Jeff Lynne’s forthcoming redo of classic Electric Light Orchestra songs includes one eagerly awaited new composition, called “Point of No Return.” Check it out here!
The track sounds, at least in the early going, like the typical solo Lynne production, dominated by his now familiar drum signature, propelled by a Byrdsy guitar, enveloped with a double-tracked vocal. Add in Roy Orbison, and it might have been a Traveling Wilburys outtake.
Then, just as you’re getting comfy with it all, “Point of No Return” begins to elevate, as Lynne stirs in some billowing strings and a fabulously smeared, echoing guitar solo. Something starts to happen, something very 1970s. And I mean that in a good way.
[SOMETHING ELSE! REWIND: As we got set for Jeff Lynne’s two 2012 recordings, we dove back into some of our all-time favorite tracks from his time with the Electric Light Orchestra.]
See, just as you could count on Lynne’s forever-stuck visage (then, as now, aviator shades and space-man fro), there are certain elements associated with a prototypical ELO effort — and, by the time “Point of No Return” concludes, it’s all here. Ultimately, the song’s polyester-era charms — perfect, in their way, for an album that will be dominated by long-ago gems from the ELO catalog — simply become too much to resist.
“Point of No Return” will be part of Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best Of Electric Light Orchestra, due on October 9, 2012 from Frontiers Records. Elsewhere, Lynne will include new versions of ELO favorites like its title track, “Livin’ Thing,” “Evil Woman,” and others.
Mr. Blue Sky is being released in tandem with Long Wave, an album of standards. A sneak-peek track from that project, the Armchair Theatre-ish “At Last, debuted this week on BBC Radio.
Both albums arrive as Electric Light Orchestra fans celebrate the group’s 40th anniversary. Lynne has said he will also oversee an expanded reissue of ELO’s most recent studio recording, 2001’s Zoom — as well as Armchair Theater, Lynne’s 1990 solo debut.
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The video of the other Jeff Lynne song “At Last” is here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiaQk2B5XkI
I was planning on catching ELO on the “Zoom” tour, then it was cancelled due to lack of interest/low ticket sales at the venues earlier on the tour than the Cleveland show I would have attended…
Oh well.
I was 15 back in 1981 when ELO toured for TIME and I didn’t have a way to get to the show so I didn’t buy a ticket. That was the first concert I ever wanted to go to and was disappointed. In 2001 the ZOOM tour was gonna happen and it was cancelled so I was bummed once again. I did manage to get an ELO “TIME” 1981 tour shirt and have the concert dvds.
Concert updates years ago would be featured on the rock radio stations and the man with the super cool rock voice that did the concert promotion ads would make the concert announcements sound very exciting. You don’t get that anymore. Now you just look on the internet to see what’s touring. Things suck in the music world.
I’ve been into all the ELO / Jeff Lynne stuff since back in the 1970s and the time he spent reworking the ELO hits could have been better spent working on finishing the album of all new material for 2013 and maybe even a second all new album of new material. It’s Jeff’s thing and he can do what he wants.
The cool about the ELO songs the way they were is that they were more spontaneous and strange sounding. You didn’t know what to expect and most of that has been stripped away. His voice was stronger and he had a stronger band to play with and it was a combination of everything that made it magical. When I heard these way back it was like that’s very cool. The newer versions wouldn’t have been hits I don’t think.
Point Of No Return is pretty average these days. It’s no Secret Messages weird or anything. I’d like to hear Jeff do a TIME 2 or Secret Messages mix with something modern. When I read that he had new songs from the vaults and unreleased tunes I was hoping it was a few from the TIME sessions but that won’t be re-released with anything else. All these extra tracks floating around really could be compiled into separate albums in stead of adding to re released albums. Guess we gotta get the songs as fast as we can because Jeff is getting older. It’s good to get the Armchair Theater back in circulation and it had a fine batch of tunes on it. I have the 1990 version with an extra single cd featuring I’m Gone and two versions of Every Little Thing. Zoom disappeared way too quick.