Electric Light Orchestra - Out of the Blue

Worth an upgrade if you already have the CD

I was skeptical as to whether it was worth buying this album again, as the previous CD sounded good enough to me.

I was wrong. Right from the first side, everything is clearer and more detailed.

The remastering becomes very apparent on "Across The Border"; the brass section break is clear and distortion-free, and the final orchestral slide is breathtaking.

I could argue with the bass levels at a few points. "Sweet Talkin' Woman" is a little bass-heavy at one point, and "Standin' in the Rain" is a little muddy until the second chorus--but to be fair, that just means it sounds like the previous release. Lacking personal access to the master tapes I'm willing to believe that's how it should have sounded.

Things get better again for "Summer and Lightning". "Mr Blue Sky" isn't amazingly improved, perhaps because it has always received careful attention in previous remasterings.

Improvements in the second half of the album are less noticeable, but still welcome.

On the down side, there are (still) a few fadeouts in the high end of the right channel of "Night in the City", but the tape dropout/fadeout at the end of "It's Over" is removed. The transient peak towards the end of "Standin' in the Rain" is still there.

Overall, well worth the upgrade, unless you're prepared to spring $25+ for the Japanese import. September 2, 2008

Not better than the original Jet/CBS CD version.

While there are some tracks that sound better than the original Jet/CBS CD version of this album, most do not. The somewhat exaggerated trebles and sizzle of the original recording (which I never found objectionable-and to my ear sounded "period" correct) have been deliberately toned down in this latest remaster, it has been at the expense of the vocals, which are now more subdued and distant-as if they were deliberately mixed into the background. What's worst is there has been an attempt to pump up the admittedly weak bass of the original version, which has succeeded somewhat but unfortunately at the expense of the upper bass/low midrange- which is now bloated sounding and muddy. Overall, it's a darker sounding muddier mix. I can achieve a similar effect just by simply turning up the bass and turning down the treble on my amplifier using the original version. I wouldn't consider this remastered version an improvement over the original CD version of the album. It's just different. Bad different. I'll keep it as part of my ELO collection, but I'll listen to the original Jet/CBS CD. August 14, 2008

Out of the blue - perfect

I'm fan of ELO more then 13 years and have many items. But this is diamond in my collection. I got it in digipack super quality of cover and big bootleg. Many interestiong things inside. And ofcouse Latitude 88 North, i don't know why Jeff Lynne don't relase this song in 1997 on this album. It's really hit! I highly recomended this CD to all fans!!!
Long live ELO July 21, 2008

The Best ELO Album!

I have always been a late 70's rock fan. When I first bought this as an record album I wore the vinyl down until the grooves were dull and flat. Now with the CD version that same excellent sound is there. This album shows more range of the group then any of ELO's other albums. This album was the turning point of the group from Classic Rock with violins too Pop-rock and the high tech sound, like in their albums Discovery and Time. To know Electric Light Orchestra you need to own this album, Out of the Blue. May 17, 2008

A Great Musical Package, but not for the CD.

This is, arguably, ELO's best work, closely followed by Eldorado, and A New World's Record. The packaging is totally eye-catching, and fun. HOWEVER... CDs should NOT be put into cardboard sleeves. Especially extremely tight sleeves, like the one in this item. I had real trouble getting the disc out of it's place, and was VERY careful, when trying to remove it. Still, with all the hard work, and care, I was rewarded, not only with the scratches from getting the disc out of the sleeve, but it also seems as though the disc was very scratched up, in one area, due to rough insertion, into the jacket, during manufacture. I have noticed this kind of trouble, before, with discs that are mass-produced, and assemebled into a tight sleeve. The discs are shoved into position, and depending on the tightness of the fit, the items get damaged, and they will have varying degrees of damage, throughout the run. No matter what copy you get, it will have damage, some better than others. This is sad, because I truly wanted this to be a good copy, and keep it in it's package. Normally, I would return the item, for a better one, but since they will, likely, all be scratched up, to some degree, I may as well save the frustration, and burn this copy, hope it is good, and keep my burned copy pristine, and leave the scratched one in the package, for show.
I wish they had just used the standard spindle. That is a much safer way to save, and keep CDs from being damaged/scratched. I hope I can burn a good copy, or this will have to go back, for replacement, and then the fun begins, of waiting for a new one, and hoping it won't be in worse shape. April 22, 2008

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