ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA

Electric Light Orchestra - Afterglow (Epic) 1990

DISC E
1. 10538 Overture (5:33)
2. Mr. Radio (5:06)
3. Kuiama (11:19)
4. In Old England Town (Boogie #2) (6:55)
5. Momma (7:05)
6. Roll Over Beethoven (8:10)
7. Bluebird Is Dead (4:24)
8. Ma-Ma-Ma Belle (3:52)
9. Showdown (4:09)
10. Can't Get It Out Of My Head (4:25)
11. Boy Blue (5:23)
12. One Summer Dream (5:47)

DISC L
1. Evil Woman (4:18)
2. Tightrope (5:04)
3. Strange Magic (4:32)
4. Do Ya (3:44)
5. Nightrider (4:24)
6. Waterfall (4:11)
7. Rockaria! (3:13)
8. Telephone Line (4:40)
9. So Fine (3:54)
10. Livin' Thing (3:33)
11. Mr. Blue Sky (3:47)
12. Sweet Is The Night (3:26)
13. Turn To Stone (3:48)
14. Sweet Talkin' Woman (3:48)
15. Steppin' Out (4:39)
16. Midnight Blue (4:18)
17. Don't Bring Me Down (4:03)

DISC O
1. Prologue (1:16)
2. Twilight (3:32)
3. Julie Don't Live Here (3:40)
4. Shine A Little Love (4:39)
5. When Time Stood Still (3:33)
6. Rain Is Falling (3:58)
7. Bouncer (3:13)
8. Hello My Old Friend (7:51)
9. Hold On Tight (:07)
10. Four Little Diamonds (4:08)
11. Mandalay (5:20)
12. Buildings Have Eyes (3:56)
13. So Serious (2:41)
14. A Matter Of Fact (3:59)
15. No Way Out (3:24)
16. Getting To The Point (4:29)
17. Destination Unknown (4:06)
18. Rock'n'Roll Is King (3:07)

The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are a British prog-rock group from Birmingham, England. They were formed by Roy Wood's and Jeff Lynn with the idea of to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones. Wood departure the band following the band's debut and Lynne wrote and arranged all of the group's original compositions and produced every album. The band released 12 albums between 1971 and 1983 with several topping charts and gaining notable hit singles. "Afterglow" is ELO's first box set consisting of three discs of material, each one labeled after the group's acronym. The collection is an odd selection containing charted hits, random songs off of their studio albums and a bunch of unreleased tracks.

Disc E consists of mostly material from the band's first five records (No Answer, ELO II, On the Third Day, Eldorado, and Face the Music). This is definitely some of the bands most epic and more progressive material. As with much of the ELO catalog, there are forays into Beatles style pop-rock and art rock as well. Most of the material included on this disc I would consider to be standout material including Kuiama, In Old England Town, 10538 Overture, "One Summer Dream" and the band's incredible interpretation of "Roll Over Beethoven". As well the hit single ""Can't Get It Out of My Head", which sounds like a John Lennon composition. 

Disc L features a majority of the band's most popular period from 1975 - 1979 and the albums "Face The Music", "A New World Record", "Out of the Blue" and "Discovery". This material is definitely less progressive and more pop-rock oriented. Some of their biggest hits are contained here including "Evil Woman", "Do Ya", "Strange Magic" and "Don't Bring Me Down". (Ace Frehley recorded a killer cover of "Do Ya" on his "Anomoly" album.) The large bulk of this CD is taken from the "A New World Record" and "Out of the Blue" albums, aw well as two tracks from "Discover". This collection also contains a few oddities and non-album tracks.

Disc O is built around material from 1979-1986 covering the albums "Time", "Secret Messages", "Balance of Power" as well as one leftover track from "Discovery" that apparently didn't fit on Disc L. No material from the soundtrack "Xanadu" was included here. (As I recall, that is probably a good thing.) There are only a few hit singles on this disc because the bulk of it contains a large number of unreleased songs that didn't make it onto their last three albums or were issued as B-sides on singles. One of the more interesting tracks that I hadn't heard before is "Hello My Old Friend", which is an almost 8-minute long tribute to Lynne's hometown of Birmingham, England complete with lush synths and some Beatle-esque harmonies.

Overall a solid box set that contains enough hits and rarities to please most die-hard fans. Casual fans will probably just stick to the greatest hits comps. Frankly I think this set could have been a four CD collection with more material being included from the early years of the band. There is also a nice 16-page booklet enclosed with tons of photos and liner notes for the avid fan.