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5 Comments

  1. Vaughn Abbott
    August 23, 2015 @ 12:29 pm

    A NEW WORLD RECORD is a masterpiece of timeless pop. If early Bee Gees and The Beatles had a baby it is ELO. I have always favored this album over OUT OF THE BLUE, there’s something more concise about it, “all killer, no filler.” Jeff Lynne’s production genius is in full swing and he pulled out all the stops. “Shangri-La” may be the greatest closing track ever!

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  2. Scott Richards
    May 2, 2019 @ 9:38 pm

    Great review. One minor quibble, obviously the reviewer has never stayed at the Bogenhausen or Arabella hotel (it has had a couple of names over the years). It is hardly “majestic”

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  3. Iain Middleton-Duff
    May 26, 2019 @ 1:52 pm

    In my opinion, it was the precursor to Out Of The Blue. The start of this trait of course was Eldorado, which was in itself an experiment designed to convince The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to work with them. The audition worked and so, when the right project presented itself, it would happen.
    A New World Record debuted in 1976, the essence of progressive rock had faded somewhat. Disco was King as far as popular music was concerned. Here lies the problem. Could an album, heavily dependent on Orchestral movement be relevant, listenable , but moreover Salable?
    Thankfully the crafted melodies and lyrics created by Jeff Lynne ensured all the boxes were ticked.
    In truth, A New World Record does stand in the shadow of Out of The Blue, there is no doubt that the latter album was considered to be the pinnacle on what was achieved. The actual truth is that A New World Record was/is a better piece of work, it did not have the same number of hits per say; but as an album was a more cohesive in respect of the tracks and how the album flows.
    A testament to today is the song Mission. written in 1975 , 44 years ago is still a song that resonates with climate issues our world is experiencing in 2019. I need say no more, if you haven’t listened to this album; take the phone off the hook, give yourself an hour with some headphones and let this album wash over you and give your thoughts. You may be startled as to what you might feel.

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  4. William Edward Mcgeachy
    April 13, 2021 @ 8:14 pm

    A New World Record has everything and has never been matched. Every song is pure magic and Shangri-La must be considered the best ending of an album ever. This album alone turned ELO and Jeff Lynne into Legends in music and are still successful today, with Jeff Lynne’s ELO on sold out tours and hit albums. Their catalogue is well worth researching, have a listen to the recent output of From Out Of Nowhere and Alone in The Universe. Jeff Lynne is still at the top and in a class of his own.

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  5. Robert
    December 16, 2022 @ 10:44 pm

    Great LP. Rumors has it that Lynne re-recorded “Do Ya” (originally by The Move) to combat the perception that it was written by Todd Rundgren/Utopia, who were including it in their live sets at the time. The LP version is superior to Lynne’s re-production of the track years later IMHO. Oh, and Ace Frehley’s version of “Do Ya” actually isn’t too bad!

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