Eldorado [LP]

by Electric Light Orchestra

Overview

This is the album where Jeff Lynne finally found the sound he'd wanted since co-founding Electric Light Orchestra three years earlier. Up to this point, most of the group's music had been self-contained -- Lynne, Richard Tandy, et al., providing whatever was needed, vocally or instrumentally, even if it meant overdubbing their work layer upon layer. Lynne saw the limitations of this process, however, and opted for the presence of an orchestra -- it was only 30 pieces, but the result was a much richer musical palette than the group had ever had to work with, and their most ambitious and successful record up to that time. Indeed, Eldorado was strongly reminiscent in some ways of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Not that it could ever have the same impact or be as distinctive, but it had its feet planted in so many richly melodic and varied musical traditions, yet made it all work in a rock context, that it did recall the Beatles classic. It was a very romantic work, especially on the opening "Eldorado Overture," which was steeped in a wistful 1920s/1930s notion of popular fantasy (embodied in movies and novels like James Hilton's Lost Horizon and Somerset Maugham's The Razor's Edge) about disillusioned seekers. It boasted Lynne's best single up to that time, "Can't Get It Out of My Head," which most radio listeners could never get out of their respective heads, either. The integration of the orchestra would become even more thorough on future albums, but Eldorado was notable for mixing the band and orchestra (and a choir) in ways that did no violence to the best elements of both. ~ Bruce Eder

Product Details

Release Date:	05/27/2016
Label:	Sony Music
UPC:	0888751752719
Rank:	37522

Tracks

1. Eldorado Overture
2. Can't Get It out of My Head
3. Boy Blue
4. Laredo Tornado
5. Poorboy (The Greenwood)
6. Mister Kingdom
7. Nobody's Child
8. Illusions in G Major
9. Eldorado
10. Eldorado [Finale]

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Electric Light Orchestra   Primary Artist
Jeff Lynne   Guitar,Vocals,Keyboards,Synthesizer,Moog Synthesizer,Vocals (Background)
Mik Kaminski   Violin
Michael d'Albuquerque   Bass
Bev Bevan   Drums,Percussion
Richard Tandy   Piano,Guitar,Keyboards,Synthesizer,Moog Synthesizer,Vocals (Background)
Hugh McDowell   Cello
Peter Ford-Robertson   Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part
Louis Clark   Conductor
Marcia McGovern   Director
Mike Edwards   Cello

Technical Credits

Steve Hoffman   Remastering
Jeff Lynne   Arranger,Composer,Producer
Dick Plant   Engineer
Mike Pela   Assistant Engineer
Richard Tandy   Arranger
Louis Clark   Arranger
Norman Seeff   Photography
John Kehe   Design