Electric Light Orchestra: Zoom Tour Live

I confess that when I looked at the listing of the opening tracks for this live ELO concert --"Do Ya," "Evil Woman," "Showdown," "Strange Magic," and "Livin' Thing"--I had a vague notion that I might know one or two, but (and this is the eerie part) as soon as I loaded this puppy up, every single one of these songs lying in the dormant "1970s AM Forgettable Light Rock" drawer of my brain were instantly recognizable. Fronted by writer-singer-guitarist Jeff Lynne, this PBS-aired concert gets off to a rousing start as petals from a spaceship dome open to reveal the eight-piece band launching into a 23-song set that (unfortunately) saddles listeners with a total of 7 songs (nearly one-third) off the ill-fated 15-years-after reunion album Zoom. In addition to the aforementioned hits, ELO plays rather unimaginative, near-studio-identical versions of "Telephone Line," "Turn to Stone" "Can't Get It Out of My Head," "Shine a Little Love," "Don't Bring Me Down" (and, trust me, you do know all of these) and, of course, "Roll Over Beethoven." Although poor ticket sales on the scrapped Zoom tour suggest that ELO's little light doesn't shine like it once did, this should still be considered a strong, optional purchase. Aud: P. (R. Pitman)