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Track listing

[edit]

All lyrics are written by Sunny.

Side One
No.TitleMusicLength
1."Melancholy Morning"
  • TOEM
3:48
2."Blue and Black"
  • TOEM
4:07
3."See the Raindrops"
  • TOEM
  • The Ivory Heart
4:26
4."Stasis"
  • The Ivory Heart
3:39
5."All or Nothing"
  • TOEM
4:22
6."Journey of the Snow"
  • The Ivory Heart
3:11
Side Two
No.TitleMusicLength
7."Bittersweet Street"
  • TOEM
3:16
8."Disconnect"
  • The Ivory Heart
3:28
9."Together-Apart"
  • The Ivory Heart
3:52
10."Stereo"
  • The Ivory Heart
4:46
11."Lukewarm"
  • TOEM
3:31
12."Skating Around"
  • TOEM
5:14
13."A Letter to the Light"
  • TOEM
  • The Ivory Heart
6:48
Total length:54:28


Track listing =

[edit]
Side One
No.TitleWriter(s)Decade InfluenceLength
1."Funhouse Mirrors"The Ivory Heart
  • 70s
2:34
2."Petrichor"
  • The Ivory Heart
  • Sunny
  • 2000s
3:35
3."Sticker"
  • The Ivory Heart
  • TOEM
  • 90s
6:43
4."Masquerade"The Ivory Heart
  • 60s
2:30
5."Circus"The Ivory Heart
  • 2010s
  • 1920s
3:20
6."FM"The Ivory Heart
  • 80s
2:21
Side Two
No.TitleWriter(s)Decade InfluenceLength
7."Forget Everything"
  • The Ivory Heart
  • Julian Aviles
  • 60s
  • 70s
5:32
8."Memory"The Ivory Heart
  • 2010s
7:00
9."Raven"The Ivory Heart
  • 50s
5:00
10."TYGN"The Ivory Heart
  • 2010s
0:42
Total length:39:17









Out of the Blue
Studio album by
Electric Light Orchestra
Released3 October 1977
RecordedMay–August 1977
StudioMusicland Studios, Munich
Genre
Length70:16
Label
ProducerJeff Lynne
Electric Light Orchestra chronology
The Light Shines On
(1977) 		Out of the Blue
(1977) 		Three Light Years
(1978)
Electric Light Orchestra studio album chronology
A New World Record
(1976) 		Out of the Blue
(1977) 		Discovery
(1979)
Singles from Out of the Blue
  1. "Turn to Stone"
    Released: October 1977
  2. "Mr. Blue Sky"
    Released: January 1978
  3. "Sweet Talkin' Woman"
    Released: February 1978
  4. "Wild West Hero"
    Released: May 1978
  5. "It's Over"
    Released: October 1978

Out of the Blue is the seventh studio album by the British rock group Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), released in October 1977. Written and produced by ELO's frontman Jeff Lynne, the double album is among the most commercially successful records in the group's history, selling about 10 million copies worldwide by 2007, spawned four hit singles, and sparked a massive world tour.[1]

Background & Writing

[edit]

By 1977, the Electric Light Orchestra was at the peak of their popularity; the band was selling out arenas, and their previous album went platinum. In reaction to the band's success and the success of the live album Frampton Comes Alive!, United Artist Recordings asked bandleader Jeff Lynne to make a double live album. While Lynne declined to make a live album, he was willing to write songs for a double album. Lynne was given four weeks to write the album, which he spent in a rented chalet in the Swiss Alps accompanied by a guitar and an electric piano. According to Lynne, the first two weeks yielded nothing, citing the poor weather as the reason. However, one day, Lynne awoke to gorgeous weather across the alps. The sight gave Lynne a sudden burst of creativity and he finished writing the music for most of the album over the last few weeks.[2] Discussing the whole experience, he says,

For two weeks, I came up with nothing, and I only had four weeks to write this double album! I was sort of thinking, bloody hell, maybe I can’t come up with anything. The weather had been really bad and then one day I got up and it was fantastic, the sun was brilliant and shining, all the mountains were lit up and this mist had gone away. It was gorgeous, and I came up with ‘Mr. Blue Sky.’ I just kept coming up with songs…about 14 in two weeks.

— Jeff Lynne

Many of the songs on the album were also written about the surroundings. "Starlight" was written based on the nighttime canopy over the alps, and the songs "Standin' in the Rain", "Big Wheels", and "Summer and Lightning" were inspired by rain breaking up a friendly game of football that the band were playing outside of the recording studio.[3]

Recording

[edit]

After Jeff Lynne returned from the Swiss Alps, he and the band took a few months to record it in Munich. The engineer at Munich was the band's frequent collaborator Reinhold Mack. While the sessions went smoothly most of the time, recording the choirs and orchestra for the album started chaotically. Mack suggested recording the choir at a giant soundstage in Munich's Bavaria Film studio, but he "could not get the right sound to save [his] life".[4] He later suggested recording the strings with the choir at Musicland Studios, which was where the rest of the album was recorded.

Jeff Lynne was joined by the other members of ELO to record the album, although the resident string trio of the band, Mik Kaminski, Hugh McDowell, and Melvyn Gale, were used more sparingly than normal. While they were still a part of the band for the tour, they were dismissed afterwards and used only to record music videos for the following album, and in the case of Mik Kaminski, later tours. Louis Clark had returned to arrange and conduct the strings and choirs for the album, along with Lynne and keyboardist Richard Tandy.

The album was also one of the first pop albums to have an extensive use of the vocoder, and helped to popularize it.[5] According to Lynne, he and the band received a prototype of the Vocoder 2000 synthesizer, and they spent a day learning how to use it due to the lack of a manual.[2]

Concerto for a Rainy Day

[edit]

Side three of the release is subtitled Concerto for a Rainy Day, a four-track musical suite based on the weather and how it affects mood change, ending with the eventual sunshine and happiness of "Mr. Blue Sky". This was inspired by Lynne's experience while trying to write songs for the album against a torrential downpour of rain outside his Swiss chalet. "Standin' in the Rain" opens the suite with a haunting keyboard over a recording of real rain, recorded by Jeff Lynne just outside his rented studio. Also heard at the 0:33 mark of the song, which marks the beginning of The Concerto, is thunder crackling in an unusual manner voicing the words "Concerto for a Rainy Day" by the band's keyboardist, Richard Tandy. At around the 1:07 mark, the staccato strings play a morse code spelling out "ELO". The band used the song to open their 1978 World Tour Out of the Blue concerts.

"Big Wheels" forms the second part of the suite and continues with the theme of the weather and reflection. Apart from its inclusion on the Out of the Blue album, the song has never appeared on any of the band's compilations or as a B-side until 2000, when Lynne included it on the group's retrospective Flashback album. "Summer and Lightning" is the third song in the suite. The raining weather theme is continued throughout the track though the mood and lyrics are more optimistic. "Mr. Blue Sky", an uplifting, lively song celebrating sunshine, is the finale of "Concerto for a Rainy Day" suite. Again, the vocoder is used at the end of the track where, at the 4:54 mark, one can hear "Please turn me over" as it fades out. It is the only piece from the Concerto to be excerpted as a single.

Cover art

[edit]

The large spaceship on the album's cover (by now symbolic of the group) was designed by Kosh with art by Shusei Nagaoka. It was based on the logo Kosh designed for ELO's previous album, A New World Record,[6] and looks like the space station with a docking shuttle from 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).[7] The number JTLA 823 L2 which is featured on the shuttle arriving at the space station is the original catalogue number for the album. The album also included an insert of a cardboard cutout of the space station as well as a fold-out poster of the band members. The space theme was carried onto the live stage in the form of a huge glowing flying saucer stage set, inside which the band performed.

Release

[edit]

The album had 4 million pre-ordered copies and quickly went multi-platinum upon release. Out of the Blue spawned five hit singles in different countries, and was ELO's most commercially successful studio album. It was also the first double album in the history of the UK music charts to generate four top twenty hit singles. Lynne considers A New World Record and Out of the Blue to be the group's crowning achievements,[8][9] and both sold extremely well, reaching multi-platinum according to RIAA Certification. Capital Radio and The Daily Mirror Rock and Pop Awards (forerunner to The Brit Awards) named it "Album of the Year" in 1978. Lynne received his first Ivor Novello award for Outstanding Contributions to British Music the same year.

The US release of Out of the Blue was originally distributed by United Artists. This changed after United Artists Records was sold by Transamerica Corporation to an EMI Records-backed partnership, which triggered Jet Records' change of control clause in its distribution contract, and Jet shifted to CBS Records as its new distributor.[10][11] American cut-out copies of Out of the Blue soon became widely available at discounted prices in record shops in the US and Canada shortly after the album's release, affecting the album's sales and triggering lawsuits by CBS and Jet. The suits were ultimately unsuccessful in stopping the discounted sales.[12]

Reissues

[edit]

The 30th Anniversary Edition was released in February 2007 with three bonus tracks, as part of the Sony/BMG Music Epic/Legacy series. The 30th anniversary issue was a limited pressing in hardback book with expanded 24-page full color booklet. It includes full-length sleeve notes by Lynne and ELO archivist Rob Caiger, as well as rare photos and memorabilia. A push-out replica ELO Space Station is included as well as the standard jewel case edition with a full color 12-page edited booklet. The album once again reached the top twenty album charts in the UK peaking at number 18. A sixth single "Latitude 88 North" was released as digital download single and as a promo 7" single.

In 2012, Music on Vinyl re-released Out of the Blue on vinyl on Epic; the first 1,000 copies were made on transparent blue vinyl and the rest were released in the standard black vinyl.

In 2017, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the album, a double picture vinyl disc was released by Sony Music and Epic Records.

Promotion

[edit]
The Electric Light Orchestra playing live during the tour in 1978.

To promote the album, the band undertook a massive world tour that spanned from January 1978 to October 1978, known as "The Big Night" in the North American promotional material.[13] The tour's main draw was that in North America (and at the Wembley Arena in the United Kingdom), the band would emerge and play out of a huge spaceship that resembled the one seen on the album's cover. The spaceship would be playing rocket noises mixed in with lasers, fog machines, and a clip of Benjamin Britten's "Sinfonia da Requiem, Op. 20" performed by the London Symphony Orchestra while the band came up on risers onto the stage. Sometimes, the spectacle of the ship would be so great that Jeff Lynne himself would join the audience to watch it close.[14] The tour is also notable for being one of the earliest examples of lasers used at a rock show, with nearly 525,000 watts of light being used to generate it.[13] The tour started in the Pacific with Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, followed by Europe, then the United Kingdom, and finally North America.[13]

The spaceship, while a spectacle for the audience to watch, was incredibly difficult to work with. The ship cost tons of money to create and transport, many technicians had to dismantle and rebuild it, and thirteen 18-wheelers had to carry all of its parts in time for the next show.[13] Because of these problems, the band would host "A-shows" and "B-shows", where the A-shows would feature the ship, and the B-shows would not. Not only that, but the ship would often experience issues with the hydraulic presses not functioning, resulting in the backing tapes used to play without the band being visible. One of the most major problems was that the spaceship being so large resulted in the band being unable to hear each other. It also created an echo effect that made the sounds made on their instruments out of time, and the heat of the spaceship combined with the heat of the lasers caused their instruments to go out of tune.

Due to the problems with tuning, and the fact that recreating Out of the Blue and its complex arrangements would prove to be impossible to do on-stage with the band, they employed many backing tapes to help the band perform the songs in full, including many orchestral intros to some of the songs played.[13] The tapes were mostly used to help the band keep in sync with each other under the circumstances, but a promoter sued the band in 1979, accusing them of not actually playing live.[3] This, combined with the TV concert film broadcast at Wembley Arena's audio being poorly mixed, made it appear as if the band was lip syncing. The lawsuit and accusations of lip-syncing heavily harmed the band's image.

Reception and legacy

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[19]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[22]
MusicHound3/5[21]
Pitchfork8.1/10[20]
Rolling Stone(unfavourable)[18]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[17]
The Guardian[16]
Popmatters(favourable)[15]
BBC(favourable)[23]

In a contemporary review for Rolling Stone, Billy Altman said that the album was "meticulously produced and performed" and showed the influence of the Beatles, the Beach Boys and the Bee Gees. However, he detected a lack of passion in the work, which he dismissed as a "totally uninteresting and horrifyingly sterile package" and "All method and no madness: perfectly hollow and bland rock Muzak."

Over the years a more favorable view has developed. Rob Mitchum of Pitchfork wrote in 2007: "Calling in the string section and commissioning the spaceship cover-art may be a big gamble, but Out of the Blue is proof of how good it can sound when the grand approach works."

In 2000 it was voted number 346 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[24]

Axl Rose – by his own admission "an old ELO fanatic" – said: "Out of the Blue is an awesome record."[25]

In October 2013, the album was ranked 23rd on VH1's list "Double Trouble: The 35 Best-Selling Double Albums of All Time".[26]

Track listing

[edit]

All songs written by Jeff Lynne.[27]

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Turn to Stone"3:47
2."It's Over"4:08
3."Sweet Talkin' Woman"3:47
4."Across the Border"3:52
Total length:15:34
Side two
No.TitleLength
5."Night in the City"4:02
6."Starlight"4:30
7."Jungle"3:51
8."Believe Me Now" (instrumental)1:21
9."Steppin' Out"4:38
Total length:18:22
Side three (Concerto for a Rainy Day)
No.TitleLength
1."Standin' in the Rain"4:20
2."Big Wheels"5:10
3."Summer and Lightning"4:13
4."Mr. Blue Sky"5:05
Total length:18:48
Side four
No.TitleLength
5."Sweet Is the Night"3:26
6."The Whale" (instrumental)5:05
7."Birmingham Blues"4:21
8."Wild West Hero"4:40
Total length:17:32
2007 reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
1."Wild West Hero" (alternate bridge: Home demo)0:26
2."The Quick and the Daft" (Previously unreleased)1:49
3."Latitude 88 North" (Previously unreleased; also released as a single)3:24

Personnel

[edit]

Credits according to the record liner notes, unless noted.[28]

ELO
Additional Personnel
Production
  • Jeff Lynne – production
  • Mack – engineer
  • Original LP Mastering – Stan Ricker (USA) and Kevin Metcalfe (UK)

Charts

[edit]

Certifications

[edit]
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[48] Platinum 100,000^
Germany (BVMI)[49] Gold 250,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[50] Gold 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[51] Platinum 300,000^
United States (RIAA)[52] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Out of the Blue (booklet). Electric Light Orchestra. Epic, Legacy. 2007.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  2. ^ a b Leviton, Mark. "Electric Light Orchestra's 'Out of the Blue': The Masterpiece from Munich".
  3. ^ a b Deriso, Nick (19 October 2017). "Why ELO's 'Out of the Blue' Marked a Turning Point".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ Buskin, Richard (September 2013). "Classic Tracks: Electric Light Orchestra 'Don't Bring Me Down'". www.soundonsound.com. Retrieved 26 May 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ Jenkins, Mark (2007). Analog Synthesizers: Understanding, Performing, Buying- from the legacy of Moog to software synthesis (1st ed.). Focal Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-240520-72-8.
  6. ^ Ex-Voto Films. "KOSH – Electric Light Orchestra on Vimeo". Vimeo.com. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  7. ^ "2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)". IMDb.com. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  8. ^ allmusic ((( A New World Record > Overview )))
  9. ^ Wild, David. "The Story of a Rock and Roll Band and the Pop Genius Who Dared to Go Baroque". Flashback.
  10. ^ "ELO 'Out Of Blue' Hassle Heating Up". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. 10 February 1979. Retrieved 16 September 2018 – via Google Books.
  11. ^ "Jet In Global Pact". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. 1 July 1978. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  12. ^ "Cutout Material Is Plentiful at NARM". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. 7 April 1979. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  13. ^ a b c d e Porter, Robert. "Jeff Lynne Song Database - Electric Light Orchestra - Out Of The Blue / The Big Night Tour". www.jefflynnesongs.com. Retrieved 17 June 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ^ Benjamin Whalley (director) (2012). How the Brits Rocked America (Television production). British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  15. ^ McIntosh, Dan (15 February 2007). "Electric Light Orchestra: Out of the Blue". popmatters.com. PopMatters.
  16. ^ Gittens, Ian (22 February 2007). "Electric Light Orchestra: Out of the Blue". theguardian.com. The Guardian.
  17. ^ Brackett, Nathan; with Hoard, Christian (eds) (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th edn). New York, NY: Fireside/Simon & Schuster. p. 274. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. {{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)
  18. ^ Altman, Billy (12 January 1978). "Album Reviews: Electric Light Orchestra, Out of the Blue". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 29 March 2007. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
  19. ^ Eder, Bruce. "Out of the Blue – Electric Light Orchestra : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
  20. ^ Mitchum, Rob (1 March 2007). "Electric Light Orchestra: Out of the Blue | Album Reviews". Pitchfork. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
  21. ^ Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds) (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. p. 383. ISBN 1-57859-061-2. {{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)
  22. ^ Larkin, Colin (ed.) (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th edn). London: Omnibus Press. p. 915. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  23. ^ Jones, Chris (2007). "ELO: Out of the Blue Review". bbc.co.uk. BBC.
  24. ^ Colin Larkin (2000). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 137. ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.
  25. ^ Wall, Mick (January 2002). "Eve of destruction". Classic Rock #36. p. 95.
  26. ^ Runtagh, Jordan (3 October 2013). "Double Trouble: The 35 Best-Selling Double Albums of All Time". vh1.com. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  27. ^ "Out of the Blue - Electric Light Orchestra | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". Retrieved 9 May 2020 – via www.allmusic.com.
  28. ^ Out of the Blue (booklet). Electric Light Orchestra. Epic, Legacy. 2007.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  29. ^ a b c Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  30. ^ Library and Archives Canada. Archived 24 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 24 February 2012
  31. ^ "dutchcharts.nl Electric Light Orchestra – Out of the Blue" (ASP). dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  32. ^ "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste > Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste : Electric Light Orchestra". infodisc.fr. Archived from the original on 15 February 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  33. ^ a b "Hit Parade Italia – Gli album più venduti del 1978" (in Italian). hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  34. ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  35. ^ "charts.nz Electric Light Orchestra – Out of the Blue" (ASP). Hung Medien. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  36. ^ "norwegiancharts.com Electric Light Orchestra – Out of the Blue" (ASP). Hung Medien. VG-lista. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  37. ^ "swedishcharts.com Electric Light Orchestra – Out of the Blue" (ASP). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  38. ^ "The Official Charts Company – Electric Light Orchestra – Out of the Blue" (PHP). Official Charts Company. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  39. ^ "allmusic (((Out of the Blue > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums)))". allmusic.com. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  40. ^ "CashBox Top 100 Albums" (PDF). CashBox. Vol. XXXIX #33. United States. 31 December 1977. p. 153. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  41. ^ "Electric Light Orchestra – Out of the Blue" (ASP) (in German). Media Control. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
  42. ^ "Electric Light Orchestra". Offfical Charts Company. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  43. ^ "Dutch charts jaaroverzichten 1977" (ASP) (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  44. ^ a b c "Complete UK Year-End Album Charts". Archived from the original on 19 May 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  45. ^ "RPM Top 100 Albums of 1978". RPM. Archived from the original on 19 June 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  46. ^ "Dutch charts jaaroverzichten 1978". Dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  47. ^ "Top Pop Albums of 1978". Billboard. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  48. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Electric Light Orchestra – Out of the Blue". Music Canada.
  49. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Electric Light Orchestra; 'Out of the Blue')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  50. ^ "Dutch album certifications – Electric Light Orchestra – Out of the Blue" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Enter Out of the Blue in the "Artiest of titel" box.
  51. ^ "British album certifications – Electric Light Orchestra – Out of the Blue". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Out of the Blue in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  52. ^ "American album certifications – Electric Light Orchestra – Out of the Blue". Recording Industry Association of America.
[edit]
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