ON THE THIRD DAY

ELO´s third album is another step towards their trademark sound of the mid 70´s, I guess. Much of the experimentalism was gone by this time, but still On The third day has its share of whimsical and different sounds to make it quite unique, if not exactly great. Jeff Lynne´s songwriting here is more consistent than on the previous two albums, the arrangements are tighter and the use of the cello and the violin reached its peak on this record. Also his vocals are much stronger and convincing, the bad production of the other releases is replaced by a very good, clear sound (ok, the drum sound is not that good, but the rest did improve).

This is definitly one of the best mixtures of ELO´s progressive and pop sound (at this stage, more prog than pop). It takes some time to really get the album´s musical intersting tapestry of sound. At first I didnp´t like much of what I heard here, but after a few spins I changed my mind. It begins quite slowly and I wonder if the choice of tralist was the best. Still, it works. Obviously the strong Beatles influence (around the time of Revolver/Sargeant Pepper) is here too (Bluebird Is Dead is pure Paul McCartney, even though Lynne´s vocals are much more like Lennon´s). But the real masterpeace for me is Showdown, with its infectious beat, great melody line, funky bass and fine use of the string section. Accessible and inventive at the same time, a real gem.

All in all I really liked this album. it´s not ELO´s classic line up (in fact ther is one cellist missing. Hugh McDowell is featured on the cover of the Brazilian version of the LP, but only rejoined after all the traks were recorded), but On the third Day they did come across as one of the most interesting bands to appear in the 70´s. After much confusion and the lack of a strong music direction of their two first effords they were on their way to do something worth all the waiting.

Rating: something between 3.5 and 4 stars.