So, let\u2019s see if we can settle this once and for all: who really was the fifth Beatle?<\/p>\n
Was it longtime manager Brian Epstein? Was it latter-day keyboardist Billy Preston? Or was it Electric Light Orchestra frontman\/mastermind Jeff Lynne?<\/p>\n
There will of course be those who object to the latter option, given that Mr. Lynne\u2019s only direct contact with the Beatles came long after their heyday, producing a pair of George Harrison solo albums and assisting with the group\u2019s 1995 Anthology<\/i> project. But let\u2019s face it, nearly every track Lynne has had a hand in since 1970 has felt the influence of the man\u2019s deep and abiding admiration for his countrymen from Liverpool.<\/p>\n
The high concept behind Lynne\u2019s group Electric Light Orchestra\u2014let\u2019s add a string section to a rock band\u2014has at times overshadowed the specificity of the band\u2019s roots in the orchestral pop found on the Beatles\u2019 Sgt. Pepper\u2019s Lonely Hearts Club Band<\/i> and Magical Mystery Tour<\/i> albums. ELO itself was never shy about this; at the start the principals were quoted as saying the group\u2019s goal was to \u201cpick up where \u2018I Am the Walrus\u2019 left off.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like many bands of its vintage and upper-second-tier popularity, ELO\u2019s hits have by now been collected too many times to count. After studying the possibilities, I concluded that Strange Magic<\/i> was the best collection available for the fan who\u2019s looking for a substantial track list, but not their entire catalogue, and doesn\u2019t care about the 2001 disc Lynne put out under the ELO banner (Zoom<\/i>). I was not disappointed. Strange Magic<\/i> neatly divides the band\u2019s output into two discs, the first encompassing their earlier, looser and more appealing work, and the second capturing both their commercial apex and the steady slide that followed.<\/p>\n
The Beatles influence manifests itself from the opening strains of kickoff track \u201c10538 Overture,\u201d where you hear the violin and cellos playing off against rock guitar and rhythm section. The components of group\u2019s musical DNA become even more obvious on track two, where the gang delivers a mashup of Beethoven\u2019s Fifth with the Chuck Berry classic made famous by John, Paul, George and Ringo, \u201cRoll Over Beethoven,\u201d creating a genuinely frothy eight-minute celebration of this immortal tune. <\/p>\n
The best of these early cuts showcase how Lynne and company (principally keyboardist Richard Tandy, bassist Kelly Groucutt and drummer Bev Bevan) use orchestral elements to embellish songs from various different genres, from the funky little blues shuffle represented by \u201cShowdown\u201d to billowing ballads like the true-to-its-title \u201cCan\u2019t Get It Out Of My Head.\u201d The string section adds genuine drama to more assertive numbers like the piano-driven \u201cEvil Woman\u201d and sophistication to softer numbers like the poignant, deeply catchy \u201cStrange Magic.\u201d Only rarely, as on the anthemic \u201cLivin’ Thing,\u201d does the band actually build a song around the string section\u2014but when they do, the results are fairly spectacular.<\/p>\n
Disc one finishes on a high point. First \u201cDo Ya,\u201d a remake of a song from Lynne\u2019s previous group The Move, bludgeons you silly with the heaviest guitar of the entire collection, matched with equally punchy strings. Then \u201cTelephone Line\u201d opens up like it\u2019s going to be a novelty tune\u2014the band\u2019s one consistent weak point was a fondness for gimmicky production\u2014before developing real pathos thanks to one of Lynne\u2019s best lead vocals, complemented beautifully by the string section. Closing out the first half, \u201cRockaria\u201d delivers a dynamite sequel to \u201cRoll Over Beethoven,\u201d a playful celebration of the band\u2019s own mission statement, marrying a classical sensibility to \u201call Chuck Berry\u2019s greatest tunes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The second disc is much spottier territory. The opening cuts, from Out Of The Blue<\/i> (1977) and Discovery<\/i> (1979), feature hits like the punchy, dynamic \u201cTurn To Stone\u201d and the undeniably catchy \u201cDon\u2019t Bring Me Down\u201d that offer a shiny familiarity but suffer from overly slick production. Worse yet is Lynne\u2019s increasing affinity for disco rhythms, the latter coming to the fore on the thoroughly regrettable ELO-does-the-Bee-Gees number \u201cShine A Little Love.\u201d Later still, synth-heavy, processed-cheesy tunes like the truly execrable \u201cConfusion,\u201d \u201cLast Train To London\u201d and \u201cTwilight\u201d show a group that\u2019s lost its way, with the increasingly rare pleasures residing only in throwback retro-rock numbers like \u201cHold On Tight\u201d and \u201cRock And Roll Is King.\u201d Even these fail to feature strings in any meaningful way, though; by this point, Lynne has lost all interest in his own high concept. Disc two ends with a whimper, in the form of a pair formulaic throwaways from 1986\u2019s string-free Balance Of Power<\/i>. <\/p>\n
While the first disc is far superior to the second, overall Strange Magic<\/i> is a satisfying compilation of a group that probably still doesn\u2019t get its due for the inventiveness of its early work and the musicality and cleverness of its best material. The high concept was only the beginning for a band that took the musical legacy of the Beatles\u2019 1966-68 orchestral pop phase as their stepping-off point and enthusiastically explored the possibilities it offered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":32365,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[6624],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-44119","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-electric-light-orchestra","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/44119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/44119\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44119"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=44119"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=44119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}