What Are You Listening To?

[CRAZY-HORSE]

ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA "a new world record" cd, 1976

career stats:
studio albums.........13
singles...................50

this album.................#6 UK..#1 AU......#4 NZ...#5 US
singles:
"livin' thing".............#4 UK....#2 AU...#13 NZ...#13 US...#8 CAN
"rockaria!"...............#9 UK..#10 AU....#17 NZ
"do ya".................................................. ........#24 US...#9 CAN
"telephone line"........#8 UK..#10 AU.....#3 NZ.....#7 US...#9 CAN

ELO's sixth studio set....
first to make any real impact on the UK charts, yet Australia and the US latched on to these guys
way before this one.....
Beatle-esque lyrics, melodies and tunes, lots o lush strings and orchestrations and their usual simplistic
three chord rock..
great stuff from one of the great rock bands of any era...
even though I do like the track I picked as worst on this one, it is still cringeworthy with its immature, almost
childlike lyrics, but ELO can do that and make anything sound good!
and a quote rom John Lennon when once asked what he thought The Beatles would sound like if they went on
and made it to the mid to late 1970s, he replied...."we'd sound like ELO, but as it is, they sound like us!"...
high compliments indeed for a band that were always criticised in the UK music press for making 'boring, simplistic,
over the top, bombastic, sugar coated rock"!

I LOVE THIS ALBUM

worst track: telephone line
best track: livin' thing

[video=youtube;MxjcUtSoWlU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxjcUtSoWlU[/video]

tracks:

1...tightrope ***
2...telephone line **
3...rockaria! **
4...mission ( a world record) **
5...so fine ***
6...livin' thing ***
7...above the clouds **
8...do ya ***
9...Shangri-la **

3s=4
2s=5
1s=0

rating: 2.5