Electric Light Orchestra

In my alphabetical journey through my CD collection, I am up to the Electric Light Orchestra. I listened to four albums in one round trip to Great Adventure.

Listening to them again after so many years is a fascinating experience. For those not old enough to remember, there was a period in the late 70s when they were absolutely huge. You could not get tickets to an ELO concert to save your life.

Listening to these records, I am reminded, perhaps for the first time, of how truly godawful they were. Except for some older material, in which Jeff Lynne had not completely abandoned his garage band roots in the Move, this music is utterly worthless. It is the sound of Jeff Lynne printing money.

What does this say about the record industry and the listening public? The record company is obviously utterly cynical. The only relevant consideration is how many records can they sell. And why not? The record industry is an industry after all. Why shouldn't they take people's money in the same crass way that they take people's money for other overpriced consumer goods?