ALL OVER THE WORLD: THE VERY BEST OF ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA

This is one of the greatest ELO compilations after a tirade of comps over the years. It is all packed onto one CD and there are not many omissions when it comes to definitive ELO singles, though I am a fan of album tracks more than some of these.

To start off there are the quintessential tracks Mr. Blue Sky, Evil Woman, Don't Bring Me Down, Sweet Talkin' Woman, Shine A Little Love, Turn To Stone, The Diary Of Horace Wimp, Confusion, Livin' Thing, Telephone Line and Rockaria! that surely must represent the ultimate ELO collection on any compilation. Most comps feature these radio saturated manufactured pop gems, and for good reason; they are incredible slices of mainstream artistry.

Others that are included on this comp are popular but I was never that big a fan of them, namely Hold On Tight, All Over The World, Showdown, Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, Xanadu, Strange Magic, and Rock'n'Roll Is King. There is nothing wrong with these as in fact many have some wonderful melodies and musicianship, it is just that they are not as excellent as others. Then there are oddities on this comp that are rarely on comps, such as Wild West Hero, and Alright. Once again they are not too bad but it might have been nice to include Twilight, Here is the News and Overture. Xanadu could have been omitted too that features more Olivia Newton John than ELO; nice song but just not necessary on this comp.

The packaging is nice too with the cool trademark spaceship on the cover and some info inside. In any case this is definitely one to get if you are just after the radio hits that haunted airwaves. Every track is a piece of the magic that is ELO.