ELO ‘The Very Best Of’

ELO ‘The Very Best Of’ Legacy (2005) www.legacyrecordings.com

Let’s face it ELO have never been trendy and were always slated inmost reviews you read. But hey someone must like them as they have had countless top 20 hit singles and multi-platinum albums. Also this latest ‘Best Of’ debuted in the UK charts at number 5 on its release. Me? I love the band and have done for over twenty-seven odd years now when I first heard ‘Wild West Hero’. So what if the music is OTT and pompous – bring it on and Jeff Lynne composed tunes that were destined to stay in your head for weeks after first hearing them.

Twenty tracks on here including ‘Mr Blue Sky’ (just how good is this tune?), ‘Hold On Tight’, ‘Ma Ma Ma Belle’ and ‘Shine A Little Love’ to pick just a few personal favourites out. For ELO fans there is a hook in that there is a re-recorded version of ‘Xanadu’, this time minus Olivia Newton John’s vocals. It makes for a less OTT version as the high harmonies have gone as well and not too sure if I like it but it’s a minor quibble. A few notable absentees in shape of the band’s last hit ‘Calling America’ and ‘Ticket To The Moon’ but hey you can’t knock the quality that is on here.

If you’ve got no ELO at all in your collection (and shame on you if you haven’t) this is a perfect compilation to buy.