Jeff Lynne's ELO: Alone in the Universe is the first album in 15 years

After a long hiatus (the proper last studio album was Zoom in 2001) Electric Light Orchestra return with a new album and a new name.
For reasons still not officially confirmed, now the group (actually formed by one person since 2001) is called "Jeff Lynne's ELO"; just few days ago it was announced that Lynne had signed with Columbia for a new album, and now we have all the details about it.
The album wil be called "Alone In The Universe" and it will be released on 13th November.
The standard CD edition will feature 10 tracks, while a deluxe edition will also have two additional bonus tracks; also, there will be a vinyl edition.

Tracklist:
       1. When I Was A Boy
       2. Love & Rain

  3. Dirty To The Bone

  4. When The Night Comes

  5. The Sun Will Shine On You

  6. Ain't It A Drag

  7. All My Life

  8. I'm Leaving You

  9. One Step At A Time

  10. Alone In The Universe

(bonus tracks on the deluxe edition only)

  11. Faultline

  12. Blue

On their official Youtube channel (ELOVEVO) you can also find the audio of the first single, "When I Was A Boy".

Jeff Lynne said in a press release about the album:
"Music is such a powerful force in our lives. A good song can make people feel much less alone in this universe. And trying to create one of those songs somehow makes me feel less alone too. My whole life-from being that kid with a dream in Birmingham right until today-proves how much music can do."

Ashley Newton, President of Columbia Records, also adds:
"Jeff Lynne is a total master of his craft and 'Alone In The Universe' is pure pop perfection. We are thrilled to be involved in the return of ELO and enormously proud to be releasing this contemporary classic on Columbia Records."

Available for pre-order:
standard CD
deluxe CD
vinyl LP

The Art of McCartney, a new tribute album to Paul McCartney featuring some of the world's greatest artists

The Art Of McCartney is a long awaited and very special project celebrating one of the most universally acclaimed songwriters of all time, Sir Paul McCartney. With backing provided by McCartney’s long time band, classic tracks from his Beatles and solo career, including Wings, have been recorded by some of the world’s greatest artists.
The calibre of artists showing their respect to Paul’s songwriting genius is truly staggering: Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, The Cure, The Who’s Roger Daltrey, Brian Wilson, Alice Cooper, Def Leppard, Dr John, Yusuf (Cat Stevens), Barry Gibb, Jamie Cullum, KISS, Chrissie Hynde, ELO legend Jeff Lynne, and many more have recorded McCartney songs exclusively for this album.

The Art Of McCartney is the brainchild of Los Angeles producer, Beatles and McCartney fanatic, Ralph Sall, who has driven this project from conception to delivery: Sall met and worked alongside Paul in 2003 when they revived a song from the 1971 Ram sessions for a movie soundtrack ("The In-Laws"); Ralph then asked Paul and his publishing company if they would support his making this album to honour him. They came back with Paul’s own blessing and thumbs aloft for the project to go ahead.

Ralph became a man on a mission, first recruiting McCartney’s gifted backing guitarists, Rusty Anderson and Brian Ray, keyboard player Paul “Wix” Wickens, plus the larger than life drummer, Abe Laboriel, Jr; they know Paul’s extensive back catalogue intimately and this is the first time they have recorded his songs with anyone else since they first started working together with Paul over 12 years ago.
Ralph then set about approaching the world’s greatest performers to invite them to step forward and make their mark. This has been a labour of love, not only for Ralph but also for the artists who gave their time to be part of it. All have spoken of the importance of McCartney and his songwriting in their own careers and wanted to show their appreciation.


Legendary Beach Boy, Brian Wilson, was the first to take up the challenge. Undoubtedly he set the bar very high with his rendition of Wanderlust from the underrated 1982 album Tug Of War.
There are very few artists whose own work rivals The Beatles, so when producer Ralph Sall approached Bob Dylan to take part, he knew it was ambitious. Dylan’s choice was Things We Said Today – a track from The Beatles’ soundtrack A Hard Days Night – and audiences will be captivated as he growls his way through his remarkable version.

All aspects of Paul’s peerless back catalogue have been explored from The Beatles to his experimental early solo work, to Wings and his latter solo output. Lesser-known hidden classics such as Junk and Every Night are given a fresh outing and interpretation.

Released on November 17th in several formats:

-2CD with the following tracklist:

CD1

1. Maybe I'm Amazed - Billy Joel
2. Things We Said Today - Bob Dylan
3. Band On The Run - Heart
4. Junior's Farm - Steve Miller
5. The Long And Winding Road - Yusuf/Cat Stevens
6. My Love - Harry Connick, Jr
7. Wanderlust - Brian Wilson
8. Bluebird - Corinne Bailey Rae
9. Yesterday - Willie Nelson
10. Junk - Jeff Lynne
11. When I'm 64 - Barry Gibb
12. Every Night - Jamie Cullum
13. Venus And Mars/Rock Show - KISS
14. Let Me Roll It - Paul Rodgers
15. Helter Skelter - Roger Daltrey
16. Helen Wheels - Def Leppard
17. Hello Goodbye - The Cure Featuring James McCartney

CD2

1. Live And Let Die - Billy Joel
2. Let It Be - Chrissie Hynde
3. Jet - Robin Zander & Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick
4. Hi Hi Hi - Joe Elliot
5. Letting Go - Heart
6. Hey Jude - Steve Miller
7. Listen To What The Man Said - Owl City
8. Got To Get You Into My Life - Perry Farrell
9. Drive My Car - Dion
10. Lady Madonna - Allen Toussaint
11. Let Em In - Dr. John
12. So Bad - Smokey Robinson
13. No More Lonely Nights - The Airborne Toxic Event
14. Eleanor Rigby - Alice Cooper
15. Come And Get It - Toots Hibbert with Sly & Robbie
16. On The Way - B.B. King
17. Birthday - Sammy Hagar

Amazon's exclusive version will also have the following bonus tracks:
   18. C Moon (Amazon Bonus Track) - Robert Smith
   19. Put It There (Amazon Bonus Track) - Peter, Bjorn & John

-2CD + DVD "The Making of The Art Of McCartney" featuring behind-the-scenes and interviews with the artists contributing to the project; the 2CD tracklist is identical to the above and also in this case Amazon will have an exclusive version with the same two bonus tracks

-3LP with the same 34-song tracklist as the standard 2CD

Also, on 15th December, two limited run boxsets will be released:

-vinyl-only boxset, with four 180-gram coloured vinyls (see below for the bonus tracks of the 4th LP) and an illustrated guide within a 12" bound book

-Deluxe boxset, featuring apart from the 2 CDs and DVD as above:

• 2 pieces of specially commissioned artwork by Alan Aldridge
• Höfner guitar USB with FLAC files of 34 tracks
• The Making of The Art Of McCartney - Audio documentary about the making of the album narrated by Bill Nighy
• Illustrated guide within a 64-page 12” hardback book
• 4 black and white artcards
• 42 track quadruple 12", 180 gram coloured vinyl
• Certificate of authenticity hand numbered
• A bonus CD with the following bonus tracks:        

1. C Moon - Robert Smith
2. Can't Buy Me Love - Booker T-Jones
3. P.S. I Love You - Ronnie Spector
4. All My Loving - Darlene Love
5. For No One - Ian McCulloch
6. Put It There - Peter, Bjorn & John
7. Run Devil Run - Wanda Jackson
8. Smile Away - Alice Cooper

[Source: The Art of McCartney]