Electric Light Orchestra Comprehensive Discography Review Part 2

Tactical error.  I made it through Xanada and Time then took a break.  I'll give you some quick thoughts then explain.

Xanadu.  Uhh.  I didn't listen to the Olivia Newton John side.  I could have skipped the ELO side also, except for the title track.  I'll add it to my personal playlist and delete the rest.

Time  Nothing special.  Very electronic.  The song Yours Truly reminded me of Buggles Living in the Plastic Age which came out the previous year.  Must have been the sound that year.  The Way Life's Meant to Be, Rain Is Falling, and The Lights Go Down are decent.    Hold on Tight was the hit from this album.  I suppose four decent songs off an album that in my head was pretty bad is pretty OK.  So I'll rank this one above Xanadu and keep the four songs.  On a quick re-listen I might delete The Lights Go Down.

So what was this big tactical error.  I took a break from ELO before I put on Secret Messages.  I needed a break after the last two albums and I felt like listening to a podcast.  On went Political Beats with two more episodes.

1) The Beatles Part 1 with Charles CW Cooke

2) The Beatles Part 2 with Charles CW Cooke

I grew up with the Beatles as background.  They had broken up by the time I was listening to music and my parents weren't into that kind of music anyway.  My dad was opera, my mum was silence.  Their music was, however, everywhere.  I know dozens of Beatles songs, there was Breakfast with the Beatles for three hours every weekend, there was Beatlemania when I was in high school.  Because it was background, however, it just drifted further into the background as time went on.  Until two weeks ago.  I listened to almost seven hours of Beatles podcast, interspersed with songs and albums.  Songs when they were mentioned and I wanted to hear the whole song, not the clip, and albums when they finished talking about an album.  I downloaded the whole discography. 

What I discovered was that the Beatles were, and remain, the best band in history.  I had forgotten so much.  Songs I never remember even hearing the names of are now vying for places in my own personal top ten.   My favorite Beatles album is now either With the Beatles, Revolver, Hard Days Night, or Abbey Road.  Then there's Magical Mystery Tour which, although it hardly qualifies as an album, has all sorts of good songs including Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane.  When you know the backstory these two songs become even more incredible.

Favorite Beatles song?  I'd wear out the keyboard on my laptop listing the possibilities.  I wouldn't mind choosing You Never Give Me Your Money through The End, an eight song masterpiece on the back side of Abbey Road.  The first side is almost as good.   Things We Said Today, A Hard Day's Night, I Saw Her Standing There, In My Life, Girl, A Day in the Life, Tomorrow Never Knows, It Won't Be Long.  How do you choose?  My favorite Beatles song is album length and possibly a double.

Fun facts, the weird noises on Tomorrow Never Knows is a recording of Paul laughing, sped up.

Best songs I had no recollection of: And Your Bird Can Sing, I Don't Want to Spoil the Party, Devil in Heart, I'm Only Sleeping.

I have listened to every album at least five times in the past two weeks except The White Album  (which I had on my ipod and had listened to occasionally over the past few years.  Good songs but just didn't do anything for me as an album. Found out from the podcast that this album was recorded much more sloppily and with less discipline than the rest of the Beatles discography), Help, which I listened to once and am going to get back to soon, and Let It Be, which didn't do much for me the one time I listened.  Again, recorded more loosely in the Get Back sessions and released after they had already broken up.

I also haven't listened to the Past Masters which has all their singles plus more (singles in Britain weren't put onto albums generally on the theory that "if you had already bought the 45, why would you want another copy?").  I'm looking forward to spending some time with them although the fact that they weren't put together as an album but are rather a collection of songs might reduce the experience.

So then, of course, having downloaded everything in order to listen, I had to make it right.  Found The Beatles: Complete Studio Recordings, Remastered on ebay and they arrived the other day.  I also found a decent price on a set of the original mono masters.  Stereo music in the early sixties was recorded in mono and then dual tracked (or something, I'm not a recording engineer).  Apparently the original mono is much better.  I guess we'll find out.

So, there you go.  Bonus discography review included for the price.  I think, at this point, I'll hit "post" and finish ELO in Part 3.  I listened to Secret Messages today but still have Zoom and Balance of Power to go.  I'd hate to only give you three albums in a post but I'll leave you with this little tip.  Don't rush out and buy a copy of Secret Messages until you have a chance to come back and check out Part 3.  You may not want it in your collection.