I just love this disc. Musically, it's a pretty wacky album in a lot of places. Everything and the kitchen sink went into this. You gotta love the late 60's/early 70's; major record companies weren't afraid to release something that was so left of center. As for the mix, it's crazy discrete and it fits the nature of the music. Roy Wood's one-man army of overdubbed cellos mixed in stereo in the rear channels just sounds awesome. Surprised to find that both the original quad mix and the digital transfer for this release were done by Peter Mew. This one sounds better to me than a lot of the other titles he's been involved with.
Despite much of the wackiness that's contained within, the album opens and closes with two pieces of fantastic pop. "10538 Overture" is classic Jeff Lynne power-pop. Killer guitar riff, heavy metal cellos, soaring melody; it just rocks. And the album's closing track "Whisper in the Night" is a stunning Roy Wood ballad blessed with an angelic choir.
It does look like this is still available at reasonable prices on Amazon, eBay, Discogs, etc.... However, I would recommend that you check out the tunes on YouTube or another streaming service before investing. I love this stuff, but it's not the pure pop that ELO came to later be known for. It's a bit more of a difficult listen than "Strange Magic" or "Sweet Talkin' Woman." If you find that you do like the music, then buy with confidence, especially if you like very discrete 70's quad mixes.
Now if we could just get the rumored and/or unreleased quad mixes of ELO 2 & Eldorado released on Blu-ray.....
10.
