October will be an exciting month for fans of Electric Light Orchestra. Co-founder Jeff Lynne will be releasing a solo album, and 'Mr. Blue Sky -- the Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra' on Oct. 9. The reissue of the most well-known hits from the British band allows Lynne to reassess old material.

“When I listen to the old versions they don’t sound the way I thought they did when I first wrote and recorded them," Lynne says in a press release. "I wanted to use the experience I’ve gained producing records ever since and have a completely new try at them. I’m not saying the old versions aren’t good … but experience and technology also play as big a big part, and these new ones sound much more solid and tight.”

'Evil Woman,' 'Don't Bring Me Down' and 'Livin' Thing' are amongst the hits re-recorded for the project. Lynne did all the work at his home studio in Los Angeles.

The solo album is called 'Long Wave,' and features old standards that influenced Lynne. “These songs take me back to that feeling of freedom in those days and summon up the feeling of first hearing those powerful waves of music coming in on my old crystal set," Lynne says. "My dad also had the radio on all the time, so some of these songs have been stuck in my head for 50 years. You can only imagine how great it felt to finally get them out of my head after all these years.

Indeed many like 'Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered' and 'Smile' came before rock and roll was famous. 'Long Wave' has 11 songs while the hits collection has 12.

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