Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. 10538 Overture
2. Showdown
3. Ma-Ma-Ma Belle
4. Mr. Radio
5. Roll Over Beethoven
6. Mama (New Edit)
7. One Summer Dream
8. Ilusions In G Major
9. Strange Magic
10. Eldorado Overture
11. Can't Get It Out Of My Head
12. Eldorado
13. Edlorado - Finale
14. Do Ya (Unedited Alternative Mix)
15. Mister Kingdom
16. Grieg's Piano Concerto In A Minor

Disc 2:

1. Tightrope
2. Evil Woman
3. Livin' Thing
4. Mr. Blue Sky
5. Mission (A World Record) (Alternative Mix)
6. Turn To Stone
7. Telephone Line
8. Rockaria!
9. Starlight
10. It's Over
11. The Whale
12. Sweet Talkin' Woman
13. Big Wheels
14. Shangri-La
15. Nightrider
16. Tears In Your Life

Disc 3:

1. Don't Bring Me Down
2. The Diary Of Horace Wimp
3. Twilight
4. Secret Messages
5. Take Me On And On
6. Shine A Little Love
7. Rock And Roll Is King
8. Last Train To London
9. Confusion
10. Getting To The Point
11. Hold On Tight
12. So Serious
13. Calling America
14. Four Little Diamonds
15. Great Balls Of Fire (Live)
16. Xanadu (New Version)
17. Indian Queen (Demo)
18. Love Changes All
19. After All
20. Helpless
21. Who's That?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #52174 in Music
• Released on: 2005-01-17
• Number of discs: 3
• Formats: Box set, Best of
• Dimensions: .87 pounds

From Amazon.com
Electric Light Orchestra are the quintessential fanboy (or fangirl) band; folks tend to either love or hate Jeff Lynne's far-reaching pop act, while critics tend to wrinkle their nose in disgust and dismiss their entire oeuvre save the obscure first album that Roy Wood plays on. Basically, E.L.O. are derided for writing all the Beatles songs that the Beatles never got around to writing in the first place, and then slapping sappy disco string arrangements on top. But at their best this ambitious ensemble--whose maxim is to try and cram as much sound and scope as possible into the conventional pop song--achieve a certain lumbering grace which is amazingly pleasurable. Sure, their songs are sappy and Lynne's lyrics campy, but Lynne is such a master that he transforms artifice into art; he's not the Beethoven of rock, he's its Jeff Koons. Moreover, Lynne is no mere retro futurist; he is fully capable of taking apart high-, low-, and middle-brow genres and recombining them in unexpected ways--in a manner that foreshadows pop music's direction in the 1990s. It's delightful to see this underrated group get a decent, career-spanning three-CD box set (digitally remastered, natch), with the requisite unreleased/alternate takes and elaborate color booklet with extensive liner notes. This music has aged remarkably well, like a fine can of soda pop. --Mike McGonigal