ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA [AKA: NO ANSWER]

For me, the first two albums of ELO aren't much better then their mid 80's material. And that's mainly because of the very ragged sound of the records, which is very dissimilar to their classic albums which sound greatly polished(in a good way). The other reason is because I really dislike Roy Wood. In The Move he was bearable, but compared to Lynn he's a laugh. I'm very glad he left after this album and ELO didn't become a lame rock n' roll band like Wizard(although, ironically, Lynne always wanted ELO to be a rock n' roll group).

Wood's compositions range from okey("Look at me now" and the splendid "First Movement") to really painful for the ears("The Battle of Marston Moore" and the dreadful "Whisper in the Night").

And Lynne wasn't in top form either: "Manhattan Rumble" is a perfect example of the amateurish sound they had these days(ok, its is prog, but not very good prog imho) and "Nellie takes her Bow" is the most forgettable tracks in the history of the band. "10538 Ouverture" is a decent track, but they rocked much better later on( and even used a part of the song in "Do Ya", which is a superior track imo).

But his other 2 compositions were top-notch and rank among ELO's best songs. Not coincidentally it were the two most Beatles influenced songs on the album, a sign of the great fab-four inspired work that was to come from the band. "Mr. Radio" is a typical psychedelic work with the most beautiful,touching lyrics Lynne ever wrote(lyrically,Lynne was very inconsistent) and "Queen of the Hours" is an example of how this album would sound if all tracks were of this level of songwriting but maintained the ragged sound quality. Those two tracks contain the kind of melodies ELO would be remembered for decades(and hopefully centuries) later.

If you wanna hear more of ELO in it's very early phase, only it's follow up("ELO II") is part of that era. Then we enter the true classic phase ELO is known for. I also advise taking a look at the last album from The Move, Lynne's and Wood's earlier collaboration. While certainly not prog or artrock, it contains some of the finest songs the duo composed, with a sound quality far superior to this one.

*****: " Mr.Radio"

****:"Queen of the Hours"

***:"1st Movement","10538 Ouverture"

**:"Look at me now"

*:all the rest