Electric Light Orchestra

An unabashed late-period Beatlemaniac, Jeff Lynne turned his Sgt. Pepper's fixation into a workable pop formula for the '70s. The aspiring guitarist-singer-composer-producer founded Electric Light Orchestra with Birmingham homeboy Roy Wood, who'd led the Move during the late '60s. When Lynne joined the Move in 1970, the seeds for ELO were germinated. Their debut, No Answer, strives for an unlikely fusion of rock & roll and classical music; unsurprisingly, only the haunting "10538 Overture" really takes hold. That single sounds more like the Move's dense rock studiocraft than ELO's subsequent hits; Wood soon left ELO to pursue his own eccentric orchestral muse. Though it was a commercial success, ELO II didn't bode well for Lynne's artistic future; with its snatches of Beethoven and ham-handed Chuck Berry--isms, "Roll Over Beethoven" quickly became an FM radio irritant -- like hearing a one-line joke over and over. Lynne continued to hone his approach, and with On the Third Day his knack for hummable tunes and subtle hooks is revealed. Oh, there's still a Grieg-inspired tune to deal with, but the vaguely funky and overtly catchy "Showdown" indicates that Lynne was still keeping an ear trained on the competition. Eldorado sustains the glossy Beatles hommage of "Can't Get It Out of My Head" over the course of an entire album -- ELO's most consistent and cohesive. Nevertheless, for all the band's ambitions, the evidence insists that ELO is at heart one hell of a singles band. Hits off Face the Music ("Strange Magic,") and New World Record ("Telephone Line," "Livin' Thing") mark Lynne's creative and commercial apex. Ole ELO is an acceptable though incomplete compilation, while the superlative Greatest Hits delivers the goods.

Out of the Blue shows Lynne's expansiveness clouding ELO's vision once again; its two discs map incredible peaks ("Turn to Stone") and bottomless valleys (the sidelong "Concerto for a Rainy Day"). After that, the ELO spark fades to an occasional flicker: "Hold on Tight" (from Time) and "Rock 'n' Roll Is King" (from Secret Messages) foreshadow the sleek roots-rock groove Lynne later perfected with the Traveling Wilburys, Roy Orbison's final sessions, and his own 1989 solo album. Led by veteran Move-ELO drummer Bev Bevan, the short-lived, early '90s ELO "comeback" was a robotic simulation of the original group's sound; not even campy, just depressing. Lynne's own 2001 ELO revival was a solo record in everything but name, but at least it delivered the goods the few remaining fans were still pining for: The Beatles-like harmonies and classical tendencies were as peppy as ever, with contributions by George Harrison and Ringo Starr. The indisputable glow of ELO's best shots is dimmed somewhat by the clumsily structured Afterglow. Yet another three-disc box set, Flashback corrects the omissions of its predecessor thanks to Lynne's judicious examination of the band's quirky, uneven, but always melodious output. The single-disc comp The Essential Electric Light Orchestra should please all but the hardcore fans. (MARK COLEMAN/ERNESTO LECHNER)

From the 2004 The New Rolling Stone Album Guide