Mr. Blue Sky - The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra (Deluxe Edition) (Rerecorded)

It can be argued—as it was by Electric Light Orchestra leader Jeff Lynne—that the main reason for re-recording his old hits from scratch is because now he's a better producer and wants to use today’s technology to fix yesterday’s mistakes. Whatever the reason, the man did an excellent job, as evidenced by the opening “Mr. Blue Sky.” Lynne impressively played every instrument on this album, sang every part, and recorded every song. And even though he paid painstakingly special attention to the details of rhythmic timing and period-correct tones when tracking these note-for-note remakes, what’s most noticeable is the mastering. Listen to the sweeping string-laden original “Evil Woman” on your earbuds, and then listen to this remake: you’ll immediately notice that it was mastered to make small speakers sound huge. Only “Do Ya” sounds somewhat anachronistic, as Lynne’s slightly aged voice sounds more Traveling Wilburys than ELO.