SOARING violins, insistent sawing cellos are the hallmark of the Electric Light Orchestra's appeal.

Or they were in the Seventies. Today their symphonic prog/rock sounds dated to all but the faithful who fondly remember their biggies such as Mr Blue Sky, Livin' Thing, Turn To Stone, Sweet Talkin' Woman and Telephone Line. But you don't get any of those here. This re-mastered, two-CD, 30th anniversary, limited, boxed edition is a quirky, yet interesting, offering which includes In Old England Town, Momma, Roll Over Beethoven and the haunting Everyone's Born To Die featuring tragic rocker Marc Bolan of T-Rex on lead guitar. ELO veteran Jeff Lynne personally directed the re-mastering of these early, and, in some cases, unreleased ELO tunes. The second CD, The Lost Planet, was Roy Wood's concept album follow-up to ELO's debut LP but was abandoned. For 30 years everyone thought had been wiped or lost forever. Thankfully they are all here. With the help of DJ Brian Matthews's voice-over you can chart the rise and rise of ELO.

Updated: 10:01 Thursday, April 24, 2003