Out of the Blue (Album)
| Out of the blue | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Electric Light Orchestra | ||||
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Publication |
October 1977 |
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| Label (s) | Jet Records | |||
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Format (s) |
CD, LP, MC |
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Rock , kind of rock |
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Title (number) |
17th |
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running time |
70:12 |
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| occupation |
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Studio (s) |
Musicland Studios , Munich (Germany) |
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Out of the Blue (English for: "Out of the blue") is the seventh studio album by the British rock band Electric Light Orchestra . It is the first double album and with over ten million copies sold, it is also one of the most commercially successful works in the band's history. Based on the title, a pressing in bluish-colored vinyl was also published.
background
Jeff Lynne wrote the songs for this double album within three and a half weeks in the summer of 1977 in a chalet in the Swiss Alps . The band needed another three months to record in the Munich Musicland Studios . Even before the album was released, four million albums were pre-ordered, so that the album could very quickly be awarded a platinum record. The success of the album exceeded the success of the previous album A New World Record . Four single releases reached the top ten of the British single charts. In Germany, the singles did not get past a 27th place for Mr. Blue Sky .
The album was first released on CD in 1986, initially as a double CD set based on the double LP as a fat box on Jet Records CDJET 400. However, the two-CD version sold because of the high price at the time 69.95 DM only slowly. Ultimately, each CD had a playing time of around 35 minutes; the album was eventually transferred to a single CD (JETCD 400 / EPIC 450885-2).
For the 30th anniversary of the release, the album was released on CD in 2007 in a digitally revised version with three additional bonus tracks. In Japan, the reissue version was also available again as a two-CD set in mini-LP replica format including a space station cut-out sheet and was labeled with the Jet logo, although the album belongs to the EPIC / Legacy label.
The spaceship featured on the previous album A New World Record was further developed for the cover of the album . The opened double album shows the bridge of the ELO spaceship, it was later recreated for the concert tour of the album for the stage and was also found on other covers. It was included as a cardboard kit with the vinyl double album, as was a sheet with black and white portraits of Jeff Lynne, Bev Bevan, Richard Tandy, Kelly Groucutt, Mik Kaminski, Hugh McDowell and Melvyn Gale.
Track list
page A
Side B
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Side cThe third side of the album was titled Concerto for a Rainy Day
Side D.
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Bonus tracks (30th Anniversary Edition)
- Wild West Hero (Alternate Bridge - Home Demo) - 0:24
- The Quick and the Daft - 1:49
- Latitude 88 North - 3:24
Individual songs
Turn to Stone
Turn to Stone opens the album and it was also the first song that was released as a single. In the UK, the single came to 18th place and stayed in the charts for 12 weeks. However, it was the only single from the album that did not make it into the top ten in Great Britain . The song was sung along with Mr. Blue Sky and Don't Bring Me Down (from the Discovery album ) in the episode "Love & Monsters" of the British science fiction series Doctor Who .
Sweet Talkin 'Woman
Sweet Talkin 'Woman was the third single from the album and reached 6th place in the UK singles chart. Originally the song was supposed to be called Dead End Street . During the studio recording, the title was changed to Sweet Talkin 'Woman , perhaps not to be confused with the Kinks hit Dead End Street . This was a top ten success for the British band in 1966. The intro of the song is reminiscent of the score for the Miss Marple films of the 1960s.
The song was covered in 1998 by the Christian ska punk band Five Iron Frenzy . This version appeared on the EP Quantity Is Job 1 .
Concerto for a Rainy Day
Concerto for a Rainy Day is a musical suite that fills the entire third page of the double album. The four songs merge seamlessly into one another. The suite is about the influence of the weather on people's moods.
Standin 'in the Rain
Standin 'in the Rain is the first song in the suite and begins with the sound of rain and bright keyboard tones, which are then followed after about 30 seconds by a thunder and the onset of strings. Jeff Lynne recorded the rain outside the studio in Munich. With Standin 'in the Rain the band opened their concerts for the album Out of the Blue .
Big wheels
Big Wheels already takes up the musical theme of the final song of the suite Mr. Blue Sky in the transition sequence of Standin 'in the Rain . The working title of the song was in Studio Bad Salad , a play on Sad Ballad .
Summer and Lightning
With Summer and Lightning , as with the songs Standin 'in the Rain and Big Wheels , rain continues to be the dominant theme. The mood becomes more optimistic through the lyrics than in the previous songs and leads to the finale of Mr. Blue Sky .
Mr. Blue Sky
Text excerpt: "Mr. Blue Sky is living here today ". The sky breaks open and the blue sky brings the suite to an optimistic ending. The song is peppered with reminiscences of Jeff Lynne's role models: the Beatles . The polyphonic chorus parts are reminiscent of the polyphonic singing of the Fab Four. The orchestral ending is very close to the finale to A Day in the Life . The song is also considered the hymn to the English Midlands and is played before every home game of the Birmingham City football club to honor the friendship between Jeff Lynne and former Birmingham professional Trevor Francis . The single Mr. Blue Sky reached the 6th place of the British single charts as the second release from the album.
Charts
album
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
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 AT
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 CH
|
 UK
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 US
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| 1977 | Out of the blue |
DE6 (80 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK4 (111 weeks) UK |
US4 (58 weeks) US |
|
gray hatching : no chart data available for this year
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
US
|
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| 1977 | Turn to Stone |
DE32 (9 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK18 (12 weeks) UK |
US13 (15 weeks) US |
|
| 1978 | Mr. Blue Sky |
DE27 (10 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK6 (11 weeks) UK |
US35 (12 weeks) US |
|
| Wild West Hero | - | - | - |
UK6 (14 weeks) UK |
- | ||
| Sweet Talkin 'Woman | - | - | - |
UK6 (9 weeks) UK |
US17 (16 weeks) US |
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| It's over | - | - | - | - |
US75 (4 weeks) US |
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Awards for music sales
The album was proven to have received two gold records and three platinum records, with which it was awarded for over 1.7 million units sold. According to sources, Out of the Blue has sold over ten million copies worldwide.
| Country / Region | Award | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales) |
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|
Germany (BVMI)
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 gold
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250,000 |
 Canada (MC)
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 platinum
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100,000 |
 Netherlands (NVPI)
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gold
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50,000 |
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United States (RIAA)
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platinum
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1,000,000 |
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United Kingdom (BPI)
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platinum
|
300,000 |
| All in all |
2 × gold 3 × platinum |
1,700,000 |
Web links
- Reviews of Out of the Blue on the Babyblauen Seiten
- Out of the Blue at Allmusic (English)
- Out of the Blue at Last.fm (English)
- Out of the Blue at laut.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Electric Light Orchestra: To celebrate the 40th anniversary of ELO's “Out of the Blue”. sonymusic.de, November 23, 2017, accessed on August 24, 2020 .
- ↑ Out of the Blue at Discogs
- ↑ jefflynnesongs.com
- ↑ Out of the Blue at Allmusic (English)
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↑ a b chart sources:
- Out of the Blue in the German charts at OfficialCharts.de
- Out of the Blue in the Austrian charts on AustrianCharts.at
- Out of the blue in the Swiss charts on Hitparade.ch
- Out of the Blue in the Official UK Charts (English)
- Out of the Blue in the US Billboard 200 album charts
- ↑ Award in Germany
- ↑ Award in Canada
- ↑ Award in the Netherlands
- ↑ Distinction in the United States
- ↑ Award in the United Kingdom