Electric Light Orchestra

Ole ELO (1976)

 

  1. 10538 Overture
  2. Kuiama
  3. Roll Over Beethoven
  4. Showdown
  5. Ma-Ma-Ma Belle
  6. Can't Get it out of My Head
  7. Boy Blue
  8. Evil Woman
  9. Strange Magic
  
  
  

Every band has to start somewhere when it comes to greatest hits albums, and for ELO, Olé ELO was that starting point. Released just before the band hit their commercial stride, it serves less as a definitive retrospective and more as a quick summary of their early years — back when “hits” was still a generous term. Pulled from the band’s first five albums, the track list covers the basics: Can’t Get It Out of My Head, Evil Woman, Showdown, 10538 Overture, and, of course, Roll Over Beethoven. No surprises, no rarities — just a cross-section of what Lynne and company had managed to carve out before the massive success of A New World Record and Out of the Blue would change the conversation entirely.

The only real selling point here, particularly for longtime fans or completists, is the edited version of Roll Over Beethoven. Trimmed down from the original eight-minute opus to a radio-friendly four, it’s a rare instance of restraint for a band that rarely knew when to stop. Some might call it sacrilege; others may welcome the brevity.

In the end, Olé ELO is a product of its time — a tidy sampler from a band just on the cusp of becoming something much bigger. Later compilations would render this one mostly irrelevant, but at the time, it was a decent enough way to catch up. Now, it’s a curiosity — a reminder that even Electric Light Orchestra had to earn their orbit.

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