After Wood's departure in 1972, Lynne became the band's sole leader, arranging and producing every album while writing nearly all of their original material. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop, classical arrangements and futuristic iconography. Artists I've Seen ' Live In Concert'.The Electric Light Orchestra ( ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan.For some, it will cause euphoria - for others, altitude sickness. It's just physiologically impossible not to get high from inhaling so much production varnish. 'Can't Get It Out of My Head' and 'Telephone Line' roll gently along like long, lonesome walks on the beach while the Disco/rock hybrids 'Turn to Stone' and 'Livin' Thing' still set the mood for fans working on their night moves.

Bringing in entire symphonies for heart-fluttering arpeggios on fairy-dusted strings, the band's songs fill the air like mirage waves of sound so glossy, you can almost see your reflection in them. Singing at the helium-huffing apex of the human voice, he dusted off notes not heard since cherubs gamboled in mythological clouds. Singer Jeff Lynne frosted his voice in so many coatings of studio sugar that it hardly sounded natural. In an era of excess, ELO had no equal for sheer audio opulence.

No band better represents the pros and cons of overproduction than ELO. Like bands such as the Beatles, Queen they have written some of the catchiest tracks going, everyone for some unknown reason seems to know the words to every song!! Similar to Genesis in the sense that for some unknown reason it has never been 'cool' to listen to E.L.O.? I don't understand why?!! They may be seen by some as a fleeting pop group with catchy singles (which, with the sheer number of them I don't think you can really just write them off as such) or just some gimmicky group, but they really did something unique and special. The development of the rock opera concepts that would form the majority of On The Third Day and the entirety of Eldorado are probably some of the better takes on the concept. Being that Roy Wood left the band after that first album and Jeff Lynne took over fully, it's great to see his chops as a song writer grow with the epics of Kuiama, emotional pieces like Mama, and transformative covers like Great Balls of Fire (though they had worked on that one when Roy Wood was still with the band in a slightly different form to be found in the Set of Six recording). Centered on orchestral elements more than rock or pop, there's never been anything else quite like it. No Answer is a complete oddity compared to most of what made its way to my ears, even after my years of exploring music. However, I will say that in my preference, their work from the beginning through Eldorado are likely my favorites. From the experimentation of No Answer and its refinement on ELO II to the disco pop hybrid of Out of the Blue to the synth filled Balance of Power, I don't feel there's a single truly weak album in the discography.

I am most likely too biased to really give a good review, considering I grew up listening to the band thanks to my father's appreciation of their work, but I still find myself enamored with the work.

Electric light orchestra living thing