Audio CD review:
Electric Light Orchestra - ELO II

Electric Light Orchestra - ELO II

Band: Electric Light Orchestra Title: ELO II Rating: Release Date: 28 March, 2006 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: In Old England Town (Boogie No.2) 2: Mama... 3: Roll Over Beethoven 4: From The Sun To The World (Boogie No.1) 5: Kuiama 6: In Old England Town (Instrumental) 7: Baby I Apologise (Session Outtake) 8: In Old England Town (Take 1 Alternate Mix) 9: Roll Over Beethoven (Take 1 Alternate Mix)

Customer Reviews The *Experimentation* Light Orchestra! A few opening words: I come not to speak of the sound on this remastered version--after all, I have only heard the orignal CD release, for which Amazon apparently has no listing now--, neither to do I come to indulge myself in the controversy over the differing versions of Roll Over Beethoven-- again, I have not heard it--, no, I come simply to talk about. . THE MUSIC. As is the implication, this is the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO)'s second released album, from early 1973. Consisting of only 5 tracks, it might not seem like much of an "album" when one first picks it up and looks it over. With the understanding that these tracks are extremely lengthy-- not one of 'em under six minutes, and the longest over 11--, and that we are, of course, dealing with a work originally released on the LP record format, where the work could barely exceed 45 minutes, things tend to snap into perspective, to clarify: this is NOT a normal album of music; of course, no ELO record is (and perhaps this is the reason for the love-it-or-hate-it aura carried by the band?), but this one in particular is odd. It's very different from anything else this group has ever done, it has "experiment" written all over it in massive, scrawling, and bold letters. How the listner responds this may depend on a number of issues: the preconceived notion that ELO is inferior material must be dismissed and, at optimum, the listner should have an open mind and a rampant and unfettered sense of adventure, exploration, and experimentation. Of course, as with any album, some tracks will be stronger--that is more appealing to the individual in question-- than others; personally, I don't think, even having yet to hear all of this group's work (it won't be long, I can assure you!), this anywhere near their best work; certainly it is nothing on the warhorses of the mid-70s: Eldorado, Face the Music, New World Record, and the climactic, Out of the Blue. Yet, I feel it has its own appeal, and I can instantly pick out certain tracks the I just LOVE. . . 1: In Old London Town (Boogie #2). In an interesting sequencing decision, this track, subtitled "Boogie #2, is appears as the first track on the album, while the one labled as "Boogie #1" (of which I will speak later on) is placed as track four; but no matter the logical inconsistancies of its placement on the album, it's a WONDERFUL way to start off; it grabbed my attention from the word GO, and lyrically, musically, and in terms of arrangement and production (6:54, and not a second wasted!), it is outstanding, not just on this album, but in ELO's catalogue to date. Lynne's vocals are fantastic, the subject matter holds appeal for me (and hey, REALLY NICE lyrics, which is not something one says a lot about ELO, in honesty), the melody and blending of instruments is as good as it gets , and, personally, I just don't buy the assesment of those who say it is too depressing for repeat listening; aside from the great subject matter, lyrics, and performance, it just grips me musically in a way few tracks do (the Eldorado Overture would be another example, as would the Beatles', 'Rain'); an all-around great way to start of the album. It sucks you in and does not let you go for almost seven minutes, through its entire marvelous arrangment). 2: Roll Over Beethoven. NO, it's not the 2nd track on the album's running order, but it is another favorite of mine, so I'm talking about up front (keep this in mind as I jump from track to track). Written and originally recorded by Chuck Berry (another favored artist of yours truly) in 1956, it is, if one thinks about it, the ultimate rock 'n' roll song for the Electric Light Orchestra to cover: it has classical music-related subject matter, and is a GREAT rock 'n' roll song; both of these qualites define the VERY best of ELO, and this blend of two very different musical genres is the backbone of ELO, at least the earlier stuff, and was certainly the genesis of the group. As expected, this cover version, running at over 8 minutes, at least on the orginal American CD release, is BRILLIANT. The vocals, the instrumentation, the performance, the production, the pure, RAW energy; Richard Tandy's keboard passes, the soaring violins of Wilf Gibson, backed by the cellos of Mike Edwards and Colin Walker, the rock solid (and more!) drums of Bev Bevan, and Jeff Lynne's astonishing guitar work (at least coming from him, don't get all over me about, you Clapton and Hendricks buffs!) come together to make an incredible track (as far as I can gather, the end of side one on the original LP release). Perhaps the best cut off the album. . . perhaps! 3. From the Sun to the Worlf (Boogie #1). It's really something of a toss-up as to whether I prefer this or Kuiama more. While the latter has epic brillance to a fine art (and does it ever rock 'n roll? great lyrics too!), while the latter, aside from ELO's trademark odd but throughly fun and enjoyable lyrics (they kind of leave you wondering too, when will the sun really burn out? Not in any of our lifetimes, still, we can't help but wonder. . . ), has this amazing groove to it, and probably (apart from Roll Over Beethoven), the best arrangement of any song on the album. It is sheer early ELO brilliance! Just thinking of it gets me going. . . possibly even more than actually listening to it. The epic, Kuiama, makes its mark as a great and complicated finnale for the album (in fact, I might venture to say the arrangment is slightlt too long, but I'll let it slide) and as a killer rock 'n' roll love song/tasteful tragedy of sorts. It moves, gives a heck of a fun ride, and leaves you wanting more ELO all at the same time. 11:19 seconds? Honestly, I can believe it. . . but it's still a great song, if eclipsed a bit by certain others (see above). This leaves, Mama/Momma, depending where in the world you are. I am tempted to say it's the weakest cut off the album, but it really does improve for me with repeat listens (before writing this, I listened to it all-the-way through about 3 times, replayed the last three tracks for good measure, and studied the lyrics on for a bit, as they can be hard to make out amidst the strings, and the echo applied by Jeff Lynne at times). It (Mama) is certainly a fine tune, with a nice lyric, melody, arrangment, and the instruments are mixed and blended well as usual. Still ,it does lack some appeal for me that's hard to place for sure. I also sort of feel that way Kuiama, but not nearly to such an extreme; that is still surely a GREAT number. Anyhow, no it isn't really for newcomers (Eldorado, Out of The Blue, New World Record, and Face the Music will do fine for them for the time being), it's not really their best in my opinion, but it is what is: very good, thoroughly enjoyable, and sporting five rather lengthy, at least very good tracks easily valid for listening and re-listening by fans of the Electric Light Orchestra. 4/5 . pretty cool elo album a couple of the tunes appear to be a little bit too long. i picked this up on ebay really cheap. however, this is cool music i would recommend to those who like sgt pepper era beatles or meddle and darkside era pink floyd. kuiama is an awesome tune as is their rendition of roll over beethoven. the bonus songs are cool too (baby i apologize). Uneven but pleasing second effort from Lynne and company The truth is they went through so many overdubs that I suspect tape hiss might have been an issue. Honestly I'm not going to get into the debate here about using Sonic Solutions "No Noise" to reduce tape hiss on these master recordings. To my ears these sound extremely good. While ELO's second album isn't quite as daring as the first nor as melodic as the third it features a number of classic Lynne songs. it featured a collison between Chuck Berry and Beethoven that hadn't been heard before with "Roll Over Beethoven" featuring sections of Beethoven's 5th Symphony as part of the piece. There are two great bonus tracks on here. The first is an alternate version of "Roll Over Beethoven" with Lynne laughing, making farting sounds with his mouth as we hear the strings kick in. This version has a bit more energy and sense of abandon. It's amusing and also a great listen. "Baby I Apologize" is a tune that Lynne was writing for someone else and was recorded as a demo to teach whomever that person was the song. Lynne notes in his comments that he doesn't recall who he was writing it for. We also get an instrumental mix of "In Old England Town" and the first take alternate mix of the same track. That rounds out the bonus tracks. If you're looking for the full length version of "Roll Over Beethoveen" that was on the original US release this version isn't quite it. From what I recall the U. S. version ran about 7:45 minutes and this version runs nearly 30 seconds less. Still, it sounds terrific. The album itself is still great with the rumbling "In Old England Town" and smooth melodic strains of "Mama" opening the album (and taking up much of the first side of the original vinyl version as well). The second side opened with (if memory serves) "From the Sun to the World" which is only beat by the epic "Kuiama" (after hearing it Lynne's father asked him if he could write something with a "melody" and that he would probably sell more records if it was more melodic and straight forward. He was right and Lynne did just that with the third album). I'd highly recommend this early effort just keep in mind it resembles the ELO people know from "New World Record" only superficially as Lynne kept wanting to progress and try different things. . . You can see a complete list of all Electric Light Orchestra discography, or go back to the Electric Light Orchestra tabs