I love most all ELO, but no, not for the sound quality. Time is especially squashed in the mix.Originally Posted by Mr.Krautman
I love most all ELO, but no, not for the sound quality. Time is especially squashed in the mix.
While Out Of The Blue is my favorite from ELO, Side 2 of ELO II and Side 1 of On The Third Day are two of their very best album sides imo..
I love “Time,” too, and the original vinyl sounds GREAT.
I agree about On the Third Day, but I've never really liked "From the Sun to the World" or "Kuama"... especially "Kuiama," which just find really dull.
Bill
I really wish ELO were playing Montreal.
What can this strange device be? When I touch it, it brings forth a sound (2112)
I like parts of both of those, but I think they showed that ELO wasn't the type of band that should do ten-minute songs.
I think you've put your finger on the problem. This is my take on it too, and why I never want to re-visit ELO II. As Sputnik said, I find such attempts at lengthy songs rather boring in their results. I will say that I've always enjoyed their rendition of Roll Over Beethoven, though.
Time is pretty damn killer.
Time was a bit of a return to form IMHO, after a few albums (Discovery, their half of Xanadu) which I find fairly by-the-numbers. It does have a somewhat different sound- to its benefit.
I love Time, but I've heard it on CD, the CD reissue, vinyl on two or three different TTs/cartridges. It's not an audiophile recording by any stretch, but then again, much of my favorite music wouldn't pass audiophile muster. Jeff was not a minimalist as a producer, that's for sure.
^I think ELO, like 70s Queen, are far removed from audiophile. Possibly for the same reasons- a fair amount of overdubbing or editing etc. But I don't really care- those records make a big impact.
I'd agree with this. Thin Lizzy is some of my all-time favorite music and much of it sounds like it was recorded in a janitors closet. I gave up on audiophilia long ago, opting instead to listen to music, not gear.
The ELO tribute band that played in Ottawa last summer was good enough for me.I really wish ELO were playing Montreal.
I didn't know that. Where did they play? What tunes/era?
What can this strange device be? When I touch it, it brings forth a sound (2112)
It was part of the "Nostalgia Festival" at LeBreton. They pretty much stuck to the hits, since I only really know the hits and knew almost all the songs they played. Nothing post-1980, from what I remember. Good light and video show too.
I'd agree too. I loved Genesis' Nursery Cryme and Foxtrot. But when SEBTP came out, I was (and I know this is a minority opinion but here goes) I was somewhat disappointed in it. The production was more pristine but a lot of the old mystery seemed missing for me.
What we feel we have to solve is why the dregs have not dissolved.
No need to be an Audiophile to hear that E.L.O's records are nothing but an indistinct sonic mess.
Why using real (acoustic) instruments if they are unrecognizable, burried into an overproduced "mass of sound" ? No details, no dynamics, nothing... BIG and HEAVY monolithic unrefined sound.
I know it's a deliberate (producer's ?) choice but it still sound bad to my ears.
Of course Music is the most important, but it's even better with a good sound production and engineering. E.L.O were not a heavy metal or garage rock band.
Here's my take on it.
The original conception behind ELO was inspired by the string sound of "I Am the Walrus" and, in general, George Martin's 4-track work with the Beatles of that era, countering the stereotypical "pretty" sound of string arrangements up to that time. And for the first 3 ELO albums, that worked fairly well. The rough, somewhat muddy sound was true to the style and spirit of those recordings. But later on when actual orchestras started being added, that compromised the impact of two cellos and a violin by themselves, hence diluting the effect and resulting in oversaturation without the redeeming rough-edged quality. As you may have gathered, I prefer those first three albums to anything they've done since (though I do love 'Can't Get It Out of My Head').
What we feel we have to solve is why the dregs have not dissolved.
I just learned that Jeff re-recorded a bunch of his hits in 2012 and released them on Mr Blue Sky: The Very Best Of Electric Light Orchestra. It seemed he wasn't thrilled by the sonics of his 70s albums upon revisiting them and decided to give them another go. He even said he likes the newer "Mr Blue Sky" better than the original. I wouldn't go that far; even though the 70s albums have a very midrange/upper midrange forward presentation, there is a cool vibe with those records.
Lynne might not have been thrilled with the sound quality of the older material, but he also could have been financially motivated as he gets all royalties off of that 2012 release.
I would have liked to seen that!
What can this strange device be? When I touch it, it brings forth a sound (2112)
From the documentary about Jeff, he doesn't seem motivated by money.....ever?.....he is all about the music. Does he turn down concert touring money and royalty checks? Probably not, nor should he. The guy deserves his wealth - he's a workaholic and a perfectionist. I can see his point too, and although I will check it out in full, I still generally prefer older analog recordings anyway over modern "production" values.
I think the ELO reissues from about 20 years sounded better to my ears.
Oh I bet that album sounds far, far worse than the originals. I'm not personally keen on the very dry production aesthetic of his latter-day output. And that's before you get into the mastering.
Last edited by JJ88; 04-09-2024 at 12:27 PM.
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