The Light That Fails

Recorded at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, California, Where the Light Is: John Mayer Live in Los Angeles finds singer/songwriter and guitarist John Mayer performing in three different band settings: acoustic trio, electric trio, and large ensemble. As such, the evening works as a nice representation of Mayer's work beginning with the 2003 album Heavier Things and continuing through his creative reinvention as a modern electric blues artist with 2005's Try! John Mayer Trio Live in Concert and finally his smash Grammy-winning 2006 effort, Continuum. Essentially, the concert is designed to showcase Mayer's ability to move from melodic soft rock and pop to folky solo numbers and rockin' blues. Generally, the conceit works and the concert does shine a light, so to speak, on Mayer's virtuosic musical chops.

Electric Light Orchestra's 2012 concert album Live brings together tracks Jeff Lynne and his band recorded for a PBS special at CBS Television City in 2001. This is the ensemble that toured in support of ELO's 2001 studio album, Zoom, and appeared on VH1 Storytellers. Lynne has always been an avowed studio rat, more comfortable crafting his rock productions behind a soundboard than playing them in front of a live audience. This is partly the reason that the Lynne-helmed version of ELO stopped touring after 1981's Time. Subsequently, there haven't been very many proper ELO concert albums. Which is not to say that the band doesn't sound fantastic here, because it does. Lynne is a musical perfectionist who never fails to deliver on the grand, orchestral rock aesthetic he crafted on so many classic albums. All of which makes this 2001 collection a welcome addition to ELO's discography.

Electric Light Orchestra's 2012 concert album Live brings together tracks Jeff Lynne and his band recorded for a PBS special at CBS Television City in 2001. This is the ensemble that toured in support of ELO's 2001 studio album, Zoom, and appeared on VH1 Storytellers. Lynne has always been an avowed studio rat, more comfortable crafting his rock productions behind a soundboard than playing them in front of a live audience. This is partly the reason that the Lynne-helmed version of ELO stopped touring after 1981's Time. Subsequently, there haven't been very many proper ELO concert albums. Which is not to say that the band doesn't sound fantastic here, because it does. Lynne is a musical perfectionist who never fails to deliver on the grand, orchestral rock aesthetic he crafted on so many classic albums. All of which makes this 2001 collection a welcome addition to ELO's discography.