"Turn to Stone"

"Turn to Stone"
ELO (Electric Light Orchestra)
Featured on Out of the Blue
United Artists/ CBS
Originally released 3 October 1977
Rock
Vinyl (almost definitely original release)
B

Before I get into the music, I have to talk about this as an album, in the sense of licorice pizza put into sleeves and covers.  Although I didn't buy this at the time (my tastes at nine were even softer, e.g. Donny & Marie), the kind previous owner(s) kept intact the following:

1. A small poster of the band in all their late '70s hirsute glory
2. An ad for 
• An ELO T-shirt with a Farrah-haired model
• A larger poster (20" x 28")
• Membership in the "Electric Light Orchestra Appreciation Society (Fan Club")
3. A cardboard model of the spaceship to assemble, where after you put all the tabs in the slots, you "hope it flies!"

So, you know, if this isn't the original release, it might as well be.  

I remember ELO from the time, not strongly but enough.  This first song takes me back, and the fact that they sound like somehow both the Bee Gees and the Beatles adds layers of nostalgia.  It's a good, smart pop song, with hooks, not disco but not un-disco.  That this is a double album makes me happy.