ELO's Greatest Hits

ELO's Greatest Hits
Greatest hits album by
Electric Light Orchestra
Released23 November 1979
RecordedApril 1973–August 1977
Length44:50
Label
ProducerJeff Lynne
Electric Light Orchestra chronology
Discovery
(1979) 		ELO's Greatest Hits
(1979) 		A Box of Their Best
(1980)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Christgau's Record GuideB+[2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[3]
MusicHound3/5[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[5]
Record Mirror[6]

ELO's Greatest Hits is a compilation by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), released 23 November 1979.[7][8] Despite being released after the album Discovery, this album omitted the band's most recent hits, "Don't Bring Me Down" and "Shine a Little Love".

The album sleeve art features a letter written by the band's co-founder and leader, Jeff Lynne, describing the '73–'78 period and the recording of each of the songs.

Track listing

All tracks written by Jeff Lynne.

Side one
# Title Album Length
1 "Evil Woman" (Single version) Face the Music (1975) 4:10
2 "Livin' Thing" A New World Record (1976) 3:31
3 "Can't Get It Out of My Head" Eldorado (1974) 4:22
4 "Showdown" (U.S. single edit) On the Third Day (U.S.) (1973)
Showdown (UK) (1974) 		3:51
5 "Turn to Stone" Out of the Blue (1977) 3:48
6 "Rockaria!" A New World Record (1976) 3:12
Side two
# Title Album Length
1 "Sweet Talkin' Woman" Out of the Blue (1977) 3:47
2 "Telephone Line" A New World Record (1976) 4:37
3 "Ma-Ma-Ma Belle" (Single edit) On the Third Day (1973) 3:35
4 "Strange Magic" (UK single version) Face the Music (1975) 4:07
5 "Mr. Blue Sky" Out of the Blue (1977) 5:05

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1979-1980) Peak
position
Argentinian Albums Chart[9] 7
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[10] 1
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[11] 17
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[12] 2
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[13] 13
Spanish Albums (AFYVE)[14] 28
UK Albums (OCC)[15] 7
US Billboard 200[16] 30

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[17] Platinum 50,000^
Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong)[18] Gold 10,000*
United Kingdom (BPI)[19] Platinum 300,000^
United States (RIAA)[20] 4× Platinum 4,000,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ ELO's Greatest Hits at AllMusic
  2. ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: E". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved 24 February 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  3. ^ Larkin, Colin, ed. (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th edn). London: Omnibus Press. p. 916. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  4. ^ Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel, eds. (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. p. 382. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
  5. ^ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th edn). New York, NY: Fireside/Simon & Schuster. p. 274. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  6. ^ Nicholls, Mike (24 November 1979). ELO: ELO's Greatest Hits. Vol. 26. Record Mirror. p. 25.
  7. ^ "BPI certifications for ELO".
  8. ^ Burbeck, Rodney, ed. (10 November 1979). "Phenomenal Response to Best of ELO" (PDF). Music Week. London, England, U.K.: Morgan-Grampian: 1. ISSN 0265-1548. Archived from the original on 9 March 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2023. On November 23, Jet Records releases worldwide the Electric Light Orchestra's Greatest Hits album.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  9. ^ "Cash Box - International Best Sellers" (PDF). worldradiohistory.com. Cash Box. 26 April 1980. p. 18.
  10. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, New South Wales: Australian Chart Book. p. 101. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  11. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Electric Light Orchestra – ELO's Greatest Hits" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  12. ^ "Charts.nz – Electric Light Orchestra – ELO's Greatest Hits". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  13. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Electric Light Orchestra – ELO's Greatest Hits". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  14. ^ Salaverri, Fernando (2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  15. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  16. ^ "Electric Light Orchestra Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  17. ^ "Kent Music Report No 341 – 5 January 1981 > Platinum and Gold Albums 1980". Kent Music Report. Retrieved 12 November 2021 – via Imgur.com.
  18. ^ "IFPIHK Gold Disc Award − 1983". IFPI Hong Kong. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  19. ^ "British album certifications – Elo – ELO's Greatest Hits". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
  20. ^ "American album certifications – Electric Light Orchestra – ELO's Greatest Hits". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 10 April 2022.