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From the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Out Of The Blue

Electric Light Orchestra

1977

Buy At Rough Trade
Out Of The Blue
Album Summary

Out of the Blue is the seventh studio album by the British rock group Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), released in October 1977. Written and produced by ELO frontman Jeff Lynne, the double album is among the most commercially successful records in the group's history, selling about 10 million copies worldwide by 2007.

Wikipedia

Rating

3.64

Votes

12213
Genres
Rock
Pop

Reviews

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Sat Jan 16 2021
3

Extra AF. Good album with a ton of interesting sounds and ideas. But man, it feels like Pink Floyd got bedazzled and thrown onstage at broadway. Overall enjoyable though, so don't get me wrong. True feelings: 3.6/5

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Mon Mar 08 2021
3

This album feels like driving 65 in a 65 speed limit zone. There is some really fun instrumental stuff in Across the Border. Jungle has got a totally different feel and I dig it, but only kind of. This music just feels like corporate and soulless and sterile to me I guess. There’s no heart here.

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Tue Apr 20 2021
5

Side three of the release is subtitled Concerto for a Rainy Day, a four-track musical suite based on the weather and how it affects mood change, ending with the eventual sunshine and happiness of "Mr. Blue Sky". This was inspired by Lynne's experience while trying to write songs for the album against a torrential downpour of rain outside his Swiss Chalet. "Standin' in the Rain" opens the suite with a haunting keyboard over a recording of real rain, recorded by Jeff Lynne just outside his rented studio. Also heard at the 0:33 mark of the song, which marks the beginning of The Concerto, is thunder crackling in an unusual manner voicing the words "Concerto for a Rainy Day" by the band's keyboardist, Richard Tandy. At around the 1:07 mark, the staccato strings play a morse code spelling out "ELO". The band used the song to open their 1978 World Tour Out of the Blue concerts. "Big Wheels" forms the second part of the suite and continues with the theme of the weather and reflection. Apart from its inclusion on the Out of the Blue album, the song has never appeared on any of the band's compilations or as a B-side until 2000, when Lynne included it on the group's retrospective Flashback album. "Summer and Lightning" is the third song in the suite. The raining weather theme is continued throughout the track though the mood and lyrics are more optimistic. "Mr. Blue Sky", an uplifting, lively song celebrating sunshine, is the finale of "Concerto for a Rainy Day" suite. Again, the Vocoder is used at the end of the track where, at the 4:54 mark, one can hear "Please turn me over" as it fades out. It is the only piece from the Concerto to be excerpted as a single.

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Thu Jun 03 2021
3

I’m sure there were a lot of innovative sonic qualities in this album for ‘77, and in a way I like the orchestra integration, but overall this album just really doesn’t do it for me. Not sure what it is, but it kind of all starts to blend together after a while and not many songs really stuck out for me. Not bad by any means, just nothing overly special. And I know that’s a crime considering Mr. Blue Sky is on this album but 🤷🏼‍♂️

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Mon Feb 01 2021
2

Ahh 1977. I was more into punk than this shite. Spikey hair, ripped jeans and sucking off wheelies in alleyways was my game. ELO can fuck right off.

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Tue Feb 16 2021
5

I love ELO and this album is not an exception! Good rock with various styles, ranging from classic to prog, and some really good instrumental songs.

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Tue Jan 19 2021
3

electric light orchestra. I hardly know her.

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Fri Sep 03 2021
5

stage 1: this album is how long? stage 2: okay jeff, we get it. you like the beatles stage 3: this album is HOW long?? stage 4a: the edibles hit stage 4b: the whale stage 5: the lights are off and the sun went down an hour ago stage 666: a c c e p t

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Mon Nov 21 2022
2

More like end my life orchestra.

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Fri Nov 13 2020
5

Catchy, memorable, inventive. One of my all time favourites!

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Wed Mar 09 2022
2

There might be some good songs here but sheeesh they're hard to find under the bright, overwrought production. Like Brian Wilson on steroids, the studio effects just keep coming with little relief in sight. Somewhere under all the orchestral flourishes and choral singers and unnecessary sound effect is some good old fashioned rock songs....I guess. I wish someone had said to him; "Jeff, why don't you take a break?" 2.5 🌟

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Mon Jul 12 2021
5

The first album I ever bought was ELO. This one remains a favourite of mine, despite the decades they spent languishing in the mire of critical scorn. I'm glad they've undergone a minor re-evaluation, because Jeff Lynne owned the purest pop ears since Paul McCartney. The songs here feel liked they're beamed in from a softer, sunnier dimension; and it's a small marvel at just how meticulous some of the arrangements are. Lynne has the sensibility of a jeweller where creating pop is concerned - one of my favourite albums, of any genre, ever

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Tue Jan 04 2022
5

Love me some ELO. I remember listening to this album as a kid (thanks to my older siblings who were ELO fans). Those opening notes of Turn to Stone bring back memories and it's still a great song. ELO is one of those bands where I enjoy everything I hear but have never dug deeply into their catalog. Jeff Lynne is awesome and I appreciate him more every time I hear anything he's involved in. Mr. Blue Sky has been played a million times in my house since my kids got into Guardians of the Galaxy, but it never gets old. Stuff like Sweet Talkin' Woman is very 70s, but still great. Favorite non-hits - Jungle (fun track), Believe Me Now, Sweet is the Night. Basically, there isn't a weak moment on the album, which is even more impressive since it's a double album. Great stuff, easy 5.

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Sat Feb 17 2024
5

Perhaps the most enthusiastic ensemble you will hear—a genuine triumph.

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Tue Oct 13 2020
5

Classic double album that seems shorter than its 70 minutes. The suite on Side 3 is perfect.

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Tue Jan 26 2021
5

Mr Blue Skyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

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Wed Apr 21 2021
5

Mr. Blue Sky es una de mis canciones favoritas desde hace unos años y sin embargo, nunca la había escuchado en el contexto de su disco original, y me encantó ahora oírla como parte de una cosa conceptual que está justo en medio del Rock y la sobreproducción del Disco que empezaba en esa época. Muy buenos solos de guitarra, sintetizadores, motivos que se repiten pero utilizados sutilmente, creo que el disco tiene de todo. Perfecta la coincidencia que, después de Blue de Joni Mitchel siguiera Out of the Blue.

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Tue Jan 19 2021
5

Anyone who doesn’t put a 5 deserves death

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Sat Sep 03 2022
5

This was the first album I bought and I still love it today. It's 110% full-on from the word go with orchestral rock-n-roll pop-driven tunes and not a quiet introspective moment in 4 sides. Jeff Lynne is a genius for arrangements and tunes and it flows along with a multitude of classical and electronic tricks. I can understand how some people can't stand the whole vibe but it's so hooked into my memories I can't but love it.

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Wed Jul 28 2021
2

Not bad per se, but hasn't aged well and annoys me

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Fri Oct 13 2023
1

This will be…interesting. Ha. First off, this album is LONG, over an hour—20 minutes longer give or take than everything else I’ve been fed from this list so far. ELO clearly have a deep and abiding love for pop songcraft but I can’t stand their sound. God so much fucking falsetto. I don’t know anything about ELO but I’m willing to bet this band is mostly the vision of one person—going to check now. I was right! Jeff Lynne. Good for him. Bad for me. It’s taking everything in me to finish this album and I’m three songs in. I bet if I listened to this four times in a row or if I grew up listening to it I would love it. But that is not the case. Every time there’s a verse I like the arrangement gets more complicated and overwrought—Big Wheels being a good example of this. I do think a lot of it is just the big slick production that’s putting me off, it makes it hard to “hear” the songs with so much instrumentation and just Jesus it’s so fucking smooth and even. I also can’t stand the strings. Also listening the Mr Blue Sky for the millionth time (but for the first time on headphones!) makes me never want to listen to music again. God fuck this album. Objectively it’s very well done and blah blah blah but fuck. Fuck this album. Maybe it’s me but I want to kill myself more and more the longer I listen. Seriously. Stone cold garbage. Those stupid strings. Stupid stupid stupid strings. It’s like they got some Ok songs and made a sandwich but then put a big thick layer of mayonnaise on it and so all you taste is mayonnaise. And mayonnaise is fine but. You know. IT HAS ITS PLACE and that place is not in my ears. I seriously might not listen to music for the rest of the day after listening to this album. It’s too long, too coked-out, too ornate, too fucking obnoxious. If it was 2/3 the length my opinion would probably be different. It’s like watching someone masturbate and they just won’t stop. Think they’re done? Nope! Too bad. Jeff Lynne just keeps on wankin’. And wankin’. And wankin’. Anyways. Self-indulgent twaddle. 1/5 for overstaying its welcome.

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Fri Nov 27 2020
5

One of my all time favourite albums! Jeff Lynne is the man!

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Fri Oct 09 2020
5

Loved it. Classic fun pop. Good melodies.

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Tue Mar 16 2021
5

What the beatles could have become. Fantastic album

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Tue Jan 19 2021
5

yesss top track - sweet talkin woman every track hit the spot apart from jungle. electronic willy wonka papooz

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Fri Jan 15 2021
5

Omg how did I not know these people? I knew half the songs already, classics! The other review is for Beauty And The Beat, which is alright I guess

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Tue Jan 26 2021
5

Nice sounds, love them, I already knew mr blue sky

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Wed Jun 30 2021
5

Two disks filled with brilliant pop music.

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Sun Mar 21 2021
5

Discazo de rock muy al estilo de Supertramp.

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Sat Jul 17 2021
5

very good, had forgotten those great songs, gonna put it on my play list.

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Sat Apr 03 2021
5

I'm a big fan of this album, it contains most of ELO's stand out tracks along with some lesser known ones which are still pretty great. I can't really mark this one down.

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Mon Apr 19 2021
5

Excellent! ELO are a genuine sound all of their own.

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Wed May 26 2021
5

Super groovy, great harmonies. Definitely a favorite album

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Thu Jun 03 2021
5

this may have too much nostalgia in my rating because some of the tracks lean on weird synth sounds a little TOO heavy, but this is one of my favorite albums and I can't make myself take a star away for that. <3 ELO

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Tue Jun 22 2021
5

Chipper pop rock, definitely of its time. Strings and keyboards vs. guitar rock gives it a real 70s vibe. Even disco-ish, I must admit, although dismissing it out of hand for that is short sighted. There’s definitely a lot more going on here than that statement gives it credit for. Besides, it’s right there in the name: Electric Light *Orchestra*. You can’t accuse them of false advertising. I like this, although a lot of criticisms would be justified, and I wouldn’t have an answer for them… except to say that this album contains “Mr. Blue Sky”, which is a song that never once in my life has failed to put me in a good mood. For that song alone, 5 stars.

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Tue Aug 03 2021
5

ELO seems to stand in a genre of their own... majestic orchestral rock. Jeff Lynne's songwriting is fantastic, the music is catchy, with a pretty impressive variety of approaches on the album. Even with 17 tracks... i can listen to this on repeat for an entire day. Love it.

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Tue Aug 03 2021
5

An extraordinarily well named band. The music is unforgettable and well crafted. Unfortunate that Debbie Gibson used the same album name...

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Tue Aug 31 2021
5

Man what a great album. Unique

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Wed Sep 01 2021
5

Amazing album. top #5 of all time for sure.

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Tue Sep 07 2021
5

One of my all-time favorites

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Thu Sep 23 2021
5

A little long, but Jeff Lynne's gift for melody is unparalleled.

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Fri Oct 15 2021
5

One Of The Greatest Electronic Balades That I've Ever Heard

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Mon Nov 08 2021
5

All great. Surprising to see just how many listens Mr Blue Sky has compared to some of their other bops though.

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Mon Nov 22 2021
5

Really sweet album. Missing __something__, though.

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Tue Dec 07 2021
5

Rating: 9/10 Best songs: Turn to stone, It’s over, Sweet talkin’ woman, Night in the city, Jungle

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Mon Feb 21 2022
5

Hell yeah that's what I'm talking about

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Fri Mar 04 2022
5

When I think of quality, classic 70s music, ELO is one of the very first groups to come to mind. They take the fun vibe of 70s soft rock and elevate it with wonderful orchestration and tasteful synths and keyboards. So many of these songs are just so fun and catchy and make you wanna dance. Fun listen I hadn’t paid attention to Sweet is the Night before, but I think it’s one of my very favorites of the album

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Sun May 08 2022
5

I have a lot of love for ELO. My dad loves them so my first mixtapes were ELO hits and deep cuts. Later on I picked this album up during my vinyl collecting days for a buck or so. I used to listen to this one quite a bit, especially side 4. Side 4 is really where I think this album shines brightest. Sweet Is The Night is probably my favorite song on the whole album; I even put it on a mix CD for my wife when we first started dating. The Whale has some notes of cheddar but it's still a cool instrumental. Wild West Hero is my second favorite song on the album. It's just so good. My dad would always sing it when I was a kid. That probably adds to why I like it so much. There's some other classic ELO songs here: Turn To Stone, Sweet Talking Woman, Mr. Blue Sky. A few songs that are a little meh but nothing bad to be found on this double album. A pretty nice feat. This is probably a 4 overall, but I have so many great memories with this band and album that I gotta bump it to a 5.

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Sat May 28 2022
5

I have my own little system of rating out here...everyone gets one star anyway...but influence, innovation, and just pure entertainment or listening pleasure all come into play...and if an album has more than 3 tracks that I add to a playlist (or already had) it's going to end up in that rarified air of 5 stars. This is one of those albums.

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Tue Jun 07 2022
5

heck yeah!! super funky and my vibe. 80s kind of, lovee it

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Mon Jun 13 2022
5

-Obviously, "Mr. Blue Sky" and "Sweet Talkin' Woman" are quite famous songs from this album. -One of my favorites is "Turn to Stone," especially the fast part where they say "Yes, I'm turnin' to stone/'Cause you ain't coming home/Why ain't you comin' home/If I'm turnin' to stone/You've been gone for so long/And I can't carry on/Yes, I'm turnin', I'm turnin'/I'm turnin' to stone" -"Night In The City" also stands out as a strong, catchy song. -Overall a very cool rock album with lots of keyboard and vocoder and multi-singer-harmony parts to give it a unique sound.

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Fri Jun 24 2022
5

This is a masterpiece, particularly Side 3. Great all round.

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Mon Jul 11 2022
5

A work of genius, with some all time classics. Even the random bonus tracks are good!

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Tue Jul 12 2022
5

Great tunes! Always something new to hear each time. Sounds great, hasn't aged.

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Sat Jul 23 2022
5

A joyous, energetic, fantastical romp of an album. Starts with 'Turn to Stone,' which is great and a hit, but the rest of the songs somehow manage to live up to the bar the first song sets. And I mean, come on, who doesn't like 'Mr. Blue Sky?' It's one of the most feel good songs I've ever heard. ELO made an amazing album here, and it shines bright all the way through.

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Wed Aug 10 2022
5

Wow what a surprise that was. I've heard the singles from the album and we all know how good they are. But the other songs where brilliant too. And best of all, it was not just a selection of songs, but a proper album - all the songs seemed placed perfectly. A proper 5 star album

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Wed Aug 17 2022
5

Great album and I am glad I own a copy of it on vinyl as the cover art is amazing

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Thu Aug 25 2022
5

In my opinion ELO is the best group when it comes to Branding. The name, imagery on their albums, all fit in so incredibly well with the music. Out of the Blue is simply an incredible album. It's very cohesive front to back and filled with great tunes. Lots of classics but really no weak songs in here from what I see, and loved the Weather Suite portion ending with Mr Blue Sky. Easy 5 stars.

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Tue Sep 06 2022
5

Swirly, orchestral, shimmery, innovative, original rock and roll for the tuna sandwich demi-intellectual who appreciates both Beethoven and the Beatles. Almost prog rock, but never actually lands in that haunted territory. Not a blue note in sight, but minor keys appear liberally, making this both shiny-happy and occasionally ominous (somehow, occasionally even simultaneously). This album is so much more than its tiny handful of massive hits, with very little fat but a lot of cream (and pure cane sugar).

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Fri Sep 23 2022
5

Excellent and a breath of fresh air compared to standard rock from then or now.

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Mon Sep 26 2022
5

Pure perfection - not a dud song in the track listing. Slightly blinded by nostalgia, with memories of it regularly being played around the house and in the car when I was a kid, and being fascinated with my mum’s vinyl copy which had a pop out/make your own space ship. An album that's still guaranteed to put a smile on my face. Jeff Lynne is a genius.

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Tue Sep 27 2022
5

What a masterpiece! Flows so well and songs are still great individually. Fav track: Turn to Stone

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Tue Sep 27 2022
5

What a fucking masterpiece of an album. Incredible instrumentals and vocals throughout. Picking one favorite track here feels sacrilegious, but Mr. Blue Sky has always been my favorite from ELO

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Mon Oct 03 2022
5

So much energy in this album !

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Tue Oct 04 2022
5

9,1 Such a great album Bangers on bangers Perfect pacing Mr. Blue Sky is a perfect song

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Tue Oct 18 2022
5

What a big box of chocolates, this album goes places..... Beatles, Dylan, The Who, Bowie, Supertramp, the list of artists that this sounds like is seemingly endless. Super catchy choruses paired with prog rock and an orchestra, what's not to love?

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Tue Oct 18 2022
5

What an incredible album! A mix of harmonies reminiscent of the bee jees, Beatles and beach boys, while pure rock and roll throughout. The sound is so crisp and produced so well that despite there being so much going on, it is always easy listening. I love how subtle the songs change midway creating such interesting dynamics. One of the best albums on the list for me.

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Wed Oct 19 2022
5

Love it, so funky, so fresh so ahead of its time. This shit mustve banged back in the 70s

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Sun Oct 23 2022
5

It's like if The Beatles and Queen went on a very, very successful date to see a scifi flick. As it turns out, putting classic 70s rock together with catchy hooks and futuristic beep boop elements before enhancing it for an orchestral or stadium setting results in something huge. There's not a bad song on here. Each track is a grand affair that stands out on its own already, but they all become even better when you blast the whole record front to back. Take me out to space, ELO! Standout tracks: Sweet Talkin' Woman, Summer and Lightning, and The Whale.

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