The Golden Mean of ELO’s “Eldorado”: Prog Review #43
Eldorado - Electric Light Orchestra
Electric Light Orchestra is a curious case of a classic prog band that I’ve overlooked due to the expectation that maybe they aren’t proggy enough, and maybe their more popular songs aren’t.
But immediately upon hearing the distorted and looping vocals that give way to a grand orchestral sweep in the “Eldorado Overture,” I knew I was in good hands with Eldorado.
Orchestra is the operative word on this album that is far more symphonic that I expected knowing the band as more of a keyboard-and-guitar-led pop operation (albeit with a variety of other instruments) with hits like “Mr. Blue Sky,” “Evil Woman,” and “Don’t Bring Me Down.” On this record, the prog ambitions are much clearer to me. Part of this has to do with the album combining two of my favourite features: seamless transitions between songs and melodies that recur on multiple songs.
More importantly, ELO here develops the full potential of incorporating classical music into rock, and more uniquely, contemporary pop. While just about every other 70s prog band I’ve reviewed is interested on some level in being a rock band, only ELO draws earnestly on the style of cheesy ballads that were so popular at the time. The lush strings and Jeff Lynne’s warm and wide-ranging vocal style recall the adult contemporary hits of the time.
Still, as the album’s subtitle claims, Eldorado: A Symphony by the Electric Light Orchestra is firmly anchored in classical music, which becomes a hub for the wide-ranging touches of other genres that alternately become fused to this core genre. It is the definition of symphony, a beautiful harmony of different sounds. From the otherworldly intro that slips into a classical overture, the album continually visits other musical spheres as it wanders from the lush balladry of “Can’t Get it Out of My Head” and “Boy Blue,” toward the western-folk vibes of “Laredo Tornado” and “Poorboy,” winding through the alternatively sad and spacey “Mister Kingdom,” which leads into the sleazy jazz showtune “Nobody’s Child” and shifts to the old school rock and roll flex of “Illusions in G Minor” before playing out with the grandiose piano ballad “Eldorado” and the finale.
Breakdown on the shoreline / Can't move, it's an ebb tide / Morning don't get here tonight / Searching for her silver light.
-”Can’t Get it Out of My Head”
As the album explores these subtle shifts in style, I find it hard to distinguish one song from another. Not that the album is repetitive or indistinct. Rather, there is a careful arrangement of the tracks with a clear understanding of how it all fits together to form a single listening experience. Obviously, my feelings of recurrence are a deliberate feature of the album. “Boy Blue” and “Poorboy” are not just similarly named: they also have similar melodies and lyrics that can easily be confused for one another. “Boy Blue” tells of “Kings Rolling in the Mire,” and then “Poorboy” sings of “Rollin’ … head high from the battle won.” At just under 40 minutes, with a simple, clean execution, Eldorado does concept album the way I love it best, where both the music and the lyrics form a coherent whole, justifying the project and the idea of concept albums more generally.
This is an album that is immediately likeable and also rewarding with each listen. A pleasant surprise that has me eager to dig into some more ELO albums. More like Renaissance than ELP, Electric Lights Orchestra seems intent, on this album at least, to explore genre fusions that privilege warm melody and emotional highs to create simply wonderful music.
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King
Rush - Moving Pictures
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Yes – Close to the Edge
Genesis - Selling England by the Pound
Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick
Can - Future Days
Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Yes - Fragile
Rush - Hemispheres
ELP - Brain Salad Surgery
Pink Floyd - Animals
Genesis - Foxtrot
King Crimson - Red
Gentle Giant - Octopus
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells
Frank Zappa - One Size Fits All
Premiata Forneria Marconi - Per Un Amico
King Crimson - Larks’ Tongue in Aspic
Camel - Mirage
Rush - 2112
Tangerine Dream - Phaedra
Magma - Mëkanïk Dëstruktïẁ Kömmandöh
The Mars Volta - Deloused in the Comatorium
Van Der Graaf Generator - Pawn Hearts
Supertramp - Crime of the Century
Opeth - Blackwater Park
Dream Theater - Metropolis, Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory
U.K. - U.K.
Renaissance - Ashes Are Burning
Kansas - Leftoverture
TOOL - Lateralus
Caravan - In the Land of Grey and Pink
Banco - Io Sono Nato Libero
Harmonium - Si on Avait Besoin d'une Cinquième Saison
Marillion - Clutching at Straws
Gong - You
Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet
Soft Machine - Third
Amon Düül II - Yeti
Meshuggah - Destroy Erase Improve
Electric Light Orchestra: Eldorado
ASK Rankings
Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Supertramp - Crime of the Century
Genesis - Foxtrot
Caravan - In the Land of Grey and Pink
Marillion - Clutching at Straws
Camel - Mirage
Yes – Close to the Edge
Renaissance - Ashes Are Burning
King Crimson - Red
Gentle Giant - Octopus
Dream Theater - Metropolis, Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory
Genesis - Selling England by the Pound
Electric Light Orchestra: Eldorado
Harmonium - Si on Avait Besoin d'une Cinquième Saison
Rush - 2112
Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick
ELP - Brain Salad Surgery
Amon Düül II - Yeti
U.K. - U.K
Rush - Moving Pictures
King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King
Kansas - Leftoverture
Banco - Io Sono Nato Libero
The Mars Volta - Deloused in the Comatorium
Premiata Forneria Marconi - Per Un Amico
Gong - You
Soft Machine - Third
King Crimson - Larks’ Tongue in Aspic
Pink Floyd - Animals
Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet
TOOL - Lateralus
Frank Zappa - One Size Fits All
Yes - Fragile
Rush - Hemispheres
Tangerine Dream - Phaedra
Magma - Mëkanïk Dëstruktïẁ Kömmandöh
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Can - Future Days
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells
Van Der Graaf Generator - Pawn Hearts
Meshuggah - Destroy Erase Improve
Opeth - Blackwater Park
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here