Album Review: The Electric Light Orchestra (No Answer)

Album: The Electric Light Orchestra
Artist: The Electric Light Orchestra
Label: Harvest
Release Date: December 1971

Sometimes incorrectly titled as "No Answer" due to a telephone mix up at their record label, the Electric Light Orchestra's first album showcases a glimpse of them with their original line-up with Roy Wood (later of Wizzard) and Jeff Lynne as principal songwriters. It features a lot more string instruments than most pop albums of the time, and although not too similar to their later work, some glimpses of ELO's general style manage to shine through at times.

'10538 Overture' is the main single of the album and rightly so as it feels the most together of any song featured on the album. In a fairly conventional pop style to start with, the later parts of the song featuring very heavy overbearing string parts which can almost be described as discordant raspy, low scraping sound effects. The album's second song 'Look At Me Now' is rather close to The Beatles song "Eleanor Rigby" in places, with prominent string parts and its general structure.

The closing half of the first side features far more string parts and even some renaissance style brass parts. At around 6 minutes each both of the songs in question are structured much less conventionally and feature some what unrelated sections and experimental parts. It's hard to determine what sort of feel the band were going for on the album as a whole, and it feels as if the pop parts are at odds with the more classically influenced numbers.

'1st Movement' restores a little faith in the direction of the album as a short instrumental track with defined sections and assured of its purpose. While the songwriting on the album before it was essentially shared between Wood and Lynne, the Mr. Radio on side 2 begins a trio of songs written by Jeff Lynne. The most easily accessible of the three, the song is essentially the second side's 10538 overture with a catchy hook and more experimental later section.

'Manhattan Rumble (49th Street Massacre)', the second of the three songs features falsetto vocals, even more strings and far less lyrical sections than most songs on the album relying mainly on its instrumental sections. The final song by Lynne on the album 'Queen of the Hours' shifts between a country influenced string vibe in it's chorus to experimental Beatles sounding verses, with the music inbetween containing the now trademark dischordant string rhythm section aside the drums.

 The final track 'Whisper In The Night' rounds off the album with Roy's vocals back again for the first time since Look at Me Now. It's apparent that his voice isn't as soothing as Jeff's and the song itself is far more laid back than some of the other tracks on the album which doesn't really fit Roy's voice as well. The album as a whole features a lot of different types of songs but only a few which point in the direction of the band's later efforts. It can be difficult to get into due to the strings which feature on most if not all of the tracks, and the fact that it doesn't sound much like their later output, but it's not so much bad as experimental and most of the tracks are at least tolerable if not good.

Rating: 2.75/5.00