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 ELO finally hits its stride "On The Third Day" Mar 03, 2008
Much closer to the ELO that would deliver "A New World Record" and "Out of the Blue" than the first two albums. "Daybreaker" rocks, Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King" is fun, and of course "Showdown" and "Ma-Ma-Ma-Belle" rock hard, deserving their status as fan faves.
Nice to see the original UK cover restored, I always hated the US "Belly Button" cover photo.
Overall, a solid remaster with some nice bonus tracks and great sound. I recommend this for any ELO fan or prog rock aficionado.
Exciting British symphonic pop Sep 18, 2007
Unfortunately, I completely ignored ELO (along with a host of other bands) in the early 1980's for reasons related to overplaying on the radio and to what sounded to my progger ears like commercial pop music. Although still very much a raving prog freak, I have re-visited some of the groups I dismissed in my youth and have found the music to be a lot less commercial sounding than I remember it being. This 1973 album certainly falls in that category and may very well be one of the more adventurous examples of British symphonic pop I have ever heard. In fact, certain prog rock fans feel it is ELO's finest recorded performance.
The lineup at this point included Jeff Lynne (electric and acoustic guitars; vocals); Bev Bevan (drums and percussion); Richard Tandy (acoustic piano; mini-moog synthesizer); Michael de Albuquerque (electric bass guitar); Mike Edwards (cello); and Mik Kaminski (violin). Additional musicians included Colin Walker (violin); Wilfred Gibson (violin); and Marc Bolan (electric guitar). The musicians are generally good, although there is far more emphasis on full, symphonic arrangements and Beatle-esque harmonies than intricate ensemble work and virtuoso musicianship. Based on what I have read, this was the last ELO album where Jeff Lynne attempted to re-create an orchestral sound by multi-tracking the cello and violin parts - the use of cellos and violins was a distinctive aspect of the early ELO sound. As a prog rock fan I loved hearing the mini-moog synthesizer and it is used quite a lot on this album.
Overall, this album constitutes a fine mix of classical, psychedelic, Beatles-influenced pop, blues rock, and some progressive rock. In fact, On the Third Day is considered by some to be the closest in style to prog rock, although I still consider this music more in keeping with the British symphonic pop style. In large part, ELO was influenced more by the symphonic fullness of the English progressive rock groups rather than the fact that they used (for example) quartal harmony, odd root movements, and intricate meters.
Not to diminish the high quality of this album however, On the Third Day makes for a very enjoyable listening experience. What makes On the Third Day so thrilling for me are the thoughtful ensemble arrangements and instrumental interludes sandwiched between the more "straightforward" tracks. There are some wonderful vocal harmonies (which can get haunting at times) and I certainly do not mind the heavy references to the Beatles one bit. Of course, the rapid, right hand arpeggios on the mini-moog thrown in here and there sound pretty cool too and gives the music a somewhat proggy feel; especially when the band gets going full steam. While I admire them for playing an adaptation of Norwegian composer Edvard Hagerup Grieg's In the Hall of the Mountain King, it just did not hold my interest nearly as much as their own compositions. I guess the weakest track for me however is the bluesy, hard rocking track Ma-ma-ma Belle - it just not fit very well with the other material, which is comparatively more involved.
This remastered album is very nice and boasts great sound quality and informative liner notes that feature pictures of the band. The bonus tracks are just OK, although I was more than satisfied with the tracks on the original album.
All in all, this is a fine example of British symphonic pop and is recommended along with their other progressive effort ELO II (1973), in addition to other albums from the genre including one by Supertramp (Even in the Quietest of Moments, 1977); and a few by the Alan Parsons Project (Tales of Mystery and Imagination (1976); I, Robot (1977).
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Jeff Lynne creativity shows in this album Aug 18, 2007
I knew nothing about ELO, absolutely nothing! And one night I happened to be at someone's house and they put on this album. -Bing!- -Bang!-
-Pow!- I was instantly hooked on ELO. I had to ask, "Who is this?!!!!". I went out and bought my next album the next day, until I collected all I could. I continued collecting ELO and am still hooked. This album holds a special place in my heart since it was my first experience.
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
 Remaster vs Original CD Mar 27, 2007
I've just bought four remastered ELOs, and already compared two of them, new Out Of The Blue was clearly worst in every aspect. This edition is almost identical to the original CD EXCEPT that it is COMPRESSED!!! WHY? Digital era made almost all producers wanting to sound louder, rock mixing doesn't have a standard loudness as movies. So each decade albums are more and more compressed and less and less musical. As an example, ending of first song (King...) has some pizzicato at peaking at -15db, new version is at -10db (5db louder), so dynamic range has been lost. All pianissimos are loud. Musicality has been lost because of this, I'm afraid all new remaster editions has been heavily compressed.
Original CDs editions have a very good sound quality, I would stick to those versions unless you want bonus tracks.
I give 2.5 stars, 4 because of the music and 1 for poor mastering.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
A Complete Experience -- Fantastic Remastering Mar 23, 2007
You can hear Lynne's vision coming together on this album, as near a complete album experience as I've heard in a while. This record was meant to be listened to as "sides" (boy I'm really dating myself now) and each one is a truly complete listening experience. The combination of Beatles harmonies, sounds, and melodies, great rock guitar, grand orchestration, tight backbeats, and sci-fi and other esoteric themes, all come together in a very satisfying package.
Highlights for me include the incredible "Bluebird is Dead," with its smart "Tomorrow Never Knows" guitar loops (this song was recently covered by Todd Rundgren for a Jeff Lynne tribute album). followed by some of Jeff's best John Lennon-style singing on "Oh No Not Susan." The great "Showdown" has one of the tastiest guitar breaks on record, and side 2, while more instrumental and experimental, is equally as enjoyable.
The new remastering brings out the depth and dimensions in the music -- the buried sounds, the dense instrumentation, the really rock solid rhythm section -- it's all good, and it sounds great.
But I do have to comment on the bonus tracks. Not only are they not essential, in my view they mar the listening experience. Do we need two additional versions of "Ma-Ma-Ma Belle" after the gentle, prog-like release of the final album track, the instrumental reworking of "In the Hall of the Mountain King"? I say no thanks. I did enjoy the very Blonde-on-Blondish sounding bonus track "Everyone's Born to Die," I just think it should not have been tacked on to such a great, complete record. And the final noodling track adds absolutely nothing, in my opinion.
That shouldn't discourage anyone from picking this up, every serious music fan should own it.
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