One record at a time: 90. The Electric Light Orchestra - ELO II

The first track on this album would suggest things hadn't moved on in the two years since The Electric Light Orchestra's debut. "In Old England Town" is just a more polished version of the concept encountered in the first album replete with irritating chugging cello. Not an auspicious start.

However, the images contained within the gatefold shows us seven (half naked) men instead of the three featured on the first effort. This time around the strings are played by accomplished musicians and Moog synthesizer provides a depth of sound we haven't heard before. It is with second track "Momma" that we begin to hear the true sound of the second incarnation of ELO on ELO II (not ELO Part II, that's something different). This is a good song and is full of promise but in reality it is probably the high water mark for the album. 

Things hit another snag with a seven minute version of "Roll Over Beethoven". I've never been a big fan of Rock and Roll (which is a polite way of saying I don't like it) and I can't find anything in a repeating 12 bar blues pattern to warrant this play length. "From the Sun to the World" is another track that seems left over from the first album but it features some distinctive ELO chord changes and some pleasant Moog horn sounds that rescue it. The eleven minute "Kuiama" is a seventies pop song crossed with meandering prog rock. It's full of ideas and has some nice passages, but again, it doesn't warrant its run time. With only 5 tracks on the album, it's no wonder the band found time to churn out another in the same year. 2/5