A Box of Their Best

A Box of Their Best is the first US box set by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), released in 1980. It consisted of the albums A New World Record (with the sides reversed), Out of the Blue and Discovery. Also included was Jeff Lynne's first ever solo single, "Doin' That Crazy Thing". This single, a one-sided single that was marked as a promo, was not in all releases of the box. The box set is almost identical to the UK release Four Light Years, released the same year.

A Box of Their Best
Box set by Electric Light Orchestra
Released	7 August 1980 (1980-08-07)
Recorded	May 1975 – April 1979
Length	2:35:52
Label	Epic
Producer	Jeff Lynne
Electric Light Orchestra chronology
ELO's Greatest Hits (1979) A Box of Their Best (1980) Xanadu (1980)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[2]

Track listing

Main articles: A New World Record, Out of the Blue (Electric Light Orchestra album), and Discovery (Electric Light Orchestra album)

All songs written by Jeff Lynne.

7" single

1. "Doin' That Crazy Thing" – 3:21

A New World Record

Side one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"So Fine"	3:54
2.	"Livin' Thing"	3:31
3.	"Above the Clouds"	2:16
4.	"Do Ya"	3:43
5.	"Shangri-La"	5:32

Side two

No.	Title	Length
6.	"Tightrope"	5:03
7.	"Telephone Line"	4:38
8.	"Rockaria!"	3:12
9.	"Mission (A World Record)"	4:25

Out of the Blue

Side three

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Turn to Stone"	3:47
2.	"It's Over"	4:08
3.	"Sweet Talkin' Woman"	3:47
4.	"Across the Border"	3:52

Side four

No.	Title	Length
5.	"Night in the City"	4:02
6.	"Starlight"	4:30
7.	"Jungle"	3:51
8.	"Believe Me Now"	1:21
9.	"Steppin' Out"	4:38

Side five – Concerto for a Rainy Day

No.	Title	Length
10.	"Standin' in the Rain"	4:20
11.	"Big Wheels"	5:10
12.	"Summer and Lightning"	4:13
13.	"Mr. Blue Sky"	5:05

Side six

No.	Title	Length
14.	"Sweet is the Night"	3:26
15.	"The Whale"	5:05
16.	"Birmingham Blues"	4:21
17.	"Wild West Hero"	4:40

Discovery

Side seven

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Shine a Little Love"	4:43
2.	"Confusion"	3:42
3.	"Need Her Love"	5:11
4.	"The Diary of Horace Wimp"	4:17

Side eight

No.	Title	Length
5.	"Last Train to London"	4:32
6.	"Midnight Blue"	4:19
7.	"On the Run"	3:55
8.	"Wishing"	4:13
9.	"Don't Bring Me Down"	4:02
Total length:		155:52

Personnel

• Jeff Lynne – vocals, guitars, piano, synthesizer
• Bev Bevan – drums, percussion
• Richard Tandy – piano, synthesizer, electric piano, clavinet
• Kelly Groucutt – bass guitar, vocals

Additional personnel on sides 1–6

• Mik Kaminski – violin
• Melvyn Gale – cello
• Hugh McDowell – cello