THE NIGHT THE LIGHT WENT ON IN LONG BEACH

One of rare ELO live albums from their early era is authentic but a bit of missed opportunity due to track selection. Their two best progressive albums - first two albums - are only represented by 3 tracks. The sound quality could have been better. Electric Light Orchestra have never been a virtuoso band with the exception of the violin and cello players and their much better compositionally than instrumentally. Violin and cellos are playing convincingly, lead guitar is actually more prominent than on next albums but quite average, drums are too simple to my taste. Keyboards save the reputation of the classic rock instruments - synths and moog are inspired by Wakeman by no that adventureous. The voice is not great - Lynne was learning how to sing without having to scream. You can hear several influences - from rock'n'roll to classical music, folk rock and Beatles. "Daybreak" is a highlight, the only fully progressive and instrumental track and a great choice for a live concert. "Showdown" is a poppy track but sounds good live and the band still leaves the comfort zone. "Roll over Beethoven" is definitely a very good choice for the live concert but together with "Great Balls of Fire" introduces too much of a generic rock'n'roll. The "Day Tripper" version is OK but I would have preferred more original material. So be it not for the "Daybreaker" and "10538 Overture", I wouldn't have bought the album. Good for ELO fans.