Search - Elo :: Ole Elo

Good tunes with better versions elsewhere

Bill Larkin | Lyndhurst, NJ, United States | 05/19/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I'm bias. I'm a huge ELO fan. Having said that, you'll do better with other ELO releases than this one. It's audio quality leaves something to be desired and it has the SHORT version of "Roll Over Beethoven", which is a crime. The original vinyl version had the full-length version when it was first released. So many people complained that their record player would eject before the track was finished (the recorded grooves were very close to the label), that the label put the short version on it after the first pressing. The label COULD have corrected that on the CD release. Look to the 3-CD set "Flashback" or the newly issued re-masters of the original ELO albums for better quality. This is for die-hard ELO collectors only."

Good overview of early ELO

Glenn W. W. Gross | 04/02/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This was my third ELO album to own; I picked it up in 1976, and it introduced me to some of ELO's wonderful earlier material. Some of those songs, while not always polished to the later standard ELO sheen, still resonate with superb songcraft and daring innovation. "10538 Overture" (from NO ANSWER, 1972) sounds like a close cousin of "Strawberry Fields Forever." "Kuiama" (from 1973's "II") is a sad, lumbering prog-rock masterpiece, though it has been edited on this album. The version of "Roll Over Beethoven" on OLE' ELO has also been edited way down from its original glorious 8:02 on 1973's "II" album. Frankly, it sounds like it was edited with a chainsaw. Give me the original every time! "Showdown" is a Marvin Gaye influenced orchestral rock-soul number (?!?!?) that works like a charm. "Ma-Ma-Ma Belle" is an amazing collision of strings and molten metal. (Those two tracks are from 1973's ON THE THIRD DAY.) The classic "Boy Blue" is another revelation, taken from 1974's ELDORADO. Then there's the big Top 40 Hits, a sublime "Can't Get it Out of My Head," the haunting ballad "Strange Magic," and the funky driving "Evil Woman." After hearing OLE' ELO, I went out and completed my collection. If you don't have those early ELO albums, this album is a nice intro."

Great Songs, HOWEVER . . .

Glenn W. W. Gross | San Antonio, TX United States | 05/06/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great sampling of ELO's early and mid-70s career, before they got slicker and hugely popular. But why oh why did they have to ruin this CD by only putting in the horrible radio-length edit of their wonderful 8-minutes-plus magnum opus, "Roll Over Beethoven?" This is one of the great goes-on-forever jams in rock and roll and clearly it would have fit on the CD. What's really embarassing is that my VINYL version (you know, vinyl, more limiting technology, can't put as much on the record)DOES have the full-length song! What a waste . . ."