Aug 30 AOTD: Electric Light Orchestra - A New World Record

Electric Light Orchestra - A New World Record

1976




Link to Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77R1Wp6Y_5Y&list=PLm9smEh4bd5iZqH6lqfxKpq2JCwTVWQn4&index=2

ELO was unabashedly inspired by the Beatles, but this is the album where. though the influences still remain, the band really started to flesh out the vision of Jeff Lynne's sound.  No longer reaching for the esoteric concepts like Eldorado or even some of the songs on the previous album, Face the Music, A New World Record reached for the radio and hit the target.  Seven of these songs have become recognizable hits - four of them the year it was released - all top ten.  Three more grew in strength over the years via assistance from various "essential" and "greatest hits" packages. Rounding out the nine, the other two also deserve repeated listening.

Though the album features all kinds of experimentation from bongos to synthesizers, it's - ironically, given their name - the actual use of a full orchestra embedded in some of the most straight ahead rock rhythms and guitars that make this the best ELO album in the catalogue.

Tha album starts with eerie synths, almost like a fog creeping in at the start of a horror movie, and then the strings, seemingly taking us back to a regal, dark forest.  The strings then give way to Jeff's guitar and a distinct rock and roll pace kicks in with Bev Bevans drums.

Another awesome feature on the album is the use of background singers, who's choruses of "hey hey," "doo wop," "wooo," "do ya," etc. are almost as much fun to sing along with as the verses.

Highlights include the plaintive "Telephone Line" and the blasting "Rockaria," a tribute to opera and classical music with deftly mixed strings, swooping guitar, and Jeff Lynne giving another "Roll Over Beethoven"-lyrical and vocal nod to Chuck Berry.

In my youth, hearing these songs on the radio made me fall in love with ELO. More than other songs though, these are the kind, due to their warmth with lush strings and their adherence to melodic hooks, that still feel like the best, most loyal childhood friends who have grown up beside me.