Rock 'n' Roll meets Classic

In the late 1960s came Roy Wood, the guitarist, singer and songwriter of the British group "The Move", the idea of ​​rock music with cellos, violins, horns to give the sound of classical music. He wanted to tread another path that the Beatles had demonstrated with songs like "Strawberry Fields" and "I Am The Walrus". With his idea, he was able to inspire Jeff Lynne, frontman of fellow Birmingham band "The Idle Race". 1970 Jeff Lynn moved then towards "The Move" and contributed for a B-side of the group "10538 Overture", the "Electric Light Orchestra" released but two years later the newly founded as the first single (with drummer Bev Bevan) should be ......

.... And thus the beginning of a record on loose track record has been that in the years 1972-1986 more concurrent UK- & US Top 40 hits should bring the group than any other band before. Of this could even twenty reach the Billboard Top 20 in the UK Top 20 and fifteen. Besides holding "ELO" the record for most Billboard Top 40 quotes in the history of the Billboard charts, without ever having landed a number 1.

Established in 2005 released album "All Over The World: The Very Best of ELO" is not a chronological anthology and lets the listener beyond the question unanswered whether this is the "best" are actually 20 songs the group. So the recordings only start with two contributions from the third studio album, at a time when Roy Wood had turned to "Wizzard" a new project and Jeff Lynne had become the sole makers.

On the Third Day (December, 1973)
"Showdown" (Track14), in which Jeff Lynne Marc Bolan's Gibson Firebird plays became a favorite song of John Lennon which is why in a radio interview called Jeff as a "son of the Beatles". In the rocking "Ma-Ma-Ma Belle" (15) of the boss of T. Rex then delivers personally his typical guitar riffs.

Face the Music (Oct 1975)
With the line "There's a hole in my head where the rain comes in," a tribute to the Beatles song "Fixing a Hole" was "Evil Woman" (2) was the first international hit for ELO. "Strange Magic" (18) found in 1999 in the soundtrack of the film "The Virgin Suicides" again.

A New World Record (Oct 1976)
Rockaria! (17) is the perfect fusion of the elements of blues and glam rock, opera and pop music. The musical synthesis tells of a "sweet little lady", while the opera singing, as one has never heard it, but is not ready to sing rock & roll. At the end she succeeds this yet. In "Livin 'Thing" (10) Patti Quatro, the sister of "Leather Suzi" sang the higher Sangesstimmen. Also "Telephone Line" (11) was found with "Billy Madison" in 1995 in a film again, as the protagonist apologized to a classmate on the phone.

Out of the Blue (november 1977)
"Mr. Blue Sky" (1) is the fourth and final part of the suite "Concerto for a Rainy Day" and shows alongside choral singing in his coda ("Please turn me over") Lynns fondness for hidden messages. The beginning of "Sweet Talkin 'Woman" (4) is a throwback to the Miss Marple theme. The piece was originally "Dead End Street" hot but was renamed during recording in order to avoid confusion with the 1966 title of the Kinks. "Turn To Stone" (6) was found in the soundtrack of the cult film "Detroit Rock City" (1999) again. "Wild West Hero" (13) is a supported title with a piano intro, a cappella, violin and guitar blues passages.

Discovery (June 1979)
"Do not Bring Me Down" (3) has been dedicated to the NASA Skylab space station re-entered the Earth's atmosphere on 11 July 19979. "Shine A Little Love" (5) was the first single and became a commercial success of the group. "Confusion" (8) with his acoustic guitar and reverb effects was "released Last Train To London." In the UK as a double A-side with The Diary Of Horace Wimp "(7) is a unique Beatlesque.

Xanadu (August 1980)
"All Over The World" (12) and originally sung by Olivia Newton John Title song "Xanadu" (16), which was re-recorded by ELO here are from the 1980 musical film, which is listed as a musical on Broadway since 2007.

Time (august 1981)
The text of "Hold On Tight" (9) comes ("Never Give Your goal") even trilingual with English, French and German text and therefore provided with a tribute to the movie serials of 1930-40er years the then most expensive music video.

Secret Messages (June 1983)
"Rock and Roll Is King" (20) is another example of how to accompany R'n'R with strings and was elected by the wrestlers Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson for her performance as entrance theme.

Zoom (June 2001)
With "Alright" (19) comes full circle when Lynne moved from the back to the Classical Blues

Even without Chuck Berry's initial spark "Roll Over Beethoven", which took over in January 1973 ELO, the album is a classic of classic rock and should be in every collection. For this Hammer songs there is the highest rating: 5 stars Amazon!