..:: audio-music dot info ::..


Main Page    The Desert Island    Copyright Notice
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz


Electric Light Orchestra: A New World Record

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Artist: Electric Light Orchestra
Title: A New World Record
Released: 1976.10.01
Label: Jet Records
Time: 36:16
Producer(s): Jeff Lynne
Appears with: Traveling Wilburys, Jeff Lynne
Category: Pop/rock
Rating: ****...... (4/10)
Media type: CD
Purchase date:  2001.05.28
Price in €: 13,99
Web address: www.elo.biz











 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Tightrope (Lynne) - 5:03
[2] Telephone Line (Lynne) - 4:38
[3] Rockaria! (Lynne) - 3:12
[4] Mission [A World Record] (Lynne) - 4:25
[5] So Fine (Lynne) - 3:54
[6] Livin' Thing (Lynne) - 3:31
[7] Above the Clouds (Lynne) - 2:16
[8] Do Ya (Lynne) - 3:43
[9] Shangri-La (Lynne) - 5:34

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


JEFF LYNNE - Synthesizer, Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals, Backing Vocals, Orchestration, Choir Arrangement
LOUIS CLARK - Producer, Orchestration, Choir Arrangement
BEV BEVAN - Percussion, Drums, Vocals, Backing Vocals
MELVYN GALE - Cello
KELLY GROUCUTT - Bass, Percussion, Vocals, Backing Vocals
MIK KAMINSKI - Violin
HUGH MCDOWELL - Cello
RICHARD TANDY - Synthesizer, Guitar, Piano, Keyboards, Vocals, Clavinet, Orchestration, Choir Arrangement

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


1990 CD Jet ZK-35529
1990 CS Jet PZT-35529
1976 LP United Artists 679
1976 CD United Artists LA679-G0698
1990 CD Jet 35529



Jeff Lynne reportedly regards this album and its follow-up, Out of the Blue, as the high-points in the band's history. One might be better off opting for A New World Record over its successor, however, as a more modest-sized creation chock full of superb songs that are produced even better. Opening with the opulently orchestrated "Tightrope," which heralds the perfect production found throughout this album, A New World Record contains seven of the best songs ever to come out of the group. The Beatles influence is present, to be sure, but developed to a very high degree of sophistication and on Lynne's own terms, rather than being imitative of specific songs. "Telephone Line" might be the best Lennon-McCartney collaboration that never was, lyrical and soaring in a way that manages to echo elements of Revolver and The Beatles without ever mimicking them. The original LP's second side opened with "So Fine," which seems like the perfect pop synthesis of guitar, percussion, and orchestral sounds, embodying precisely what Lynne had first set out to do with Roy Wood at the moment the ELO was conceived. From there, the album soars through stomping rock numbers like "Livin' Thing" and "Do Ya," interspersed with lyrical pieces like "Above the Clouds" (which makes striking use of pizzicato bass strings). The album was a jewel on vinyl, especially coming out at a time when disco was starting to undermine the airwaves. "Do Ya," in particular, was a breath of fresh air. The album has held up well on CD and, along with the rest of ELO's catalog, is slated for upgrading on CD in the year 2001, with the addition of extra songs. Any version of this album is worth hearing, however, if only to savor the production, which recalls the glory days of psychedelic pop/rock.

Bruce Eder - All-Music Guide



Musical Perfection

I was a mere 5 years old when I first heard this album and had no idea why I enjoyed it so much. I must have driven my mother mad asking her to keep playing it all the time. By the time I was 10 I knew the words and the whole feel of the album from memory. When I grew as a musician, and a person, I finally realised why I loved this album so much- because it is so musically perfect in every way. From first to last this album is a true classic. From the opening track of "Tightrope" you are transported into Jeff Lynne's unique vision of us as a people. I often find myself thinking what a true visionary Lynne was with the song "Mission (A New World Record)" with lyrics that mean even more today than they did 25 years ago. Along the way we meet despair ("Telephone Line" and "My Shangri-La") and joy ("Rockaria", "Living Thing" and "Do Ya") and it is as if we encumber the whole range of human emotions in a short space of time. This surely must rank as one of the defining moments of pop/rock, certainly one of ELO's most defining moments. I love "Time" and "Discovery" but to me this album pips them all and I eagerly await the day the album is given the proper remastering treatment as has happened with other bands like Deep Purple and Kiss. The recent "Flashback" set shows that it can be done! Until then I'll wait for somebody to throw me down a line!

Rodney Hrvatin from Australia, February 21, 2001



Containing as it does a curiously redundant version of the Move gem "Do Ya" (which Jeff Lynne wrote four years ago) along with a package of songs that rather re-echoes ELO's material from the last couple of years, the cynic might regard A New World Record as the work of a creative person (Lynne) in the process of stealing from himself. A more generous observer (myself for instance) might view this gentle treading of the creative waters as merely temporary -- the workings of a band, now peaking in popularity, that is attempting to supply audiences with exactly the sound they want to hear. Whatever your personal disposition, if you liked Face the Music and Eldorado, you'll like this one just as much. Lynne has always been rather deft with the melodic hook, and both "Livin' Thing" and "So Fine" are irresistable additions to his list of catchiest tunes. Numbers like "Mission (A World Record)" and "Shangri-la" continue the history of classy orchestral stylings that really rock, and Lynne's dominant vocals are as effectively foggy as ever. As expected, the production is lavish and the musicianship more than adequate to fulfull Lynne's Procol Harum-ish visions. By Christmas, A New World Record should be a staple in a million homes.

Alan Niester - Rolling Stone, 12/16/76.



Eat your diploma, Eric Carmen -- after years of floundering, they've gone all the way and made a Moody Blues album with brains, hooks, and laffs galore. My fave is "Rockaria!," about a lass who "loves the way Puccini lays down a tune." Granted, I initially thought it was strictly for those who got off on music appreciation in high school, like the lass. But now I think it's also for those who hated it, like me. B+

Robert Christgau - Christgau's Record Guide, 1981
  

 L y r i c s


TIGHTROPE

They say some days you're gonna win,
They say some days you're gonna lose.
I tell you I got news for you
Your losin' all the time you never win
If you believe that's how it's gonna be I'd better put you down
Get off your tightrope up there come down on
The ground you gotta save me now,
You better turn around.
When I looked around, I was heading down.
Won't somebody throw me down a line.

They say some days you gotta give--
They say some days you gotta take--
If that's the way it's gotta be,
Roll it over and you will see.
The city streets are full of people going nowhere making time.
The change from night to day is really only hours,
It's just along the line can't you see the sign
When I looked around, I was heading down,
Won't somebody throw me down a line.

I want to look you straight in the eye,
I want to tell you how I really feel,
I can feel the wheels turnin' round,
Won't somebody throw me down a line
The city streets are full of people going nowhere making time,
The change from night to day is really only hours
It's just along the line, can't you see the sign
When I closed my eyes, I was so surprised
Somebody had thrown me down the line--stopped me drownin'


TELEPHONE LINE

Hello--how are you
Have you been alright, through all those lonely nights,
That's what I'd say, I'd tell you everything,
If you'd pick up that telephone.

Hey--how you feelin'
Are you still the same
Don't you realize the things we did were all for real not a dream,
I just can't believe
They've all faded out of view.

    I look into the sky
            (The love you need ain't gonna see you through.)
    And I wonder why
            (The little things are finally coming true.)   

    CHORUS
    Telephone line, give me some time, I'm living in twilight
    Telephone line, give me some time, I'm living in twilight

O.K. so no--one's answering,
Well can't you just let it ring a little longer
I'll just sit tight, through the shadows of the night
Let it ring for evermore.

    CHORUS -- repeat


ROCKARIA!

Just got back from the downtown palais
Where the music was so sweet
It knocked me right back in the alley
I'm ready, yea, yea, yea, I'm ready,
Wo, wo, wo, I'm ready
And I'm really gonna rock tonight.

Sweet little lady sings like a songbird
And she sings the opera like you ain't never heard,
But she ain't ready,
No, no, no, she ain't ready
No, no, no, she ain't ready,
And she ain't gonna rock & roll

    CHORUS
    She's sweet on Wagner,
    I think she'd die for Beethoven,
    She loves the way Puccini lays down a tune,
    And Verdi's always creeping from her room

Come on I'll show you how to sing the blues
Now baby, come on over you got nothin' to lose,
Are you ready, hey, hey, hey are you ready
Ooh, ooh, ooh, are you ready
I wanna show you how to rock and roll.

Now listen here baby she, said to me
Just, meet me at the opera house at a quarter to three,
'Cos I'm ready, yea, yea, yea, I'm ready,
Woo, hoo, hoo, I'm ready,
I'm gonna show you how to sing the blues.

    CHORUS -- repeat

Far, far away the music is playing.

Well we were reelin' and a rockin' all through the night,
Yea we were rockin' at the opera house until the break of light,
And the orchestra were playin' all Chuck Berry's greatest tunes.
And the singers in the chorus all got off on singing blues,
And as the night grew older everybody was as one,
The people on the streets came runnin' in to join in song
Just to hear the opera singer singin' rock & roll so pure,
I thought I saw the mayor there but I wasn't really sure,
But it's alright.


MISSION (A WORLD RECORD)

For many days we travelled from a distant place and time,
To reach a place they call the planet Earth,
There was to be a celebration,
On the mission of the sacred heart.

The planet Earth from way up there is beautiful and blue
And floating softly through a rainbow,
But when you touch down things look different here,
At the mission of the sacred heart.

    CHORUS
    Watching all the days roll by
    Who are you and who am I?

On a dirty worn-out sidewalk, sits a mother with a baby,
In her vale of tears she sees no rainbow
And someone's singing from a window
In the mission of the sacred heart.

    CHORUS -- repeat

There's a building on a corner, in a city, in a land,
On a place they call the planet Earth,
My orders are to sit here and watch the world go by,
From the mission of the sacred heart.

    CHORUS -- repeat


SO FINE

Two drifters on the morning sky,
Two drifters sailing wide and high,
When summer breezes blow across your mind,
With you, I will walk the line.

    CHORUS
    I want it so fine
    I want it so fine
    I want it so fine

People walking hand in hand,
Everybody's singing to the band,
I want to be where the stars shine bright,
And hear sweet music on a summer night.

    CHORUS -- repeat

Sundowners we'll go on and on,
We'll find the land of the midnight sun,
And when you look you'll see for miles around,
You'll see, the world is in your hand.

    CHORUS -- repeat
       
    CHORUS -- repeat


LIVIN' THING

Sailin' away on the crest of a wave
It's like magic
Rollin' and ridin' and slippin' & slidin'
It's magic

    CHORUS
    And you, and your sweet desire,
    You took me, higher and higher
    It's a livin' thing,
    It's a terrible thing to lose
    It's a given thing
    What a terrible thing to lose.

Making believe this is what you've conceived
From your worst day,
Moving in line when you look back in time
To your first day

    CHORUS -- repeat

Takin' a dive 'cos you can't halt the slide
Floating downstream,
So let her go don't start spoiling the show
It's a bad dream

    CHORUS -- repeat


ABOVE THE CLOUDS

I came along to see your face,
But the only thing I got from you,
Was telling me it's fantasy,
That you would always be with me,
I can tell you that it's true
I'm waiting here,
But it's alright
It's alright with me,
You better believe me now.

I guess it's like a mountain side,
You gotta climb it to the top,
Floating in a sea of dreams
The only thing that you can see
Is the view above the clouds.   
I'm waiting here,
But it's alright,
Still it's alright with me,
You better believe me now.


DO YA

In this life I've seen everything I can see woman,
I've seen lovers flying through the air hand in hand
I've seen babies dancing in the midnight sun,
And I've seen dreams that came from the heavenly skies above
I've seen old men crying at their own grave sides
And I've seen pigs all sitting watching, picture slides
But I never seen nothing like you.

    CHORUS
    Do ya do ya want my love
    Do ya do ya want my face
    Do ya do ya want my mind
    Do ya do ya want my love

Well I, heard the crowd singin' out of tune,
As they, sat and sang Auld Lang Syne by the light of the moon
I heard the preachers bangin' on the drums,
And I heard the police playin' with their guns
But I never heard nothin' like you.

In the country where the sky touches down
On the field, she lay her down to rest
In the morning sun,
They come a'runnin' just to get a look, just to
Feel to touch her long black hair they don't give a damn

    CHORUS -- repeat

Well I think you know what I'm trying to say woman,
That is I'd like to save you for a rainy day,
I've seen enough of the world to know,
That I've got to get it all to get it all to grow.

    CHORUS -- repeat


SHANGRI-LA

Sitting here, waiting for,
Someone calling at my door,
Too bad,
I'm getting out of love.

What's the use of changing things,
Wonder what tomorrow brings,
Who knows,
I'm getting out of love.

    CHORUS
    My Shangri-la has gone away,
    Faded like the Beatles on Hey Jude
    She seemed to drift out on the rain
    That came in somewhere softly from the blue

Clouds roll by and hide the sun,
Raindrops fall on everyone,
So sad,
I'm getting out of love.

    CHORUS -- repeat

    CHORUS -- repeat

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


Currently no Samples available!