Eldorado (Electric Light Orchestra album)

Eldorado is the first complete ELO concept album; bandleader Jeff Lynne conceived the storyline before he wrote any music. The plot follows a Walter Mitty-like character who journeys into fantasy worlds via dreams, to escape the disillusionment of his mundane reality. Lynne began to write the album in response to criticisms from his father, a classical music lover, who said that Electric Light Orchestra's repertoire "had no tune".{{cite web |last=Hunter-Tilney |first=Ludovic |date=30 October 2015 |title=Interview: Jeff Lynne – From Electric Light Orchestra to one-man band, the pop veteran talks about his new solo album |url=https://www.ft.com/content/8a909cda-7cc8-11e5-98fb-5a6d4728f74e |url-access=subscription |access-date=16 October 2023 |website=Financial Times}}

Eldorado marks the first album on which Jeff Lynne hired an orchestra; on previous albums band members would play strings using multitracked overdubbing.Wild, David. "The Story of a Rock and Roll Band and the Pop Genius Who Dared to Go Baroque." Flashback. Louis Clark co-arranged, with Lynne (and keyboardist Richard Tandy), and conducted the strings. The group's three resident string players continued to perform on recordings, however, and can be heard most prominently on the songs "Boy Blue" and "Laredo Tornado". Mike de Albuquerque departed early on in the recording process, as touring made him feel separated from his family. Lynne plays most of, if not all, the bass tracks and backing vocals for the album, but de Albuquerque still featured on the final release as well as getting credited. Kelly Groucutt replaced him for the subsequent tour, when cellist Melvyn Gale also joined (replacing the departing Mike Edwards). "Eldorado Finale" is heavily orchestrated, much like "Eldorado Overture". Jeff Lynne said of the song, "I like the heavy chords and the slightly daft ending, where you hear the double bass players packing up their basses, because they wouldn't play another millisecond past the allotted moment."{{verification needed|reason=Unclear which, if not all, claims are supported by the source.|date=November 2021}}Casey Kasem's American Top 40 from March 19, 1977 & May 6, 1978

The cover, designed by John Kehe, is a mirrored still frame of Dorothy's ruby slippers from the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz.{{cite web |url=https://albumcoverhalloffame.wordpress.com/2020/07/28/achof-interview-with-designer-and-illustrator-john-kehe/ |title=ACHOF Interview with designer and illustrator John Kehe |access-date=13 December 2022}}

{{Album ratings

|rev1 = AllMusic

|rev1score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite web|last=Eder |first=Bruce |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/eldorado-r6688 |title=Eldorado – Electric Light Orchestra: Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=3 March 2013}}

|rev3 = Encyclopedia of Popular Music

|rev3Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite book|editor-first=Colin|editor-last=Larkin|year=2011|title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th edn)|location=London|publisher=Omnibus Press|isbn=978-0-85712-595-8|page=915}}

|rev4 = MusicHound

|rev4score = 3/5{{cite book|editor-last1=Graff|editor-first1=Gary|editor-last2=Durchholz|editor-first2=Daniel|title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide|publisher=Visible Ink Press|location=Farmington Hills, MI|year=1999|isbn=1-57859-061-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781578590612/page/383 383]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781578590612/page/383}}

| rev6 = Music Story

| rev6Score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}

|rev7 = Rolling Stone

|rev7score = (favourable){{cite web|author=Barnes, Ken|url=http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/electriclightorchestra/albums/album/122346/review/5944334/eldorado|title=Electric Light Orchestra: Eldorado|publisher=Rolling Stone|date=2 January 1975|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216080625/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/electriclightorchestra/albums/album/122346/review/5944334/eldorado|archive-date=16 February 2008}}

|rev8 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

|rev8score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{cite book|editor-last1=Brackett|editor-first1=Nathan|editor-last2=Hoard|editor-first2=Christian|year=2004|title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th edn)|location=New York, NY|publisher=Fireside/Simon & Schuster|isbn=0-7432-0169-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/274 274]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/274}}

|rev9 = PopMatters

|rev9score = (favourable)

}}

Bruce Eder of AllMusic, giving a five-out-of-five-star retrospective rating, opined that "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." Ken Barnes of Rolling Stone also noted that "The Electric Light Orchestra has sometimes swamped itself in grandiose conceptions, and Eldorado (A Symphony) sounds like a prime opportunity to do it again. But thanks to strong original songs, Eldorado emerges as something of a triumph for the group." Chuck Hicks of PopMatters wrote in his retrospective review that "Eldorado (named for the mythical, gilded king of a golden kingdom) struck a responsive chord, breaking through like sunlight on the buried desires of the discouraged and disillusioned ’70s audience. Thankfully, Sony's Epic/Legacy label has reissued a gorgeous digital remaster of this album, which will carry its timeless message to another lost generation." He continued that "Eldorado was the first of many successful ELO albums that had in mind “the mission of the sacred heart”, a shimmering, purlined call to hold on tight to our dreams."{{cite web |last=Hicks |first=Chuck |url=https://www.popmatters.com/elo-eldorado-2495888595.html |title=ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA: ELDORADO |date=11 June 2001 |work=PopMatters}}

"Can't Get It Out of My Head" was released as a single (with "Illusions in G Major" as the B-side) and was a success in the US.{{cite web |url=https://planetradio.co.uk/tay-2/entertainment/music/elo-electric-light-orchestra/ |title=ELO through the years: How the Electric Light Orchestra has changed over time}}

In July 2010, the album was named one of Classic Rock magazine{{'}}s "50 Albums That Built Prog Rock".Classic Rock magazine, July 2010, Issue 146.

On 17 June 2015, the album was ranked No. 43 on Rolling Stone{{'}}s "50 Greatest Prog Rock Albums of All Time" list.{{cite web |author=(Posted: 17 June 2015) |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/50-greatest-prog-rock-albums-of-all-time-78793/electric-light-orchestra-eldorado-1974-44025/ |title=50 Greatest Prog Rock Albums of All Time |website=Rollingstone.com |date=17 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180715152030/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/50-greatest-prog-rock-albums-of-all-time-78793/electric-light-orchestra-eldorado-1974-44025/ |access-date=16 May 2018 |archive-date=15 July 2018}}

{{Tracklist

| headline = Side one

| all_writing = Jeff Lynne

| title1 = Eldorado Overture

| note1 = instrumental

| length1 = 2:12

| title2 = Can't Get It Out of My Head

| length2 = 4:21

| title3 = Boy Blue

| length3 = 5:18

| title4 = Laredo Tornado

| length4 = 5:29

| title5 = Poor Boy (The Greenwood)

| length5 = 2:57

}}

{{Tracklist

| headline = Side two

| title6 = Mister Kingdom

| length6 = 5:50

| title7 = Nobody's Child

| length7 = 3:40

| title8 = Illusions in G Major

| length8 = 2:36

| title9 = Eldorado

| length9 = 5:20

| title10 = Eldorado Finale

| length10 = 1:20

| total_length = 39:03

}}

{{Tracklist

| headline = CD reissue bonus tracks

| title11 = Eldorado Instrumental Medley

| length11 = 7:56

| title12 = Dark City

| length12 = 0:46

}}

• Jeff Lynne – lead & backing vocals, electric & acoustic guitars, bass, Moog, production, orchestra & choral arrangements
• Bev Bevan – drums, percussion
• Richard Tandy – piano, Moog, clavinet, Wurlitzer electric piano, guitar, backing vocals, orchestra & choral arrangements
• Mike de Albuquerque – bass & backing vocals (credited; departed during the recording of the album)
• Mike Edwards – cello
• Mik Kaminski – violin
• Hugh McDowell – cello

;Additional personnel

• Peter Forbes-Robertson – spoken word
• Louis Clark – orchestra and choral arrangements and conducting
• Al Quaglieri – reissue producer (2001)

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{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|title=Eldorado|artist=Electric Light Orchestra|type=album|award=Platinum|relyear=1974}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|title=Eldorado|artist=Electric Light Orchestra|type=album|award=Gold}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}

{{reflist}}

{{Electric Light Orchestra}}

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Category:Electric Light Orchestra albums

Category:Albums produced by Jeff Lynne

Category:1974 albums

Category:Epic Records albums

Category:1970s concept albums

Category:Art rock albums by English artists

Category:Warner Records albums

Category:Jet Records albums

Category:United Artists Records albums