A New World Record
A New World Record | ||||
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Munich, Germany; string and choral overdubs at De Lane Lea Studios, Wembley; fixes at Cherokee Studios, Los Angeles | ||||
Genre | ||||
Length | 36:20 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer | Jeff Lynne | |||
Electric Light Orchestra chronology | ||||
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Electric Light Orchestra studio album chronology | ||||
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Singles from A New World Record | ||||
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A New World Record is the sixth studio album by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). It was released on 15 October 1976 on United Artists Records in the U.S.,[1] and on 19 November 1976 on Jet Records in the United Kingdom.[2][3] A New World Record marked ELO's shift towards shorter pop songs, a trend which would continue across their career.
Their second album to be recorded at
In 1977, four of the album's songs were featured on the soundtrack of the film Joyride. In 2006, the album was remastered and released with bonus tracks on Sony's Epic/Legacy imprint. "Surrender" was also issued as a promotional single and an iTunes download single, which entered the top 100 download chart. The track was originally written in 1976 for a cancelled film soundtrack and was finished in 2006. In July 2012, the all vinyl record company Music on Vinyl re-released A New World Record on 180 gram vinyl with an embossed cover.
Background
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The band's frontman Jeff Lynne regarded his own songwriting at this point to have reached a new high.
"The songs started to flow and most of them came quickly to me. To have all those hits, it was just ...I mean amazing really. Going from doing okay for probably three or four years to suddenly being in the big time, it was a strange but great thing."
- – Jeff Lynne 2006; A New World Record remaster
Patti Quatro, Brie Brandt (both of Fanny) and Addie Lee sang uncredited backing vocals on the album.[4][5]
Critical reception
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
New Musical Express | (favourable)[15] |
The album was well received by the music press. In the UK, Harry Doherty of Melody Maker recalled that when Lynne and Roy Wood had formed ELO it was to create "a group that would merge the excitement and colour of rock and roll with the clear lines of classical music", and that "A New World Record is, I feel, the closest that the Electric Light Orchestra have come to realising this". In his opinion the album "takes a giant leap forward... the most striking progression on this album is the use of orchestra and choir. Strings are no longer a novelty." In conclusion, Doherty stated that "A New World Record is ELO's best album in its seven-year history, the most complete of them all. They're a band who haven't yet gained the attention in this country that they deserve. Acquiring this album would be a fine way to change all that."[14] NME's Bob Edmands complimented Lynne's songwriting, saying, "This is, in fact, a very ambitious album, possibly the most sophisticated the band have put out. But random experiments are no way to crack the States or to stay in favour there, and the complexity on this set is all in the service of strong melodic songs." Edmands also agreed with Doherty that ELO deserved to be recognised as a major outfit in the UK, saying, "Lynne and his band are in the front rank of the nation's rock experts, and it's time their standing was properly acknowledged at home".[15]
Robin Smith of Record Mirror said, "Combining electric guitars with highbrow symphonies is a pretty crazy combination, but for the ELO it works. Often the music borders on clumsiness and the lyrics are sometimes silly, but the band's sense of fun carries them through."[11] Tim Lott of Sounds declared that "with A New World Record Lynne has captured the essential atmosphere of sophisticated pop without sounding overblown or cheap. Each of the nine tracks is immediate, commercial, professional." He noted some minor failings with the record, but that they were outweighed by the album's positive aspects, and concluded, "There ain't a duff track anywhere. And trying to balance the superlatives with useless nitpicking and the 'relevance' of supposed old farts like Lynne would be sheer crap."[13]
In the U.S. Alan Niester had some reservations in his review for
In his retrospective review for AllMusic Bruce Eder compared A New World Record with ELO's follow-up, the double album Out of the Blue, and felt that the former album was the better of the two, being "a more modest-sized creation chock full of superb songs that are produced even better... A New World Record contains seven of the best songs ever to come out of the group. The Beatles influence is present, to be sure, but developed to a very high degree of sophistication and on Lynne's own terms, rather than being imitative of specific songs."[6]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Jeff Lynne
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Tightrope" | 5:00 |
2. | "Telephone Line" | 4:38 |
3. | "Rockaria!" | 3:12 |
4. | "Mission (A World Record)" | 4:24 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
5. | "So Fine" | 3:55 |
6. | "Livin' Thing" | 3:31 |
7. | "Above the Clouds" | 2:16 |
8. | "Do Ya" | 3:45 |
9. | "Shangri-La" | 5:34 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
10. | "Telephone Line" (different vocal) | 4:41 |
11. | "Surrender" (previously unreleased; also released as a single) | 2:37 |
12. | "Tightrope" (early instrumental rough mix) | 4:55 |
13. | "Above the Clouds" (early instrumental rough mix) | 1:14 |
14. | "So Fine" (early instrumental rough mix) | 4:16 |
15. | "Telephone Line" (instrumental) | 4:51 |
The
Personnel
Sourced from the original album liner notes unless where noted.
- Jeff Lynne – lead vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, percussion, Wurlitzer 200 electric piano
- Bev Bevan – drums, percussion, Minimoog "drum", backing vocals
- Richard Tandy – Wurlitzer 200 electric piano, Minimoog, Micromoog, clavinet, piano, SLM Concert Spectrum, Mellotron M400, electric guitar, percussion, backing vocals
- Kelly Groucutt – bass guitar, percussion, backing vocals, lead vocals
- Mik Kaminski – violin
- Hugh McDowell – cello, percussion
- Melvyn Gale – cello
- Additional personnel
- Mary Thomas – operatic vocals
- Patti Quatro – uncredited backing vocals[4][5]
- Brie Brandt – uncredited backing vocals[5]
- Addie Lee – uncredited backing vocals[5]
- engineer
- Orchestra and choral arrangements – Louis Clark, Jeff Lynne, Richard Tandy[19]
- Orchestra conducted by Louis Clark
- Duane Scott – Engineer for USA edit
Charts
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
|
Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Canada (Music Canada)[45] | 2× Platinum | 200,000^ |
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[46] | Gold | 25,200[46] |
Netherlands (NVPI)[47] | Gold | 50,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI)[48] | Platinum | 300,000^ |
United States (RIAA)[49] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
References
- ^ Simmons, Paul (9 October 1976). "Managers' Notes" (PDF). Cashbox. p. 31.
- ^ "Recording News". NME. 30 October 1976. p. 2.
- ^ "News Flashes". Melody Maker. 30 October 1976. p. 4.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-44472-819-4.
- ^ a b c d Electric Light Orchestra: Song by Song
- ^ AllMusic. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
- ^ ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved 24 February 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
- ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
- ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
- ^ Rees, Paul (July 2006). "ELO – A New World Record". Q. No. 240. pp. 124–25.
- ^ a b Smith, Robin (27 November 1976). "Review: Electric Light Orchestra – A New World Record". Record Mirror. p. 22.
- ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
- ^ a b Lott, Tim (27 November 1976). "Record breakers". Sounds. p. 28.
- ^ a b Doherty, Harry (20 November 1976). "ELO – at last, a classic". Melody Maker. p. 28.
- ^ New Musical Express. pp. 42–43.
- ^ Niester, Alan (16 December 1976). "Electric Light Orchestra: A New World Record: Music Review". Rolling Stone. No. 228. pp. 82 & 85. Archived from the original on 16 April 2008.
- ^ "CashBox Album Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 30 October 1976. p. 35. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
- ^ "Electric Light Orchestra - A New World Record". Discogs. 1976. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
- ^ "A New World Record - Electric Light Orchestra | Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic.
- ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ "Austriancharts.at – Electric Light Orchestra – A New World Record" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
- ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 5174a". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
- ^ "Electric Light Orchestra". Danske Hitlister. Archived from the original on 10 April 2016.
- ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Electric Light Orchestra – A New World Record" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
- ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
- GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
- ISBN 978-4-87131-077-2.
- ^ "Charts.nz – Electric Light Orchestra – A New World Record". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
- ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Electric Light Orchestra – A New World Record". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
- ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
- ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Electric Light Orchestra – A New World Record". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
- ^ "Electric Light Orchestra Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
- Cash Box. Vol. XXXVIII #31. 18 December 1976. p. 49. Retrieved 30 December 2020 – via World Radio History.
- ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 5175". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
- ^ "Dutch charts jaaroverzichten 1976" (in Dutch). Archived from the original (ASP) on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
- ^ Kent (1993). p. 429.
- ^ "Austriancharts.st – Jahreshitparade 1977" (ASP) (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
- ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 5558". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
- ^ "Dutch charts jaaroverzichten 1977" (in Dutch). Archived from the original (ASP) on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
- GfK Entertainment Charts. 1977. Archived from the originalon 24 October 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
- ^ a b "Complete UK Year-End Album Charts". Archived from the original on 19 May 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
- ^ "Top Pop Albums of 1977". billboard.biz. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
- ^ Kent (1993). p. 430.
- ^ "Canadian album certifications – Electric Light Orchestra – A New World Record". Music Canada.
- ^ Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
- ^ "Dutch album certifications – Electric Light Orchestra – A New World Record" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Enter A New World Record in the "Artiest of titel" box.
- ^ "British album certifications – Electric Light Orchestra – A New World Record". British Phonographic Industry.
- ^ "American album certifications – Electric Light Orchestra – A New World Record". Recording Industry Association of America.