A band like Electric Light Orchestra is hard to pin down. Where their biggest hits are known by everyone from just a passing few notes, their best works are tougher to push on the public. Jeff Lynne has his hands on plenty of perfect songs and everything from Mr. Blue Sky to Don’t Bring Me Down will be tipped as his finest moment. But spare a thought for the tracks which, with a little shove in the right direction, an added tease of excitement, could have been up there. Turn to Stone remains one of the band’s very best efforts. What a staggering introduction to Out of the Blue. A scene-setter and a standalone powerhouse which is overlooked because of the bountiful songs to follow. Where Turn to Stone is never going to beat out Evil Woman or Last Train to London for the spot of very best ELO work, it comes close.
Agonisingly close. Turn to Stone has the fun punchiness of those electronic-led highs but also features some of the finest vocal work Lynne has ever offered. A warmth swirling away in this song is crucial. Lynne hails Turn to Stone as one of his favourites, and he is right to do so. Immediate atmospherics are at play here, from the deserted streets to the low hum of music never quite bursting through the air. Its coy lyrical stance is a standoff-like experience, especially when burning in the spotlight of criminally underrated, outstanding instrumental prowess. That “something daft” Lynne put in to make the most of a simpler structure is a fine layer which brings Turn to Stone together. What feels like a throwaway is, in hindsight, one of the best offerings Lynne made. These are lyrically vacuous moments which just happen to piece together correctly, painting a bold new narrative.
Those longing tones of wanting a return home, of wanting a loved one to come back, is an essential layer for Out of the Blue. Flourishes from Lynne which spark the emotional core only come after the blistering “turning to stone” section, those upbeat and volatile spoken-word break a necessary midpoint. Such wide suggestions of what turning to stone can mean for the band and for the individual who sees themself in this performance is the key. Accidental? Probably. Hearing Lynne suggest this was a simple song which needed something a little wild in the middle to break up the steadiness is an eye-opener. What Turn to Stone still serves is a magnificent understanding of tempo. Of the balance between lyrical investment and instrumental powers.
Out of the Blue builds from Turn to Stone in what can only be considered a finely tuned experience. Those marathon writing sessions certainly lend themselves to the rest of the album, whose message and tone feel taken by Turn to Stone more than any other song. A consistent urgency, a longing for home as the now iconic spaceship blasts off again, this may be Lynne at his very best. It is certainly an all-around brilliant punch of band interplay. ELO has never sounded better, darker, than they do here. Turn to Stone has something special within – this dependable nature of letting us into a bigger picture. That much may be its Out of the Blue status but here, paired with the ill-forgotten but exceptionally fun Mister Kingdom, it comes into its own.
