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Rating: In the early years of development, the Electric Light Orchestra, led by the flamboyant and brilliant figure of Jeff Lynne, produced sounds quite different from those that enabled their unstoppable rise: pop-dance products like Discovery and Out Of The Blue entered the charts worldwide, and even though ELO is not very well-known in the country shaped like a boot, it achieved fame comparable to that of the Beatles.
There is, however, a particular detail that escapes most: John Lennon himself has often praised ELO's work, even calling them "the sons of the Beatles," but he was not referring to the band's golden years, but to the year 1974 when On A Third Day (1973 Columbia Records) was born, the third album of Lynne and his crew. In the first album, we found an extremely experimental approach, with compositions oscillating between prog-rock and classical music, thanks also to the strong neoclassical influences of Roy Wood, who left the band after the release of the subsequent ELO II, although he directly participated in the creation of the two Boogies from the aforementioned album. On A Third Day represents the improvement of ELO II, which, ultimately, was excessively redundant, and the lack of a certain inclination to prog led ELO to fail in its attempt to emerge as a Progressive band, despite the beautiful cover of a classic by Chuck Berry, known as Roll Over Beethoven, and the highly underestimated From The Sun To The World (Boogie No. 1). Thus, with the third album, we have a perfect transition between what was and what will be. Although Prog influences are still present, the average length of the tracks was practically halved compared to the monumental (by their standards, of course) productions of ELO II, while there were no significant improvements worthy of the name in terms of arrangements, which still remained quite sparse (a situation finally corrected with their masterpiece, Eldorado), despite the introduction of the Mini Moog synthesizer; in any case, from a purely artistic point of view, we are faced with an album navigating through highs and lows.
The most successful compositions are those that are more direct and catchy, like the splendid Showdown and a true tribute to Rockabilly, Ma-ma-ma Belle, which would become one of their most popular live concert titles; in the future, Lynne would cyclically repeat with tributes to Rockabilly, which began with the already mentioned cover of Roll Over Beethoven, and continued with major pieces like Rockaria! and Illusion in G Major. In the first four tracks, however, we find a draft of a concept, with four connected tracks, the result of which is rather decent, while the album's closure is entrusted to a bizarre remake of one of the most famous classical music pieces: In The Hall Of The Mountain King; the aforementioned cover has been, to use a euphemism, "desecrated" of its original charm by really out-of-place initial sound effects, but the ending crescendo with extensive use of guitar and drums manages to improve, but not save, a really overly ambitious cover attempt.
As I have repeated in various ELO reviews, this is a transitional album, and should be taken as such, in fact, the search for an easily accessible sound has already begun, even though the desire to try to mix rock rhythms and classical compositions is still very much alive, and the decent "Concept" experiment on side A will become a reality with their next album, Eldorado. In short, we are faced with an album with good ideas, but probably inferior to both the first album and its direct predecessor, given that Roy Wood's departure caused a sort of "Year 0" to start from, but the results will not be long in coming, the masterpiece is near.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Bluebird Is Dead (04:22)
Little Darlin' of my life
You keep movin' cross my mind
You gave me a sunny day
Now it looks as if I'll pay
Why do they say -- Bluebird is dead?
I can still see her, touch her, my Bluebird
The love that she gave, I don't believe, No, No, I don't believe
Bluebird came to me tonight
Waiting patiently for light
She said I know that you will grieve
But my darlin' I must leave
Why do they say -- Bluebird is dead?
I can still see her, touch her, my Bluebird
The love that she gave, I don't believe, No, No, I don't believe
Bluebird say it is not so
Please I cannot hear you speak
It must be that you're so tired
In the darkness of the night
Why do they say -- Bluebird is dead?
I can still see her, touch her, my Bluebird
The love that she gave, I don't believe, No, No, I don't believe
05 Showdown (04:09)
She cried to the southern wind
About a love that was sure to end
Every dream in her heart was gone
Headin' for a Showdown
Bad dreamer, what's your name
Looks like we're ridin' on the same train
Looks as though there'll be more pain
There's gonna be a Showdown
And it's rainin' all over the world
Its raining all over the world
Tonight, the longest night
She came to me like a friend
She blew in on a southern wind
Now my heart is turned to stone again
There's gonna be a Showdown
Save me, oh save me
It's unreal the suffering
There's gonna be a Showdown
And it's rainin' all over the world
It's raining all over the world
Tonight, the longest night
07 Ma-Ma-Ma Belle (03:52)
Got love, if that's what you need
I got three or four
babies sittin' on my knee
I got love waitin' for
you
I come sneakin' round the corner of the avenue
You gotta Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, or I will get you
You
know you gotta Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, before I get you
There's one thing that's on my mind
And
that's getting hold of you before I serve my time
I'll keep on, with my heavy load
Till I see you come
a strollin' down that open road
You gotta
Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, or I will get you
You know you gotta
Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, before I get you
I love you Ma-Ma-Ma
Belle
That's why I want to get it all well I'm
sure you can tell
I got, good soul, runnin' so deep
Gonna get you in the corner so that I can keep
Can't
you hear me once Ma-Ma-Ma Belle
You gotta Ma-Ma-Ma
Belle, or I will get you
You know you gotta Ma-Ma-Ma Belle,
before I get you
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By tandoc2001
"'On The Third Day' is an important album! Certainly for the group and for its identity, it’s a fundamental album, characterizing what will be their entire future."
"George Harrison remarked that if the Beatles had continued to play, they would have done so like the Electric Light Orchestra. That story probably started with this album."
