Shangri-La - Electric Light Orchestra (1976)

"Shangri-La" was released in the winter of 1976 on Electric Light Orchestra's sixth studio album, A New World Record. This album spawned a couple of major hits and jettisoned the band to the greatest commercial and critical heights they ever attained. The cover art features the famous ELO logo, designed by Kosh, for the first time. This logo would be included on several of the group's subsequent releases. The album included the hit singles "Telephone Line", which became the band's first gold US single, "Livin' Thing", and "Do Ya" (US); and "Rockaria!" (UK). The focus is more on shorter pop songs, a trend which would continue throughout the rest of ELO's future albums. In 2006, the album was remastered and released with bonus tracks. "Surrender" was also issued as a promotional single and an iTunes download single, which entered the top 100 download chart. The band's frontman Jeff Lynne regards his own songwriting at this point to have reached a new high. "The songs started to flow and most of them came quickly to me. To have all those hits, it was just ...I mean amazing really. Going from doing okay for probably three or four years to suddenly being in the big time, it was a strange but great thing." -- Jeff Lynne 2006; A New World Record remaster A New World Record was the first Electric Light Orchestra album I ever bought. After the needle drop, the first thing you hear is the synth/strings introduction of the record's first track, "Tightrope" and from these first notes to the fade-out of the album's closer, the beautiful "Shangri-La", this is a record filled with stunningly gorgeous, hook-filled beyond reason, alternately driving and lilting rock and roll music. This track uses the 2006 remaster and I gotta say, you've never heard this album until you hear the added depth and clarity which the music received with the sonic improvement of the the remaster! It is amazing. Working on the vid I was cranking the remaster through the headphones and I tell you...this sounds absolutely incredible.....you've never really heard it until you hear the lossless remaster through headphones! Trust me on this. ;-) This is the second video for a song from "A New World Record" that I've made, the first being "Tightrope". The colored-sphere was audio timed to "Shangri-La", but I'd gone ahead and included it in the first video as well. Even though I'd originally planned to sync the movement of the sphere to the video as the highlight of "Shangri-La", it really wasn't working out, so I just mixed it in wherever. This was my 5th ELO vid....opened and closed A New World Record!....maybe later a track or two from the middle? "Shangi-La" is such a beautiful song. I've always been mesmerized by it and it was such a strong closer to a brilliant album. The lines "faded like the Beatles on Hey Jude" always seemed to me such a cool tribute to Jeff's love of his, and millions of other people's, favorite band and I wanted to try and get them into the video as well. I also wanted to actually fade "Shangri-La" with the referenced "Hey Jude" fade...toned WAY back of course! LOL! The Beatles are so incredibly potent and putting even a drop of them into another artists video is risky....but I couldn't resist, and Jeff did of course invoke them in his lyrics....hope you don't mind the indulgence! ;-) Till next....hope you enjoy this one! [Lyrics] Sitting here, waiting for, Someone calling at my door, Too bad, I'm getting out of love. What's the use of changing things, Wonder what tomorrow brings, Who knows, I'm getting out of love. CHORUS My Shangri-la has gone away, Faded like the Beatles on Hey Jude She seemed to drift out on the rain That came in somewhere softly from the blue Clouds roll by and hide the sun, Raindrops fall on everyone, So sad, I'm getting out of love. CHORUS -- repeat CHORUS -- repeat