Electric Light Orchestra - ELO's Greatest Hits

You can't make a meal of bubblegum, but it sure can be a delicious distraction. ELO's Greatest Hits is filled with gooey, chewy delights--sonic kitsch like "I Can't Get It Out of My Head" (Lennon on Lithium), "Telephone Line" (Kool & The Gang with violins), and the irresistible "Turn to Stone" (Wagner in spandex)--cultural guideposts, whether you want to admit it or not. ELO combined classical elements with electronic rock and their influence can still be heard in new Turk bands playing with Moogs--for all their Beatles-in-space trappings, the group was also pretty damn catchy. Early ELO was spotty, with flavorful items like "Strange Magic" popping out of the lab nevertheless. By the late '70s, producer-songwriter-singer Jeff Lynne had his electronic pop chamber-group machine oiled to perfection, and this package contains a heavy dose of those longer-lasting-flavor years, with well-chosen dabs of essential chewing pleasure. --Don Harrison Amazon.com

Excellent. ELO Rocks

I recently heard Strange Magic playing on the radio, and for a while I kept wondering who played that song, until I found out it was ELO. I decided to buy a cd from ELO. I wanted to try a new rock group out for a change, instead of the rock bands I usually listen to. I've never really heard any of their music, until I listened to ELO's Greatest Hits, and now I like listening to them. Strange Magic is one of the most beautiful rock songs I've ever heard (along with Echoes from Pink Floyd, and Ramblin Man from Allman Brothers). Other songs like Evil Woman, are also great. ELO is now on my list of favorite rock bands. July 23, 2008

It's Strange Magic

I am really happy I bought this cd. I originally bought it just for the songs "Strange Magic" and "Livin' Thing," but I was pleasantly surprised to find the whole cd (from beginning to end) is great! I did not realize that I was an ELO fan until I heard this cd. I recognized so many other songs from movies and commercials. It is a great collection. Definitly a great introduction to unique music.

Highly recommend. May 6, 2008

Good compilation

Slightly odd this one as I don't recall all of these being hits (in the UK anyway). But maybe some were big in other countries. As a brief overview of their 70's material this pretty good.

The big UK hit singles that made them a huge band are all present and correct. The best is without doubt Mr Blue Sky (which I think acheived their highest chart placing) a marvellous piece of pop and cleverly arranged as well. I still like Rockaria as well, a great rocking tune with a hint of Dylan near the end. A lot of the other songs are well known and are still memorable to this day.

There are a few tracks which really don't work. MA MA MA Belle is a Stones style rocker that sounds completely wrong with the strings added. Another track (name forgotten at the time of writing) sounds like a John Lennon rip-off.

Overall though a fine collection which for the money (very cheap) is well worth getting.
October 14, 2007

still great!

this has turned out to be a really fun purchase...the only song i could wish it had is "don't bring me down", but otherwise it has all the songs i remember fondly. my original intent was to introduce the music to my 18-year-old music major son, but we have very much enjoyed it too. July 13, 2007

Okay

Missing the one song that I wanted "Don't Bring Me Down" and the rest just weren't that good. March 22, 2007

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