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[Mervap]

This subject came up in another thread, but I figure it's important enough to have a topic for it. The question was posed why the second album didn't have any pop hits on it...

I bought the box set of these two and, when listening to them back to back, I don't hear a big difference...well, outside of Roy Orbison not being there. The musical climate had changed, naturally, but the Wilburys were out of step with what was current at the time of the first album anyway. My feeling was that the first record came as such a wonderful surprise at the time, a second album could never have lived up to it. Additionally, perhaps people had wearied of the "Jeff Lynne Sound" production...after all, we had "Cloud Nine", "Mystery Girl", "Full Moon Fever", Wilburys Vol.1 and Jeff's "Armchair Theatre" all in the space of a couple of years.

[kylenz]

I think you're onto it - all those Jeff Lynne productions sounded exactly like eachother - all within a few years of eachother. And I think you could add 'Free As A Bird' to the mix too. Something about that snare drum, and the unwavering no-frills 4/4 beat all at that same mid-tempo. It all sounded heavily compressed or something. Like it had the life squashed out of it!

Which is kinda strange, because if I hear an ELO album from the 1970s, it never really sounded like that at all. Maybe because Bev Bevan himself had a lot more life to his drumming style than Jim Keltner (my humble opinion, maybe that's a taste thing - I like drummers like Bev Bevan and Keith Moon that show vivaciousness). So maybe it came down to not only the sound, but also the drummer on the sessions.

[Mervap]

That Lynne style didn't really begin to crystalize until the early-mid 80's....it was all over ELO's "Secret Messages" and the tracks he produced for Dave Edmunds on his album "Information". I suspect sometime in the early 80's he discovered something new production-wise.

[Keri]

The First album is really good though, the Jeff Lynn sound is fine, very 80s but there is a nice clarity in the recording, I wouldn't rave about it but it is fine. The songs are really good and it seems to me that the guys enjoyed themselves, it has such a friendly atmosphere. A group of huge rock stars an absolute super group and yet there is no sense of ego here. The material all fits together, their voices fit together it's a great treat. To me it sounds fresh every time I play it.

And yeah the sequel album never quite lived up to the original, but still has some good songs on it.

[2 of 3]

My only issue with the second album is that with all those crazy good songwriters in the band, there isn't a catchy pop tune on it. All the songs are good of course, but nothing jumps out for me. It makes me wonder if they did it on purpose.