The best album cover from Electric Light Orchestra’s impressive discography has been decided on by dedicated fans of the band.
With ELO set to play their last-ever show at Hyde Park later this year, fans of the Jeff Lynne-fronted band were left wondering which of the group’s albums had the best cover. A post to the r/ELO subreddit saw one user ask: “What’s the best ELO album cover?” Fans were split on which was the best of all, but pointed to the legendary Out of the Blue release, as it kickstarted a backdrop and image which would stick with the band. One fan wrote: “Out of the Blue. As a kid it left me trying to draw it over and over.”
Another replied: “It ‘launched’ the whole idea of the ELO spaceship, with an assist from the logo featured on A New World Record, designed by Kosh. (During an episode of VH1 Storytellers, Jeff Lynne jokingly claimed that ‘the flying saucer took us on tour with it.’)”
A third added: “Out of the Blue followed closely by A New World Record. Ironically, that’s how I feel about the albums themselves, too.”
Though Out of the Blue may have inspired the space-age direction of the band’s style, other users suggested albums which released after their 1978 classic were better. One user wrote: “Time, there’s something about the colours and the simplicity of it that always draws me to it.” Another wrote: “There’s something about Discovery that I want a poster of it for my room.”
Some suggested Time has continued the space-like logo of ELO better than Discovery and any other album to follow. One wrote: “As much as I adore the spaceship, it’s gotta be Time for me. Something about the washed out color choice with the design of the planets that just GETS ELO in my opinion. Someone could look at that album cover and know exactly what ELO should sound like without ever listening to a song.”
Another wrote: “Out of the Blue by a good margin. I am torn between Time, which has great personal significance, so I may be biased, Eldorado, which though awesome is pretty much a lift from something else, or Discovery, which is pretty darn cool.”
Some users went even further into the band’s discography and suggested Zoom, the Lynne release from 2001, offered the best cover from the band. One wrote: “I think both Zoom album covers are really great! Something about that 2000s aesthetic really does it for me.”
Another suggested Discovery was the best album cover from the band. They wrote: “I love Discovery. It kinda emulates the feeling of discovering and hearing ELO for the first time! Like a light in the middle of a dark place or time! Plus the man looks so wondrous, which is how I felt when I first heard ELO.”
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