Eldorado (Electric Light Orchestra album)

Eldorado, A Symphony
Studio album by Electric Light Orchestra
Released	July 1974
Recorded	De Lane Lea Studios, London
Genre	Symphonic rock, art rock
Length	38:42
Label	Warner Bros. Records, United Artists Records, Jet Records, Columbia Records
Producer	Jeff Lynne
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link George Starostin (10/10) link Rolling Stone (favorable) link
Electric Light Orchestra chronology
On the Third Day (1973) Eldorado, A Symphony by The Electric Light Orchestra (1974) Face the Music (1975)

Eldorado, A Symphony, also known as simply Eldorado, is a 1974 concept album by the Electric Light Orchestra. Though it was not as commercially successful as their later works, it is considered to be one of their greatest creative achievements.

Concept

Eldorado is the first ELO concept album, and Jeff Lynne conceived of the entire story before he wrote any music.^[1] The story follows a Walter Mitty-like character who mentally journeys into fantasy worlds via dreams, to escape a mundane reality he can't tolerate.

Recording

On this album Jeff Lynne stopped overdubbing strings, as he had on the first three ELO albums, and instead hired an orchestra.^[1] Louis Clark co-arranged and conducted the strings, and would become a full member.^[1] Reportedly, the sound of impatient double-bass players putting away their instruments can be heard at one point during the album's climax track "Eldorado Finale". Mike de Albuquerque departed before recording, leaving Lynne to play bass and provide all vocals for the album, though de Albuquerque was credited. Kelly Groucutt replaced de Albuquerque for the subsequent tour, when cellist Melvyn Gale also joined.

Reception

The album was met with some controversy, as various groups theorized that the album contained backmasked Satanic messages. Lynne responded by prominently inserting backmasked dialogue into "Fire On High", the opening track on the next ELO album Face the Music. "Can't Get It Out of My Head" was released as a single (with "Illusions in G Major") and was a success in the US. The album was soon certified Gold there. However, the album and singles failed to find a wide audience in the band's native United Kingdom.

Cover artwork

The front cover ,chosen by Sharon Osbourne nee Arden comprises a still from the popular 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, and was part of a larger phenomenon of rock music referring to the film that also included the band Toto, the Elton John album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and the notorious yet debatable connections with The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd.

Track listing

All songs written by Jeff Lynne.

1. "Eldorado Overture" – 2:12
2. "Can't Get It Out of My Head" – 4:21
3. "Boy Blue" – 5:18
4. "Laredo Tornado" – 5:29
5. "Poor Boy (The Greenwood)" – 2:57
6. "Mister Kingdom" – 5:29
7. "Nobody's Child" – 3:56
8. "Illusions in G Major" – 2:37
9. "Eldorado" – 5:17
10. "Eldorado Finale" – 1:34

Bonus tracks on 2001 reissue

11. "Eldorado Instrumental Medley" – 7:56
12. "Dark City" – 0:46

Chart position

• #16 Billboard 200, RIAA certification: Gold
• #40

Reissue

The album was remastered and reissued in 2001 with two bonus tracks, "Eldorado Instrumental Medley", a suite of the album's orchestral parts, plus "Dark City", an early draft of the track "Laredo Tornado".

Personnel

• Jeff Lynne – vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, bass, keyboards, orchestra and choral arrangements
• Bev Bevan – drums, percussion
• Richard Tandy – piano, moog synthesiser, guitar, backing vocals, orchestra and choral arrangements
• Mike de Albuquerque – bass (credited, but did not play on the record)
• Mik Kaminski – violin
• Hugh McDowell – cello
• Mike Edwards – cello
• Louis Clark - orchestra and choral arrangements and conducting
• Peter Forbes-Robertson – spoken word

References