Beatlesque pop, classical arrangements, and futuristic iconography were the trademarks of the English band Electric Light Orchestra. Their fourth album “Eldorado” (subtitled A Symphony by the Electric Light Orchestra) might be the highlight of all of the above-mentioned attributes. Released in 1974, it is the first album on which Jeff Lynne hired an orchestra (on previous albums, Lynne would overdub the strings.) Jeff Lynne, group’s leader and principal songwriter, conceived the storyline before he wrote any music, making “Eldorado” the first concept album by ELO. The plot is focused on the life of the main character who journeys into fantasy worlds through his dreams, to escape the disillusionment of his mundane reality.
Musically, the record is more melodic than the band’s previous efforts. Receiving a strong criticism by his father *who was a classically trained musician) that ELO’s music lacked good melodies, Jeff Lynne adapted his writing style to get closer to the pop scene of the day. The influence of The Beatles on Lynne is more than evident on the album; the song “Laredo Tornado” is obviously leaning towards the Beatles’ sound, while the melody of the verse of "Mister Kingdom" strongly resembles "Across the Universe". Still, the music is far from being a plagiarism - on the contrary, it’s full of pleasant surprises and exciting instrumental parts.
The song "Can't Get It Out of My Head" was released as a single (with "Illusions in G Major" as the flipside) and was a success in the US. An edited version of "Boy Blue" was released as the album's second single but failed to make any commercial impact. The album was certified Gold in the United States soon after its release. The album and singles, however, failed to find a wide audience in the band's native United Kingdom, which was a general situation in ELO’s career. Their success was much bigger in the USA where they were informally called "the English guys with the big fiddles." On April 7, 2017, ELO were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
