Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

Out of the Blue

 
Album Review: Out of the Blue
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Pop Albums

Out of the Blue

Buy Now

Similar Albums:

Secret Messages, Breakfast in America, Armchair Theatre, Turn of a Friendly Card, Pictures at an Exhibition, Adventures in Utopia, Remote Control, Lovely to See You, Selling England by the Pound, Xanadu, Peter Gabriel [3]

Review

The last ELO album to make a major impact on popular music, Out of the Blue was of a piece with its lavishly produced predecessor, A New World Record, but it's a much more mixed bag as an album. For starters, it was a double LP, a format that has proved daunting to all but a handful of rock artists, and was no less so here. The songs were flowing fast and freely from Jeff Lynne at the time, however, and well more than half of what is here is very solid, at least as songs if not necessarily as recordings. "Sweet Talkin' Woman" and "Turn to Stone" are among the best songs in the group's output, and much of the rest is very entertaining. The heavy sound of the orchestra, however, as well as the layer upon layer of vocal overdubs, often seem out of place. All in all, the group was trying too hard to generate a substantial-sounding double LP, complete with a suite, "Concerto for a Rainy Day." The latter is the nadir of the album, an effort at conceptual rock that seemed archaic even in 1977. Another chunk is filled up with what might best be called art rock mood music ("The Whale"), before you finally get to the relief of a basic rocker like "Birmingham Blues." Even here, the group couldn't leave well enough alone -- rather than ending it on that note, they had to finish the album with "Wild West Hero," a piece of ersatz movie music that adds nothing to what you've heard over the previous 65 minutes. In its defense, Out of the Blue was massively popular and did become the centerpiece of a huge worldwide tour that earned the group status as a major live attraction for a time. [Out of the Blue was reissued in 2007 as a 30th Anniversary Edition with new photos, liner notes, and three bonus tracks, including "The Quick and the Daft," "Latitude 88 North," and a home demo of "Wild West Hero."] ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
Turn to Stone (Lyrics) Jeff Lynne Electric Light Orchestra (3:47)
It's Over (Lyrics) Jeff Lynne Electric Light Orchestra (4:08)
Sweet Talkin' Woman (Lyrics) Jeff Lynne Electric Light Orchestra (3:48)
Across the Border (Lyrics) Jeff Lynne Electric Light Orchestra (3:53)
Night in the City (Lyrics) Jeff Lynne Electric Light Orchestra (4:01)
Starlight (Lyrics) Jeff Lynne Electric Light Orchestra (4:26)
Jungle Jeff Lynne Electric Light Orchestra (3:51)
Believe Me Now (Lyrics) Jeff Lynne Electric Light Orchestra (1:21)
Steppin' Out (Lyrics) Jeff Lynne Electric Light Orchestra (4:39)
Standin' in the Rain Jeff Lynne Electric Light Orchestra (4:21)
Big Wheels (Lyrics) Jeff Lynne Electric Light Orchestra (5:05)
Summer and Lightning (Lyrics) Jeff Lynne Electric Light Orchestra (4:14)
Mr. Blue Sky (Lyrics) Jeff Lynne Electric Light Orchestra (5:05)
Sweet Is the Night (Lyrics) Jeff Lynne Electric Light Orchestra (3:26)
The Whale Jeff Lynne Electric Light Orchestra (5:02)
Birmingham Blues (Lyrics) Jeff Lynne Electric Light Orchestra (4:23)
Wild West Hero (Lyrics) Jeff Lynne Electric Light Orchestra (4:42)

Credits

Shusei Nagaoka (Illustrations), Jeff Lynne (Guitar), Melvyn Gale (Cello), Jeff Lynne (Synthesizer), Richard Tandy (Keyboards), Richard Tandy (Vocals), Jeff Lynne (Vocals), Kelly Groucutt (Vocals), Kelly Groucutt (Bass), Hugh McDowell (Cello), Kosh (Cover Design), Jeff Lynne (Producer), Jeff Lynne (Audio Production), Nick Gravenites (Producer), Ria Lewerke (Cover Design), Mik Kaminski (Violin), Kelly Groucutt (Percussion), Richard Tandy (Synthesizer), Harvey Brooks (Producer), Jeff Lynne (Keyboards), Bev Bevan (Drums), Bev Bevan (Vocals), W. Pete (Producer)
Search unanswered questions...

Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics

Artist: Out of the Blue
Top
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Pop Artists
Out of the Blue

Similar Artists:

Bebop & Beyond, Art Blakey, Horace Silver, The Harper Brothers, Blanchard, Harrison, Waldron, Davis, Blackwell, New York Jazz Quartet
  • Formed: 1984
  • Disbanded: 1989
  • Genres: Jazz
  • Representative Albums: "Inside Track", "Out of the Blue", "Spiral Staircase

Biography

Founded in 1984, Out of the Blue was devised as a vehicle to feature some of Blue Note's top young jazz talents. Their repertoire emphasized hard bop-oriented originals that extended the Blue Note legacy of the 1960s. The original lineup of OOTB consisted of trumpeter Michael Philip Mossman, altoist Kenny Garrett, tenor man Ralph Bowen, pianist Harry Pickens, bassist Robert Hurst, and drummer Ralph Peterson, all of whom have gone on to have significant careers. The group recorded four albums from 1985-1989 and went on several well-received tours before eventually breaking up when its members developed their own solo careers. Other musicians who were part of OOTB were bassist Kenny Davis (who joined in time for their third album), altoist Steve Wilson, pianist Renee Rosnes, and drummer Billy Drummond. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
Wikipedia: Out of the Blue (Electric Light Orchestra album)
Top
Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
Out of the Blue
Studio album by Electric Light Orchestra
Released October 1977 (UK)
November 1977 (US)
February 20, 2007 (US)
26 February 2007 (UK)
Recorded May - August 1977
Musicland Studios, Munich, Germany
Genre Rock, art rock, Power pop
Length 70:12
76:27 Reissue
Label Jet, United Artists, Columbia
Producer Jeff Lynne; Engineer - Mack
Professional reviews
Electric Light Orchestra chronology
A New World Record
(1976)		 Out of the Blue
(1977)		 Discovery
(1979)

Out of the Blue is a double album by Electric Light Orchestra, first released in 1977.

Contents

History

Jeff Lynne wrote the entire album in three and a half weeks after a sudden burst of creativity whilst hidden away in his rented chalet in the Swiss Alps. It took a further two months to record in Munich. The album had 4,000,000 pre-ordered copies and quickly went multi-Platinum upon release. Out of the Blue spawned five hit singles in different countries, and was ELO's most commercially successful studio album. It was also the first double album in the history of the UK music charts to generate four top twenty hit singles. Side three of the original double LP consisted of the symphonic Concerto for a Rainy Day, composed of four separate tracks which together made up a cohesive suite. The inclement weather effects heard on "Concerto" were real and recorded by Jeff Lynne during a very rainy summer in Munich 1977. The Concerto suite would be Lynne's last dabbling in symphonic rock.

Jeff Lynne considers A New World Record and Out of the Blue to be the group's crowning achievements [1][2] and both sold extremely well, reaching multi-platinum according to RIAA Certification. Capital Radio and The Daily Mirror Rock and Pop Awards (forerunner to The Brit Awards) named it "Album of the Year" in 1978. Jeff Lynne, the album's composer, received his first Ivor Novello award for Outstanding Contributions to British Music the same year.

The large spaceship on the album's cover (by now symbolic of the group) was designed by Shusei Nagaoka and Ria Lewerke with Kosh based on Kosh's earlier logo he designed for the previous album A New World Record which connected with Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind fever. It also looks like a space station with a docking shuttle from 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).[3] The number JTLA 823 L2 which is featured on the shuttle arriving at the space station is the original catalogue number for the album. The album also included an insert of a cardboard cutout of the space station as well as a fold-out poster of the band members. The space theme was carried onto the live stage in the form of a huge glowing flying saucer stage set, inside which the band performed.

A small controversy surrounded the US release of Out of the Blue on Jet/United Artists Records. The band and Jet Records accused United Artists of flooding the market with thousands of defective copies of the vinyl double album set. This eventually caused Jet to reassign the US distribution rights of this and all future and past ELO albums to US CBS Records under the Jet/Columbia logo.

Concerto for a Rainy Day

Side three of the release is subtitled "Concerto for a Rainy Day", a four track musical suite based on the weather and how it affects mood change, ending gloriously with the eventual sunshine and happiness of "Mr. Blue Sky". This was inspired by Jeff Lynne's experience whilst trying to write songs for the album against torrential rain outside his Swiss Chalet.

"Standin' in the Rain" opens with a haunting keyboard over a recording of real rain, recorded by Jeff Lynne just outside his rented studio. Also heard at the 30 second point of the song marking the beginning of The Concerto is thunder crackling in an unusual manner voicing the words "Concerto for a Rainy Day" by the band's keyboardist, Richard Tandy. ELO used the song to open their 1978 Out Of The Blue concerts.

"Big Wheels" forms the second part of the Concerto for a Rainy Day suite and continues with the theme of the weather and reflection followed by the more optimistic third part "Summer and Lightning". Apart from its inclusion on the Out Of The Blue album, the song has never appeared on any compilation or B-sides until 2000, when Jeff Lynne, the song's composer, included it on the group's retrospective album Flashback.

"Summer and Lightning" is the third song in the "Concerto for a Rainy Day" suite. The raining weather theme is continued throughout the track though the mood and lyrics are more optimistic eventually leading on to the classic finale of...

..."Mr. Blue Sky" is the finale of "Concerto for a Rainy Day". It is an uplifiting, lively song celebrating sunshine. It is the only piece from the Concerto to be excerpted as a single. In the last orchestral note, the phrase "Please Turn Me O-ver" spoken through a vocoder can be heard (This bit has been misheard repeatedly as "Mr. Blue Sky, why?", but original keyboardist Richard Tandy confirmed the actual lyric to members of the Showdown ELO fan list). (This is an instruction for owners of the original vinyl album to turn it over to listen to the following side.)

Reissue

The remastered album was re-released on February 20th 2007 (US) and 26 February 2007 (UK), as part of the Sony/BMG Music Epic/Legacy series. The 30th anniversary issue was a strictly limited one-off pressing in hardback book with expanded 24-page full colour booklet. It features full-length sleeve notes by Jeff Lynne and ELO archivist Rob Caiger, as well as rare photos and memorabilia. A push-out replica ELO Space Station for this version was released as well as the standard jewel case edition with a full colour 12-page edited booklet. The album once again reached the top twenty album charts in the UK peaking at #18. A sixth single "Latitude 88 North" was released as digital download single.

The album is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[4]

In August 2006, it was named by the UK's Q magazine as the #11 'Guilty Pleasure' album of all time – a list designed to celebrate 'uncool' but excellent records, which received considerable publicity.

Original track listing

All music and lyrics were written by Jeff Lynne. Orchestra and choral arrangements by Jeff Lynne, Richard Tandy and Louis Clark. Orchestra conducted by Louis Clark.

Side One

# Title Length
1. "Turn to Stone"   3:42
2. "It's Over"   4:08
3. "Sweet Talkin' Woman"   3:48
4. "Across the Border"   3:52

Side Two

# Title Length
5. "Night in the City"   4:02
6. "Starlight"   4:30
7. "Jungle"   3:51
8. "Believe Me Now"   1:21
9. "Steppin' Out"   4:38

Side Three (Concerto for a Rainy Day)

# Title Length
10. "Standin' in the Rain"   4:20
11. "Big Wheels"   5:10
12. "Summer and Lightning"   4:13
13. "Mr. Blue Sky"   5:05

Side Four

# Title Length
14. "Sweet Is the Night"   3:26
15. "The Whale"   5:05
16. "Birmingham Blues"   4:21
17. "Wild West Hero"   4:40

2007 bonus tracks

  1. "Wild West Hero" (Alternate Bridge - Home Demo) – 0:24
  2. "The Quick and the Draft" – 1:49
  3. "Latitude 88 North" – 3:24

Personnel

Even though Mik Kaminski appeared only on "Sweet Talkin Woman", "Across the Border" and "Wild West Hero" , Melvyn Gale on "Wild West Hero" and Hugh McDowell on none of the tracks, all three are credited as full band members.

Chart positions, chart runs

References

  1. ^ allmusic ((( A New World Record > Overview )))
  2. ^ Wild, David. "The Story of a Rock and Roll Band and the Pop Genius Who Dared to Go Baroque." Flashback.
  3. ^ 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) - Posters
  4. ^ Outline Page

External links


v • d • e
Electric Light Orchestra
Jeff Lynne · Roy Wood · Bev Bevan · Richard Tandy
Other members in Electric Light Orchestra
Studio albums
The Electric Light Orchestra (No Answer) · ELO 2 (Electric Light Orchestra II)  · On the Third Day · Eldorado · Face the Music · A New World Record · Out of the Blue · Discovery · Xanadu · Time · Secret Messages · Balance of Power · Zoom
Live albums
Compilations
Videos
Discovery (1979) · Live at Wembley (1980) · Fusion - Live In London (1990) · The Very Best of ELO (1991) · Zoom Tour Live (2001) · Total Rock Review (2006)
Related articles

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Album Review. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Artist. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Out of the Blue (Electric Light Orchestra album)".  Read more