A$# 040 Electric Light Orchestra | A New World Record

A whole bunch of albums came to mind when I was deciding the choice for this week's spotlight. In the end, inspired by the awesome-sounding remaster I recently picked up, I chose A New World Record, ELO's fantastic 1976 record.

ANWR, the sixth outing for Jeff Lynne and co, was hugely successful, spawning huge hits Telephone Line and Livin' Thing, as well as the deliciously complex Rockaria and a rollicking remake of a Move song, Do Ya.

In nine songs, Jeff wrote and produced nine superb jewels. In the liner notes of the new reissue, Jeff writes:

A New World Record was my second favorite album to record. I was living in deepest Worcestershire when I wrote these songs. This album was following one that had just gone platinum, Face The Music, so the expectations were a bit higher.... It's hard to believe now that but it took only a few weeks to record and complete the whole album.

Yet, ANWR does not sound like it was rushed or just cobbled together. Everything - from Jeff's ripping guitar work and vocals to Richard Tandy's swirling keyboards, Bev Bevan's always masterful and powerful drumming, Kelly Groucutt's thumping bass, the bowing of stringers Mik Kaminski, Hugh McDowell and Melvn Gale, plus the rich orchestrations conducted by Louis Clark and the uncredited operatic singing of Mary Thomas - comes together to create a rich and wonderful aural experience.

The remaster makes the songs sound clearer than ever. I've particulalry enjoyed revisiting tracks such as Mission (A World Record) and the moving Shangri-La. But my vote,right now anyway,for the quintessential ELO song goes to Rockaria, the perfect mixture of rock and aria. Verdi's always creeping from her room, doncha know?

The bonus tracks give some great hints into the progress of the album - two early versons of Telephone Line (one instrumental and one with an alt vocal track), plus rough instrumental mixes of Tightrope, Above The Clouds and So Fine. Then there's a real gem, Surrender (which I wrote about earlier when snippets were posted on Face The Music Online), a catchy song started in 1976 and finished more recently.

Check out this long-awaited remaster, and rediscover (or discover for the first time) a superb ELO album.

Track listing:
1. Tightrope
2. Telephone Line
3. Rockaria!
4. Mission (A World Record)
5. So Fine
6. Livin' Thing
7. Above The Clouds
8. Do Ya
9. Shangri-La
plus bonus tracks on remastered CD:
10. Telephone Line (Different Vocal)
11. Surrender
12. Tightrope (Instrumental Early Rough Mix)
13. Above The Clouds (Instrumental Rough Mix)
14. So Fine (Instrumental Early Rough Mix)
15. Telephone Line (Instrumental)