A kick off to a sadly aborted concert tour (ticket sales lagged) and album debut, this mini-concert filmed in the CBS studio in L.A. is a fantastic re-visitation of some of ELO's best songs. Performed by an entirely different band, the music still keeps its energy and Jeff Lynn's unique sound. I found the cellists a great addition to the band; their sound may have been able to be synthesized or omitted entirely, but clearly Lynn understood their playing live gave the music that distinctive ELO touch. While I found only a few of the new songs from the Zoom album worth listening to, the concert as a whole is a wonderful collection, played expertly. Be sure to watch it with a good sound system (NOT through your TV's speakers!) and you won't be disappointed.
6 Reviews
Hypnotic
claudio_carvalho17 October 2004
I bough this DVD on April, 2002, an I have watched it at least five times since then. The magnificent and empathic Jeff Lynne as the lead vocal, playing electric and acoustic guitars and having the gorgeous Rosie Vela as female voice, shows classics and new songs of the Electric Light Orchestra. It is amazing how he kept his wonderful voice along more than thirty years. The band has the company of fantastic musicians. The show has an outstanding stage and lighting, and the direction of Lawrence Jordan is perfect. It is very difficult to select the best songs, but I love the classic ones, like 'Do Ya', 'Evil Woman', 'Show Down', 'Strange Magic', 'Livin' Thing', 'Turn to Stone', 'Ma-Ma- Ma Belle', 'State of Mind', 'Can't get It Out of My Head', '10538 Overture' and 'Don't Bring me Down' (Wow, I have listed half of the songs...). One of the best shows on DVD ever. My vote is ten.
Title (Brazil): 'Electric Light Orchestra: Zoom Tour Live'
Title (Brazil): 'Electric Light Orchestra: Zoom Tour Live'
genius at work
robocut116 January 2003
ELO mastermind Jeff Lynne is accompanied by excellent musicians who seem to enjoy their job. Many of the classics and a lot of songs from the "zoom" album. Recorded in a TV Studio, picture quality and 5.1 dolby sound are very good. If you´re a fan you will love it.
Up there with some of the best
dougirvine30 November 2003
This DVD is up there with great quality music concert dvd's such as the Eagles - Hell Freezes Over etc. Amazing sound,great picture,great musicians. And all the hits of E.L.O fame are here and reproduced very faithfully. Stop reading this and go get it. Highly recommended
Enjoyable IF you adore Jeff Lynne
planktonrules26 April 2014
I really enjoyed this concert DVD of Jeff Lynne's Zoom Tour which was made over a decade ago. The quality of the camera-work is great--very professional and very well done. Additionally, the music quality is also very nice.
Since I have been a Lynne/ELO fan for decades, it's not at all surprising that I'd like this DVD--and it would have been weird if I hadn't! However, I must honestly also acknowledge that Lynne's USA tour was canceled soon after it began because ticket sails were so poor! So, because of this, folks on the East Coast like me didn't have a chance to attend the concert! And, you can rightly assume his music isn't exactly popular today! So, while I would score the DVD very high, I doubt if most non-fans would.
My only negative about this is the DVD menu--which looks pretty cheap and pretty stupid. It's a HUGE contrast to the rest of the DVD.
Since I have been a Lynne/ELO fan for decades, it's not at all surprising that I'd like this DVD--and it would have been weird if I hadn't! However, I must honestly also acknowledge that Lynne's USA tour was canceled soon after it began because ticket sails were so poor! So, because of this, folks on the East Coast like me didn't have a chance to attend the concert! And, you can rightly assume his music isn't exactly popular today! So, while I would score the DVD very high, I doubt if most non-fans would.
My only negative about this is the DVD menu--which looks pretty cheap and pretty stupid. It's a HUGE contrast to the rest of the DVD.
One 'Electric' Song Out Of 23 Doesn't Cut It
ccthemovieman-16 January 2007
I'm sorry, ELO fans, but I was disappointed with this concert at the CBS Television City in Los Angeles. It's decent music-wise, but the presentation is simply boring - big-time. Most of the songs sound the same and lead singer-writer Jeff Lynne is about as animated as a store mannequin. He has a pleasant voice, but he isn't much to watch. He just stands in one spot and sings for an hour and 40 minutes. The songs all sound like 1970s-1980s bubblegum stuff: pleasant but not exciting.
Lynn is accompanied by a very pretty woman, Rosie Vela, but she isn't too animated, either. The only song - out of 23 - that creates any excitement is the last one: "Roll Over Beethoven." Now if only some of the other 22 songs had that excitement to them, this could have been a much better concert DVD.
Lynn is accompanied by a very pretty woman, Rosie Vela, but she isn't too animated, either. The only song - out of 23 - that creates any excitement is the last one: "Roll Over Beethoven." Now if only some of the other 22 songs had that excitement to them, this could have been a much better concert DVD.
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