When Electric Light Orchestra first formed in 1970 they stated the mission of the band was to “pick up where The Beatles left off with ‘I Am The Walrus’”. That’s an incredibly ambitious statement for more reasons than one, but it’s safe to say ELO pretty much nailed what they said they were gonna do.
By the time 1977’s Out of the Blue was released Electric Light Orchestra was well established in the mainstream consciousness. Despite losing founding members Roy Wood and Rick Price in 1972, they still managed to release a prolific amount of music– the band literally averaged one full-length album release per year for their first seven years. It’d be one thing if this was a punk band writing four chord bangers, but the fact that ELO did all this while writing songs with very dense arrangements is impressive as hell.
On Out of the Blue you have huge Beatles-esque pop melodies, gorgeous vocal harmonies, incredible orchestration, and an experimental flair with some R&B elements. The story goes that lead singer and songwriter Jeff Lynne wrote the entire album in three and a half weeks during a vacation he was taking in the Swiss Alps. I don’t know how that’s even possible, but Lynne is a certified legend so I’ll just choose to believe it.
This is an album that sounds like a concept album despite not being one. It’s effectively a soundtrack to some long-forgotten musical that lived in Jeff Lynne’s head for three weeks in the mid-70’s. Thankfulky he had the presence of mind to get it down before it floated away. We’re all better off for it.
Standout Songs: “Mr. Blue Sky”, “Night in the City”, “Starlight”, “The Whale”
