Label: CBS Records (Japan), CSCS 6026
Style: Progressive Pop, Pop Rock
Country: Birmingham, England
Time: 41:30
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 254 Mb
Roy
Wood was a true rock ‘n roll eccentric. Jeff Lynne had an uncanny
ability to replicate The Beatles at their most baroque. When the pair
with fellow Move mate Bev Bevan decided to reincarnate as The Electric
Light Orchestra, the result was, well, electrifying. Had the group not
released another album after Wood's departure the following year, The
Electric Light Orchestra (titled No Answer in the US) would be regarded
as a brilliant experiment in baroque pop that picked up where "I Am The
Walrus" left off. Instead, Lynne eventually retooled the band into a
hit-making machine with strings, synthesizers and just a touch of disco.
Some
thought seems to have gone into the track order of the album. It opens
with Jeff Lynne's 10538 Overture, which could best be described today as
a cross between "I Am The Walrus" and Cheap Trick's "Downed" (the
parallels between the two bands are sometimes striking). "10538
Overture" would go on to become the first of many hit singles for the
band. Alternating between the band's two songwriters, Wood's Look At Me
Now follows, a neat replication of "Eleanor Rigby" but with more
instruments, most of which Wood played himself. The painstaking detail
of multitracked strings and horns on this album has few if any
precedents; The Moody Blues come to mind, but they never tried anything
so sophisticated on their own. Nellie Takes Her Bow marks the formal
introduction of Lynne's Beatles fantasies, a sort of "Sexy Sadie" with
an orchestral interlude. Lynne's decision to heavily mask his vocals is
something I've never understood, but you need to take the bad with the
good I suppose. (Editor's note: An unprompted diatribe against the
mango, the chinese finger puzzle of fruits, that originally appeared
here has since been removed, as I have learned to just let it mango.)
The Battle of Marston Moor is bizarre even by Wood's standards: a
musical/historical re-enactment that sketches out a variety of classical
themes in six minutes. It's too bad Roy Wood and Rick Wakeman never
joined forces.
Wood returns with another classically based
instrumental, First Movement (Jumpin' Biz), which sounds like a cross
between Mason Williams' "Classical Gas" and, in the horn/clarinet
section, The Mothers. Long before "Mr. Blue Sky" appeared, there was Mr.
Radio. Merging strings, synthesizers and piano flourishes with a
wonderful pop melody, "Mr. Radio" is a catchy advertisement of things to
come. Bev Bevan does a great Ringo Starr impersonation on this song,
too. Lynne's Manhattan Rumble (49th Street Massacre) is his response to
Wood's classical creations, perhaps inspired by Richard Rodgers'
"Slaughter on Tenth Avenue." Queen of the Hours is the album's hidden
gem, a wonderful cross between The Kinks and The Beatles with some sweet
country fiddling from Steve Woolam. (Woolam, who appears on most of the
Lynne tracks, sadly committed suicide before The Electric Light
Orchestra was released.) The album closes with Whisper in the Night, a
strange ending that suggests Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade of Pale"
hijacked by an English anthem.
The Electric Light Orchestra remains a
bright light in the constellation of classical rock. Neither Wood nor
Lynne have ever made another album quite like it, although Lynne never
completely abandoned the approach. Unfortunately, the group more or less
split after this, Wood forming Wizzard with Bill Hunt while Lynne and
Bevan expanded the band into a real-life (or at least real-time)
orchestra.
(progrography.com/electric-light-orchestra/review-electric-light-orchestra-no-answer-1971/)
01. 10538 Overture (05:31)
02. Look At Me Now (03:17)
03. Nellie Takes Her Bow (05:59)
04. Battle Of Marston Moor (July 2nd 1644) (06:05)
05. 1st Movement (03:00)
06. Mr. Radio (05:04)
07. Manhatten Rumble (49th St. Massacre) (04:22)
08. Queen Of The Hours (03:22)
09. Whisper In The Night (04:47)
Download: TurboBit KatFile FilesPayout FikPer
All my files: TurboBit KatFile FilesPayout FikPer
No comments:
Post a Comment