three seperate sessions during 1972-1974 and are made without a live audience. Great cuts from the first three ELO albums are featured and performed in grand style. If you enjoy early ELO, you won't be disappointed with this set.

The 1992 Holland collection Definitive Collection isn't really definitive, of course – it's the kind of title common to budget-line discs or European and Asian-only compilations – but it is a good sampler of ELO's hits all the same, containing 19 songs, including many, many hits: "Showdown," "Can't Get It out of My Head," "Evil Woman," "Strange Magic," "Livin' Thing," "Turn to Stone," "Don't Bring Me Down," and "Rock N' Roll Is King."

5CD package containing albums from Electric Light Orchestra and Jeff Lynne's solo career. Albums are packaged in cardboard replica vinyl sleeves and bundled in a card slipcase. Albums featured: Armchair Theatre, Zoom, Mr. Blue Sky The Very Best Of ELO, Longwave & Electric Light Orchestra Live.