Even great albums have a hierarchy. Some songs are stone-cold classics, some play quiet yet vital supporting roles, and others simply do not reach the same level as the band’s best material. In this Live Music Blog series, we rank every track from worst to best on some of the most notable albums in music history.
Electric Light Orchestra’s A New World Record stands as the group’s most profound and consistent artistic statement up to that point in their career. Led by maestro Jeff Lynne, the band’s lead singer and primary songwriter, the group delved into a phantasmagoria of fantastic song topics, all underpinned by Lynne’s keen ear for melody and harmony. ELO has one of the most enjoyable discographies to explore of the 1970s, so let’s begin with their 1976 masterpiece, which turns 50 years old this year.
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9. “Above the Clouds”
The shortest song on the album also happens to be the weakest, as this short (2:16) track mostly acts as a segue on Side Two of the album between the heights of “Livin’ Thing” and the double-whammy of the closing tracks: “Do Ya” and “Shangri-La.”
8. “So Fine”
A spirited track featuring some sparkling “ooh-la, ooh-la-la” backing vocals, this track is a little light when compared to the rest of the album. It’s still quite catchy, and you will definitely find yourself humming or singing it to yourself without even realizing it, but it doesn’t quite reach the heights found on the rest of the album.
7. “Mission (A World Record)”
And so begins Jeff Lynne’s fascination with space travel and the extraterrestrial—as well as his innate, uncanny ability to be able to put those interests into supremely enjoyable musical form. Lynne simply has a knack for producing tremendous melodies with lyrics that pine toward the celestial, and “Mission (A World Record)” is an early highlight in that category.
Similar in scope and content to earlier tracks like David Bowie’s “Space Oddity,” and Elton John’s “Rocket Man,” Lynne gives it an ELO flavor as well as a wonderfully memorable chorus. A beautiful song, and this track being #7 herein bodes well for the rest of the album.
6. “Do Ya”
“Come on now!” This raucous rocker indicates that ELO were not just peddlers of string-laden, orchestral pop songs heavily influenced by The Beatles. Lynne knew his way around a power chord, and he was not shy about delivering some thundering rockers over the course of his ELO stewardship. “Do Ya” typifies this with its classic three-chord bounce and Lynne’s bellowing lead vocals. A classic rock banger from the group that has aged well.
5. “Rockaria!”
If there’s one thing ELO are known for, it’s incorporating orchestra elements and classical music strains into their music, a la early prog rock. With that in mind, Lynne wanted to make those inspirations clear via a straight-up rock song with classical elements both nae-dropped and implemented into the song’s title. Hence: a “Rock-Aria.” Get it?
While I wasn’t keen on this track in my early ELO listening days, it has grown in esteem in my eyes, to the point that I find myself seeking it out when I would have skipped it before. Stay for the novel combination of operatic lyrics, orchestral motifs, and pure rock n’ roll, but stay for the dynamite chorus: “She’s sweet on Wagner; I think she’d die for Beethoven; she loves the way Puccini lays down a tune; and Verdi’s always creeping from her room.”
4. “Telephone Line”
Beginning with a synthesizer interpolating the sound of a telephone connecting, this track boasts a classic Jeff Lynne ELO melody with an eminently memorable chorus that only gets better upon each subsequent listen. While many songs have been written about calling someone they love again and again to no avail, very few of those songs are as dramatic and anthemic as this classic single from ELO is. An all-timer in the band’s discography.
3. “Livin’ Thing”
Arguably one of the 15 best songs from 1976, this track often ranks highly on lists of ELO’s best songs, and that’s certainly understandable. This single is more or less the platonic ideal of what an ELO song represents, as it boasts a dynamic string section, powerful melodies, some unusual lyrical and vocal choices (the “I’m taking a dive!” part in particular), and a skyscraping chorus that ties the whole thing together perfectly.
2. “Tightrope”
When not employing atmospheric, theatrical instrumentals to begin an album, Lynne and ELO specialize in energetic and memorable album openers, a la “Tightrope” from A New World Record. A bouncy melody line that sees Lynne testing the elasticity of his vocal cords, there is no better way of opening this album than this dramatic and eminently memorable track, which is severely underrated among ELO’s expansive discography.
1. “Shangri-La”
While a rather unorthodox choice, ELO and Lynne’s entire career revolves around the search for a mythical paradise. Whether that be the Xanadu film and film score (written by Lynne), the deep cut “Moment in Paradise” from 2001’s Zoom album, the gossamer reverie “One Summer Dream” from 1975’s Face the Music, or the entire 1974 album Eldorado, Lynne has long been obsessed with the search for a legendary paradise.
Lynne has long aimed to craft a perfect song about the subject and he perhaps hit upon it with the album-closing song from A New World Record: “Shangri-La.” Named after the paradise from James Hilton’s classic novel Lost Horizon, Lynne explores the search for—and loss—of paradise in the novel as it begins “fading like the Beatles on ‘Hey Jude.’”
A beautiful, glistening guitar line, stunningly heartfelt lyrics and a powerfully enduring chorus combine to make this a masterpiece in ELO’s oeuvre, and it stands as the top song from arguably the band’s best album of the 1970s.
Paradise Found On A New World Record
With ELO’s seminal 1976 album hitting its 50th anniversary, it’s nice to rediscover some of Jeff Lynne’s finest moments as a songwriter and join him on his epic quest to find paradise on Earth. With this album, and ELO’s discography in general, Lynne has helped us all get one step closer in that quest through some of the finest music of the era. Long live ELO.
As always, ranking songs on a great album is bound to invite some disagreement, and that is part of the fun. Classic albums tend to inspire strong opinions, especially when the gap between the best song and the weakest one is not that wide, so let us know in the comments how you would rank the tracks on this album. Check back soon as this Live Music Blog series continues with more track-by-track rankings of important albums across music history.
Header Photo Courtesy Jet Records/Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)
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