OUT OF THE BLUE

I listened to this album for the first time in December 1977. It is not a Progressive Rock album. It is a Pop Rock album with "Progressive" arrangements. It is much better than "A New World Record", IMO. The arrangements are very good, and they show the eclecticism of ELO with orchestral and choral arrangements done by Jeff Lynne, Richard Tandy and conductor Louis Clark. Again, the songs are not very complicated, but the arrangements are great. Also there are some Bee Gees`Disco Music influences in the Falsetto vocals. But the songs in this album are better than in "A New World Record".

Some of the best songs and arrangements are:

-"It`s Over": with a great piano arrangement by Richard Tandy. -"Sweet Talking Woman": with very good Classical Music orchestral arangements. - "Across the Border": with "Mariachi Band" trumpets, similar to the arrangements done by Herb Alpert with The Tijuana Brass in the 60s. -"Jungle":one of the most different songs and arrangements in ELO`s repertoire, with a lot of percussion instruments, sound effects, and a "Tarzan shout" included with humour. -"Believe Now" and "Steppin`Out": great orchestral and choral arrangements. Two of my favourite songs in this album. - "Concert for a Rainy Day":again, great orchestral and choral arrangements. The lyrics for this "Concert..." start with a "bad weather" and end with "the sun shinning again in the blue sky". -"Sweet is the Night": with some parts of the song sung by Kelly Groucutt.

The predominant theme in the lyrics is broken communication between a couple, loneliness due to a broken relationship. Both recurrent themes in some of ELO`s albums.

All the vocals (with the exception of the choir) in this album are credited to Jeff Lynne, Kelly Groucutt and Bev Bevan, and the vocal harmonies are great, even with the Falsettos a la Bee Gees. There is a special credit for Richard Tandy in one of the inner slevees of the old 2 L.P. set:"Unique keyboard sounds and effects from the magic finges of Richard Tandy". He particularly shines playing in this album a great Classical Music piano arrangement in "It`s Over".

In my opinion, this album represents the peak of ELO as a Pop Rock band. This album was done with a lot of work, it seems, as each song seems very carefully arranged. A very polished album. I give it 3.5 stars because it is not a Progressive Rock album in the strict sense, but is has very enjoyable songs and arrangements.