What possessed any record label to churn out Electric Light Orchestra compilations so constantly is lost to time. Someone, somewhere, suggested the Jeff Lynne-fronted group needed triple the amount of compilations as there were studio albums from the band. It’s a trend which has seen decent efforts from those behind the endless stream of work. But those victories are few and far between. One little punch of the air for a considered approach to the band’s discography is met with twenty miserable experiences like The Gold Collection. Even the compilers were tired of Mr. Blue Sky, which is absent from this focused look at the early years of the band. Their most uninteresting period, bar the Zoom to From Out of Nowhere releases. A lowly rung on the ladder, which Lynne would clamber up and up to soft-rock stardom. Those early years when Roy Wood was leading the group, before Lynne was handed the reins, are interesting to those who want to hear spaced-out, progressive-rock work from a band which would ditch this sound.
Odd it may be to see a compilation from a band as notorious as ELO not feature any of their biggest hits, The Gold Collection dares to dream. Showdown is as close as the collection gets to including those all-time greats, and while it may be a nice trip through their earliest works, the problem is clear. Then, as we can now, it’s easier to pick up the albums this collection is compiled from and listen to them fully, as the artist intended. Very few compilations are worth listening to, and most of them feature songs not commonly available or even unreleased pieces. The Gold Collection offers nothing of the sort. It’s a flimsy run through the band’s first three albums with a focus on Wood’s efforts with the band. They’re welcome additions, particularly Whisper in the Night, which feels like one of the many songs from the band removed from its deserving spot on other compilations.
Crucial to that is the song is still available, readily so, on the debut album. No compilation has the grandeur of the original album, it just doesn’t happen. Never is there a story behind an assembly from the record label beyond it being a contractual obligation or a chance to cash in on the band’s popularity. Were ELO as popular in the mid-90s as they were in their ‘70s heyday? No. But it won’t stop a low-risk, low-effort compilation from releasing almost every year. Roll Over Beethoven never lands as a must-listen, though often features on these compilations. It, along with 10538 Overture, are inevitabilities thrown in as placeholder for the early years on those albums which reach a little further ahead in time. It’s a shame the likes of Manhattan Rumble (49th Street Massacre) and Look at Me Now aren’t included on more releases.
Not because they’re essentials or even all that great, but because compilation efforts thrive on variety. It’s what separates them, and if you’re releasing as many as the ELO record label still does, that much is essential. The Gold Collection is a non-essential. It’s another bit of filler from a label trying to capitalise on the work of a band whose last album, at the time of this release, was eleven years ago. A bizarre choice for a compilation, but it wouldn’t stop other releases, either. At least they would feature hits. What was once a chance for new fans to connect with deeper cuts is now, as it was then also, a tad redundant. Playlists, the albums these songs come from, and other releases of similar quality are out there, and predate The Gold Collection.
