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Post by Grroosss on May 8, 2020 17:07:13 GMT
I'm sure there's been a thread on this topic before, but I came across this on YouTube
Interesting to see what songs other people would choose, I like that the concerto was kept mostly intact here but personally I could never bear to cut Sweet Is the Night
If you had to cut OOTB down to a single album, what would it look like?
I'll get back to you with my choices after I've had some time to deliberate...
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Post by eloandy on May 8, 2020 22:01:03 GMT
That's really tough. It would be hard not to put 'Concerto for a rainy day' on which would occupy one side of the album. That only leaves four or five (at a pinch) for the rest. Anyway, after much agonising, i've included 'Concerto For A rainy Day' as my side two and gone mainly for the singles on side one. I closed side 1 with 'Across The Border' cos i think it's a great finale with that terrific drum outro:-
Side 1,
Turn To Stone, Sweet Talkin' Woman, Wild West Hero, Across The Border,
Side 2,
Standin' In The Rain, Big Wheels, Summer And Lightning, Mr. Blue Sky.
I've kept to the four tracks per side discipline as that was all we got. I had to include those hit singles. ELO were at the very top of their game and everywhere you went you heard them and i love them. The only tracks that IMHO wouldn't have been in with a shout were 'Starlight', 'Jungle' and 'The Whale'. I like them, just not quite as much as the others.
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Post by Timeblue on May 8, 2020 23:56:50 GMT
That's really tough. It would be hard not to put 'Concerto for a rainy day' on which would occupy one side of the album. That only leaves four or five (at a pinch) for the rest. Anyway, after much agonising, i've included 'Concerto For A rainy Day' as my side two and gone mainly for the singles on side one. I closed side 1 with 'Across The Border' cos i think it's a great finale with that terrific drum outro:- Side 1, Turn To Stone, Sweet Talkin' Woman, Wild West Hero, Across The Border, Side 2, Standin' In The Rain, Big Wheels, Summer And Lightning, Mr. Blue Sky. I've kept to the four tracks per side discipline as that was all we got. I had to include those hit singles. ELO were at the very top of their game and everywhere you went you heard them and i love them. The only tracks that IMHO wouldn't have been in with a shout were 'Starlight', 'Jungle' and 'The Whale'. I like them, just not quite as much as the others. I reckon that these are the ones that most people would choose, maybe not in the same order though....
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Post by lasttrain929 on May 9, 2020 12:04:22 GMT
This is REALLY tough. I’m going to cheat a bit and have 5 songs on one side.
side 1 Turn to stone It’s over Sweet Talkin’’ Woman Across the border Sweet is the night
Side 2 Standin’ In the rain Big Wheel Summer and lightning Mr Blue Sky
Can’t split concerto for a rainy day. But I had to include It’s over, a certain person would never forgive me if I left it out and I’m a big fan of sweet is the night. It just edged out WWH
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jimm64
Junior Member
Posts: 14
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Post by jimm64 on May 9, 2020 12:36:26 GMT
When attempting to reduce a double album to a single, keeping the running time at about 45 minutes or less is the parameter I use.
Side 1
Turn to Stone 3:49 It's Over 4:09 Sweet Talkin' Woman 3:50 Night in the City 4:04 Starlight 4:32
Side 2
Sweet is the Night 3:28 The Whale 5:07 Wild West Hero 4:46 Summer and Lightning 4:15 Mr Blue Sky 5:03
Running time approx 44:00
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Post by janne on May 9, 2020 18:14:26 GMT
Almost impossible, it's really a great album. But okay, here goes:
Turn To Stone It's Over Starlight Steppin' Out Big Wheels
Believe Me Now Summer and Lightning Mr. Blue Sky Sweet Is The Night Wild West Hero
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2020 18:23:37 GMT
I've thought about it for awhile, and it's really tough. My problem with OOTB is that there are too many great songs for a single album, but not really enough for a double. I've come up with a couple work-arounds, and it's around 44 minutes. Here you go:
Side 1 Turn To Stone Sweet Talkin' Woman Starlight Sweet Is The Night Believe Me Now / Steppin' Out
Side 2 It's Over Concerto For A Rainy Day - Standin' In The Rain - Big Wheels - Summer And Lightning - Mr. Blue Sky
To flesh it out a little bit, I'd also put interludes of snippets of The Whale every couple of songs. Also, I'd have the singles be "Turn To Stone / Jungle," "Sweet Talkin' Woman / Mr. Blue Sky," and they could've dropped "Wild West Hero / The Whale" while touring in 1978.
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Post by orioles70 on May 9, 2020 19:50:26 GMT
this is a really big cheat, but in my boxed set "ELO The Classic Albums Collection", OOTB is all on one tidy CD no hard decisions needed, I just pop it in my truck's CD player and out comes the full double album + bonus tracks if I had to start trimming songs? The Whale, Believe Me Now, Across the Border, Starlight, ... that's still 13 songs - don't think I can do it
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Post by Helmut83 on May 10, 2020 7:04:38 GMT
1. Sweet talking woman 2. Starlight 3. Jungle 4. Steppin' out
5. Summer and lightning 6. Sweet is the night 7. Birmingham Blues 8. Wild West hero 9. Latitude 88 North
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Post by Grroosss on May 10, 2020 8:17:18 GMT
Well, as much as it pained me to cut It's Over, here's what I came up with...
Side 1: Standin' In the Rain Big Wheels Summer and Lightning Steppin' Out Mr Blue Sky
Side 2: Sweet Is the Night Turn to Stone Sweet Talkin' Woman Birmingham Blues Wild West Hero
Steppin' Out would be considered part of the concerto (the lyrics do mention rain, so that's allowed, right?). Ideally I would've started side 2 with Turn to Stone, but I didn't want Sweet Is the Night and Sweet Talkin' Woman right next to each other cos they feel too similar, and not having Wild West Hero after Birmingham Blues just feels too weird...
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Post by tightrope on May 10, 2020 12:10:37 GMT
Funny thread! Most bands of the day would be very happy to have 2 or 3 decent songs on an album, most of them were unlistenable.
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jimm64
Junior Member
Posts: 14
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Post by jimm64 on May 10, 2020 14:36:59 GMT
Here is Billboard Magazine's review of OOTB from the Nov 12, 1977 issue.
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Post by orioles70 on May 10, 2020 14:43:59 GMT
jimm64, thanks for posting that interesting that the reviewer doesn't mention MBS when listing the "best cuts" It's not like he could fall back on the "over played" excuse way back in 1977. Mr Blue Sky seems to be "too damned cheerful" for some ears.
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Post by Helmut83 on May 10, 2020 18:49:24 GMT
Not "too damned cheerful" for me, but just "meh". Doesn't do much to me. The verse is nice and bumpy, the chorus is a step downwards, and the part of "hey, there, Mr Blue" is just boring. Far from ELO's worst song in my book, but nothing brilliant, and definitely not deserving the ELO flagship song title. You could say I passively dislike it, or never interested me. Now, "Turn to Stone", that's one song I actively dislike.
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Post by Grroosss on May 10, 2020 18:51:12 GMT
"Best cuts:" *lists half the album*
Just goes to show ya how strong of an album it is!
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