The Playlist of Life --- Trollheart's resurrected Journal

01-09-2016, 12:26 PM	#11 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	The first band I ever got into. Ever. I collected their albums and played them on, wait for it, a valve-driven record player which got hot after one album and had to be left to cool down for about an hour before you could play another. The sound of ELO was so different to me at that time --- cellos and violins instead of guitars and keyboards (or, as I learned soon enough, as well as these instruments) and the high-pitched vocal of Jeff Lynne made the band stand out from the crowd for me. For a long time, they were all I listened to. In their heyday, ELO had massive hits such as "Mister Blue Sky", "Livin' thing" and "Don't bring me down", and were known for their elaborate stageshows and multi-part compositions such as "Concerto for a Rainy Day". They began, however, quite humbly, as a spinoff from The Move, the rock band fronted by Roy Wood, who would soon leave ELO and go on to form Wizzard, for whom we have to thank/curse for that goddamn Christmas song. Album title: The Electric Light Orchestra Artiste: Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) Genre: Progressive/Blues Rock Year: 1971 Label: Harvest/United Artists Producer: Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne Chronological position: Debut album Notes: Album chart position: 32 (UK) 196 (US) Singles: “10538 Overture”, “Mr. Radio” Lineup: *Jeff Lynne:* Vocals, piano, guitars, bass, percussion *Roy Wood:* Vocals, cello, bass, acoustic guitars, oboe, clarinet, bassoon etc. *Bev Bevan:* Drums, percussion *Bill Hunt:* French horn, piccolo trumpet *Steve Woolam:* Violin *Richard Tandy:* Bass, keyboards *Wilf Gibson:* Violin *Hugh McDowell:* Cello *Mike Edwards:* Cello *Andy Craig:* Cello Review begins There's a very Beatley sound to the chimy guitar which opens “10538 Overture”, which would go on to become their first released single, but then the cellos and violins cut in, and you can hear this is something different right here. The backing vocals, which would become a signature sound of ELO, also make this opening song something pretty special, and you can hear in the vocals of Jeff Lynne that already a star is in the making. One thing Lynne would garner criticism for was the way he sung, which was kind of a low falsetto, which I've heard people remark made it hard to understand what he was singing. One thing for sure though: his vocal style was distinctive, and once you heard him you knew who was singing! It's a good start, with some lovely French horn from Bill Hunt and sort of harsh violin from Steve Woolam and Wilf Gibson. Fades in a very Beatles manner too, and into the first Roy Wood composition, the first on which he takes lead vocals, and the first point at which the album dives. This is ridiculous. “Look at me now” is just “Eleanor Ribgy” slightly rewritten and with violins and cellos, and they should be ashamed of themselves for trying to pass this off as their own work. Luckily it's nowhere near as long as the opener and we can quickly forget it as we head into Lynne's “Nellie takes her bow”. This demonstrates how, even at such an early stage in his career, Lynne was already capable of writing catchy, commercial tunes with a slight twist, as nobody had really used string instruments extensively on a single or album before, thus managing to appeal simultaneously to pop fans, rock fans and even classical fans, the last of whom must have felt hard-done by as this new pop music took over, and rock and roll edged out their beloved composers' favourites. With ELO they could get on board and marvel at the use of cellos, piccolos and violins, and this is a radio hit in waiting, with Lynne's undeniable talent for writing memorable hooks. It's a ballad, the first on the album, and a world removed from Wood's effort, though it does suffer from an inexplicable middle section instrumental and is about three minutes too long. Still, it's better so far than anything Wood has contributed to the album. Speaking of Wood, he's back to bother us with the lumbering “The Battle of Marston Moor (July 2 1644)”, which undoes all Lynne's hard work with “Nellie” as his bandmate sets up ridiculous medieval tune against which he narrates --- yes, narrates! --- the story of the epic battle. I personally think that this could have been a suicidal tactic for a debut album, and I hate this track. It does demonstrate how well the strings instruments replace guitars, yes, but I think it was too much of a stretch to ask a newly-born audience who were listening to this band for the first time and getting to grips with the idea of cellos and violins in a “rock” band to accept such a sprawling and unconventional composition. In this, I believe “Marston Moor” stands apart from the rest of the album, is out of place on it, and should not have been included. Bev Bevan apparently agreed, as he refused to play drums on it, forcing Wood to play these, along with almost every other instrument. Oh, and it's also too long at over six minutes. He's not finished yet though, as he plunders Mason Williams' “Classical Gas” for what he calls “First movement (Jumping biz)” and we get another instrumental, which surely must test the patience of, even now, the most ardent ELO fan. I mean, it's not bad, and it has more heart and emotion than the previous track, but it's so derivative. Still, again, it does showcase the cellos, violins and so on. I'm happier though when we get back to Jeff Lynne territory and the second, and only other single to be released from the album. “Mr Radio” opens just for a moment like later hit “Telephone line”, with a solo piano and an almost mono vocal from Lynne, and becoming the second ballad written by him you can hear its radio potential again. He uses both the piano and the strings well here, throwing in dark minor chords that reflect well the despairing nature of the lyric in the song, and also foreshadows the kind of piano Supertramp would later popularise in their hits. Again, it's in my opinion too long, with an instrumental section that I think it could live without, but even at that, one of the standouts certainly. A pretty dramatic almost-instrumental then in “Manhattan rumble (49th Street Massacre)”, a bad idea surely to have three instrumentals on an album that has only nine tracks? It's not too bad to be fair, but composed by Lynne as it is, it shows that even he could make a misstep, although this was the debut so you can't be too critical I suppose. Still, I wonder how many people just skipped this track, or even turned the album off at this point? I guess the classical and jazz fans would have been wetting themselves. ELO would learn their lesson, however, and there would be few instrumentals on their later albums. They're back on track as the album approaches its end with another Beatlesesque song, “Queen of the hours”, another Lynne composition, which I have to admit is not one of his best. Pretty basic, with a lot of violin and cello trying hard to distinguish itself from the likes of “A day in the life”, which it reminds me of. Rather strangely, it's a Wood song that closes the album and in fact stands as one of the best on it. “Whisper in the night” plays the unexpected trump card; after Lynne throwing down a flush, Wood presents a Royal Flush and takes the game with perhaps one of the best early ELO songs. A lush, soft ballad with a yearning vocal, it's so good that I thought it was a Lynne song. Beautiful accompaniment from McDowell, Edwards and Craig on the cellos, against a simple guitar strum from Lynne, it's an example of what ELO could do when they really put their minds to it, and, more, that Wood actually could sing. Well, he could of course: he had fronted The Move with Lynne, and Wizzard later on. It's just that here so often he seems to refuse to put in the effort. But his truculence is more than made up for by this stunning closer. TRACKLISTING AND RATINGS 10538 Overture Look at me now Nellie takes her bow The Battle of Marston Moor (July 2nd 1644) First movement (Jumping Biz) Mr. Radio Queen of the hours Whisper in the night Afterword: To paraphrase Blackadder, the album starts off well, ends well but much of what goes in between is best forgotten about. I'm surprised to see this did so well, relatively, in the UK charts, as I feel there is little on it for the casual listener. Still, it's a good introduction to the music of ELO, if not the best, and a slight indication of where they would go in years to come, particularly as Wood departed and Lynne assumed control of the band. Rating: __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 01-11-2016 at 12:16 PM.