LIVE AT WEMBLEY '78

ELO live albums are not too numerous. Only one so far (I am reviewing their catalogue chronologically as I mostly do : not by the year of publishing but at the time of recording in case of live albums). This one was recorded during thezir supporting tour of their very nice double album "Out Of The Blue".

Jeff was always reluctant to release live albums since ELO "sound" was difficult to render on stage. This is not a bad release though. Lots of songs come out their last two releases of course. ELO was huge at the time : a hit machine. This live record catched them at their peak of popularity. I would add that the good studio albums are behind them, unfortunately. So, the time was probably appropriate to release a live one.

It is not a bad album, but as an old fan I would have liked to get some "oldies" in there. But only "ROB" will be featured to satisfy the early fan database. Most of the numbers won't really differ from the studio versions, so the "live" side is not really obvious. Vocals will, at times ("Telephone Line" and "Rockaria"), suffer from this live recording. Orchestration during "Livin' Thing" are somewhat weak as well.

The finale (would you believe !) ROB pleases me a lot of course. Unlike many people, I am quite found of this ELO interpretation : a complete revisited version of a rock'n'roll classic. I was completely nuts about the studio version (the long one), so no wonder I like this one. Superior to the one from their Long Beach live album released three years before. A great number to close a concert.

All in all, it's a good live picture of what ELO had produced in the late mid-seventies. Nice melodies, poppy songs, easy listening music but sometimes very good music indeed. There are little weak tracks on this album but still, I do not spin it too much to be honest. Sound quality is not too bad : not great but lots better than any boots you could get hold of. Three stars.