Electric Light Orchestra
Jeff Lynne’s ELO: Live in Hyde Park BluRay
Review by Gary Hill
I’m a big fan of ELO. I have to admit that the super-star period of A New World Record and Out of the Blue is probably my favorite period of the band’s history. Sure, I love the proggier early stuff, but for my money, even though more polished and mainstream, ANWR and OotB are both still very much progressive rock. I mention all of that because the set here draws heavily from that period of the band’s history.
This video finds a reassembled ELO performing at a festival in 2014. I have to say that the concert itself is just plain awesome. I love it start to finish. The audio and video are both impeccable, too. I’d have loved a longer show, this is just over an hour, but what is here is well worth having. I suppose if you want to complain about something, you could complain that the only real old school ELO members are Lynne and Richard Tandy, but when the show is this good, I really don’t care.
Honestly, if all you got was that concert, I’d be happy. The thing is, there is also a documentary, “Mr. Blue Sky: The Story of Jeff Lynne and ELO” and a new (2014) interview with Lynne. As good as those two things are (and the documentary is excellent), it’s like icing on the awesome cake, really. I’d highly recommend this.
This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2015 Volume 5 at lulu.com/strangesound.
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