Cut during the fall of 1972,
Electric Light Orchestra II was where
Jeff Lynne started rebuilding the sound of
Electric Light Orchestra following the departure of
Roy Wood from the original lineup. It was as personal an effort as
Lynne had ever made in music, showcasing his work as singer, songwriter, guitarist, sometime synthesizer player, and producer, and it is more focused than its predecessor but also retains some of the earlier album's lean textures.
Lynne, drummer
Bev Bevan, bassist
Mike D'Albuquerque, and keyboardist
Richard Tandy comprise the core of the band, with two cellists and a violinist sawing away around them. There were holes in their sound that made the group seem somewhat ragged, as on the pounding
"In Old England Town (Boogie #2)";
Lynne's singing would also have to develop, and some of the material also showed the need of an editor. On the other hand,
"From the Sun to the World (Boogie #1)" was a succinct
progressive rock workout, and
"Kuiama" was a decent showcase for the different sides of the group that worked about as well as any 11-minute
progressive rock track of the period. But the very fact that the group's cover of
"Roll Over Beethoven" was the hit off of this album also showed how far
Lynne had to go as a songwriter -- there's nothing else here one-half as good as that as a song, and the fact that the band attacked it like a buzzsaw made it one of the most bracing pieces of
progressive rock to make the charts. As a patchwork job, the album holds up well, and it and the single did go a long way toward getting them the beginnings of an audience in America. ~ Bruce Eder
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