Eldorado
Studio album by Electric Light Orchestra
Released	July 1974
Recorded	De Lane Lea Studios, London
Genre	Symphonic rock, art rock
Length	38:42
Label	Warner Bros., United Artists, Jet, Columbia
Producer	Jeff Lynne
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link George Starostin (10/10) link
Electric Light Orchestra chronology
The Night the Light Went On (In Long Beach) (1974) Eldorado (1974) Face the Music (1975)

Eldorado (with the subtitle A Symphony by the Electric Light Orchestra) is a 1974 concept album by the Electric Light Orchestra.

Overview

The album is considered by many critics and fans to be one of their greatest creative achievements. On this album Jeff Lynne stopped overdubbing strings, as he had on the first three ELO albums, and instead hired an orchestra. Reportedly, the sound of impatient double-bass players putting away their instruments can be heard at one point during the album's climax track "Eldorado Finale". Eldorado was also the first ELO album to feature Louis Clark arranging and conducting the strings.

Concept

Conceptually, Eldorado is about a Walter Mitty-like character who mentally journeys into a fantasy world via dreams to escape a mundane reality he can't tolerate (note the lyrics "Robin Hood and William Tell and Ivanhoe and Lancelot, they don't envy me" in "Can't Get It Out of My Head").

Mike de Albuquerque departed before recording, so despite the credits (De Albuquerque was featured in the group photo on the original LP inner sleeve), Lynne played bass and provided all vocals for this album. It was also on this album that allegations of hidden satanic backmasking messages were first voiced, Jeff Lynne responded by including deliberate backwards messages on later albums.

"Can't Get It Out of My Head" was released as a single with "Illusions in G Major" and was a success in the US, although surprisingly in the UK the album and the singles were completely ignored. The album soon reached Gold status, however. Aside from the success of "Can't Get It Out Of My Head" this has partly been attributed to the front cover, which comprises a still from the hugely popular 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. (Other examples of bands taking inspiration from this film include Toto and Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.)

The album was remastered and reissued in 2001 with two bonus tracks, "Eldorado Instrumental Medley", a symphonic highlight of the album, plus "Dark City" which according to Jeff Lynne was an early idea for the track "Laredo Tornado".

Chart position

• #16 U.S. Billboard 200, RIAA certification: Gold
• #40 Australia

Track listing

All songs were written by Jeff Lynne.

1. "Eldorado Overture" – 2:12
2. "Can't Get It Out of My Head" – 4:21
3. "Boy Blue" – 5:18
4. "Laredo Tornado" – 5:29
5. "Poor Boy (The Greenwood)" – 2:57
6. "Mister Kingdom" – 5:29
7. "Nobody's Child" – 3:56
8. "Illusions in G Major" – 2:37
9. "Eldorado" – 5:17
10. "Eldorado Finale" – 1:34

Bonus tracks on 2001 reissue

11. "Eldorado Instrumental Medley" – 7:56
12. "Dark City" – 0:46

Personnel

• Jeff Lynne – vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, bass, keyboards
• Bev Bevan – drums, percussion
• Richard Tandy – piano, moog synthesiser, guitar, backing vocals
• Mike de Albuquerque – bass (credited, but did not play on the record)
• Mik Kaminski – violin
• Hugh McDowell – cello
• Mike Edwards – cello
• Peter Forbes-Robertson – spoken word "Eldorado Overture"
• Jeff Lynne, Richard Tandy and Louis Clark – orchestra and choral arrangements on 2001 reissue
• Louis Clark – orchestra conducting on 2001 reissue

Tour line-up

• Jeff Lynne – lead vocals, guitar
• Bev Bevan – drums
• Richard Tandy – keyboards
• Kelly Groucutt – bass, vocals
• Mik Kaminski – violin
• Hugh McDowell – cello
• Mike Edwards – cello (US tour only)
• Melvyn Gale – cello (European tour only)

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