The movie "Mr. Blue Sky: The Story of Jeff Lynne" is very good; highly recommended! I saw it a few months ago on Paladia. As far as I can tell, it is only available for purchase on itunes. It will be available to rent from itunes on 12/11/15. Mr. Lynne is truly a very talented singer, songwriter, and producer.
Unlikely New Gem...ELO
Apropos to the recent rock music with strings thread:
ELO was always a mixed bag for me. I liked all of the main songwriters - Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne, and (in later iterations) Parthenon Huxley. However, the main conceit (strings) usually detracted from the main pleasure (guitar driven pop/rock). Well.....
Jeff Lynne has gotten the band back together and released a record of beautifully crafted pop songs. IMO, it's Lynne at his best, recalling the Beatles and Tom Petty first and foremost. Not a lot of strings here (a good thing, IMO). Nothing particularly groundbreaking or original, either....just top notch songwriting, playing and singing.
Unlikely as it seems, I think the record is definitely worth hearing and might be ELO's best work (snarky "bar is low" commentary is unnecessary).
ELO was always a mixed bag for me. I liked all of the main songwriters - Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne, and (in later iterations) Parthenon Huxley. However, the main conceit (strings) usually detracted from the main pleasure (guitar driven pop/rock). Well.....
Jeff Lynne has gotten the band back together and released a record of beautifully crafted pop songs. IMO, it's Lynne at his best, recalling the Beatles and Tom Petty first and foremost. Not a lot of strings here (a good thing, IMO). Nothing particularly groundbreaking or original, either....just top notch songwriting, playing and singing.
Unlikely as it seems, I think the record is definitely worth hearing and might be ELO's best work (snarky "bar is low" commentary is unnecessary).