Is every year not a light year when the efforts are soft rock? This question, along with “why are there so many Electric Light Orchestra compilations” goes unanswered on The Light Years. We are in no short supply of compilations for the Jeff Lynne-fronted band. Can a band with a discography of relatively normal size warrant so many compilations? There are likely more compilations of ELO’s work than there are ELO songs. We can include Lynne’s solo work in that too. Those pieces of soft studio joy are sometimes included, sometimes not. It’s the messy disintegration of information which comes with these releases. Take a glance at the Bob Dylan YouTube channel. Some brave soul will head in there with a blowtorch and their eyes on the self-titled tapes. For now, we can dissect The Light Years, an ample compilation which once more serves as a “what now” point for the band.
What now, indeed? The Light Years celebrates twenty-five years of the band, though it seems to have been delayed a little. The group were founded in 1970, and The Light Years was released in 1997. One of the many minor details which make this release nonsensical. But it is at least a clear path through the band’s discography. All of their singles are compiled here. It’s similar to Singles 1963 – 1965 from The Rolling Stones, though over a longer period and with fewer songs. Chronology is key to a set like this, which makes it all the more ridiculous that The Light Years is shuffled. There is no purpose to doing so beyond giving fans a taste of different decades of work at a time when working through it from earliest to most recent would make sense. Nobody wants a Balance of Power jump scare in their Face the Music helping. If it weren’t for a few songs on the second disc, like Sweet Talkin’ Woman and The Diary of Horace Wimp, you could have snapped it in half and microwaved it.
You’d get more of a spectacle out of that light show from The Light Years. It remains one of the more comprehensive compilations of ELO’s work and does contain deep cut Across the Border. Small pickings for a compilation, both out of order and, at the time of its release, well out of contemporary style. It was not like The Light Years could contend with the comedown of Cool Britannia. Few were in the mood for hearing why Mr. Blue had hidden away for so long in a country of excess, extremities, and ever-changing musical influences. The Strange Magic compilation from two years before this managed a chronological showcase. Shuffling the tracks is hardly going to fix the growing pains of a band whose slip from relevancy came quickly and ruined the first reunion.
Still, it’s nice to see Secret Messages receive some well-deserved appearances. Three in total, which seems appropriate for that hidden gem. Balance of Power receives three, also, though these are not worth hearing. All the usual suspects are in place. Every song that ELO is still defined by, the light rock style which Lynne and the band cruised through the 1970s with, is intact. There’s very little a producer or compiler can do to ruin that. The Light Years tries by shuffling the tracklist but it’s not too far off what half the modern-day listeners will be doing to the band’s discography on streaming services. Not an essential compilation, nor did it seem to be when it was first released. Compiling the singles is not a novel concept, and it would occur again for the many ELO compilations which, even now, are being released.
