Electric Light Orchestra

Greatest Hits (1978)

 

  1. Evil Woman
  2. Livin' Thing
  3. Can't Get it Out of My Head
  4. Showdown
  5. Turn to Stone
  6. Rockaria!
  7. Sweet Talkin' Woman
  8. Telephone Line
  9. Ma-Ma-Ma Belle
  10.Strange Magic
  11.Mr. Blue Sky
  
  
  

By 1978, Electric Light Orchestra was about as big as any band not named after a precious metal or a color. Jeff Lynne and his string-laced pop machine had filled arenas, dominated radio, and even found time to build a spaceship or two. So it made perfect sense to cap off their run — or what they thought was the midpoint — with their first official Greatest Hits package.

And timing-wise, it just about worked.

What’s here is solid. The track list leans heavily on the hits — in the most literal sense. No deep cuts, no early experiments, and nothing from those first two records where the band was still trying to figure out if French horns and cello solos could really co-exist with rock guitars. Instead, it opens with Evil Woman, glides through Livin' Thing, Telephone Line, Turn to Stone, and Can't Get It Out of My Head, and wraps up a tight, concise package that is welcome to all fans.

But there’s a catch — and hindsight makes it obvious. This collection came just a bit too soon.

Had they waited another couple of albums — long enough to include Don’t Bring Me Down or Confusion or Shine a Little Love from Discovery and beyond — this might have been the definitive ELO compilation A time capsule of a band in peak form, but one that just missed the final act of the story.

Still, it’s hard to argue with what’s here. Every song was a bona fide hit, and every one holds up remarkably well. Lynne’s production might have leaned toward glossy even then, but his melodies, arrangements, and layered vocals gave the band a signature sound — lush, dramatic, and undeniably catchy. If you’re looking for a snapshot of ELO’s rise through the mid-’70s, this is it. Everything you need, nothing you don’t.

True, there was never a Volume Two. The band’s momentum would falter just a few years later, and though they'd stick around — releasing more albums and embarking on a few nostalgia-fueled tours — they never quite hit these heights again. But for a brief moment, they had the world. And this collection, though incomplete in retrospect, is a pretty great reminder of how brightly they shone.

Go back to the main page
Go To Next Review