Electric Light Orchestra

This British-only two-CD set is a wonder, and a most unexpected gift from EMI -- a total-immersion experience into the original Roy Wood-era Electric Light Orchestra and, to judge from its packaging, possibly just the beginning of a series of releases devoted to the ELO and Wood. The group's debut album (titled Electric Light Orchestra in England and, through a misunderstanding over the telephone, called No Answer in America) has been remastered in radiant 24-bit digital audio that puts the band and the string quartet right in the listener's lap in terms of closeness of the sound and detail in the playback; you can hear the action on the strings of the cello, violin, etc., as they're bowed, and Jeff Lynne and Wood sound as though they're singing directly to you, not to mention similar intimacies in the playing of guitars, pianos, Mellotrons, etc. That album is rounded out by the session tracks for "10538 Overture" and "The Battle of Marston Moor" and a CD-ROM function that presents the original promotional film for "10538 Overture" and a selection of images of memorabilia. The design of the CD-ROM menu and function is clever, though also a little awkward in its attempts to be "cute" to use easily; the makers seem to have bitten off slightly more than they can chew on this particular part of the project. And then there's the second CD, which includes the live BBC and acetate versions of "10538 Overture"; a quartet of virtually unreleased quadrophonic mixes (which made it out on vinyl only in Brazil) of "Look at Me Now," "Nellie Takes Her Bow," "Queen of the Hours," and "The Battle of Marston Moor" from the first album; and a trio of live numbers, "Jeff's Boogie No. 2," "Whisper in the Night," and "Great Balls of Fire," recorded and filmed by Grenada TV as part of a broadcast on the group. Since these are the only professionally recorded concert sides by the original version of the band, they're essential listening for completists, though the sonic flaws also point up some of the frustrations inherent in live performance in those days that evidently helped push Wood out of the fold. In that regard, the bonus disc closes with an ultra-rare version of "10538 Overture" from the BBC, dating from Lynne's takeover of the group and remixed with voice substituting for the original track by Wood. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide