![]() (If someone who owns the CD can offer absolution, let me know.) I’m usually only a minute or two into ELO II before I become frustrated with the final product it could have been so much better if Lynne had hired an outside producer, wrote a few more tracks, and someone had got the engineering right. Music like this lives or dies by the production quality, and ELO II is simply one of the worst-produced albums I’ve ever heard. With Lynne assuming the production reins, he drives his horses into the muddy wild, shrouding his vocals and rendering what should be lush arrangements as a cacophonous mess. However, ELO II could be reckoned the band’s worst album (unless you want to fast-forward to Balance of Power) if only for the terrible sound quality. Not everyone thought it was a terrible idea, and “Roll Over Beethoven” even became a hit on the strength of its novelty factor. Sure, there are moments on “In Old England Town,” “Mama” and “From The Sun To The World” when it sounds like ELO might be able to pull this off, but more often it sounds like Chicago on a bad acid trip. I say “attempt” because it’s never really successful. ![]() Electric Light Orchestra II is classical rock at its most literal, attempting to blend classical passages with rock songs. Jeff Lynne became the de facto leader, added several string players to replicate the classical accompaniment first provided by Wood, and fairly swelled with ambitious designs. Ow much good could a new band do when the band had just chucked Wood? In fairness, Roy Wood left of his own accord, leaving a certain discord in his absence.
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