| | Electric Light Orchestra On The Third Day CD Electric Light Orchestra Discography of CDs
 (3 Customer Reviews)
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Electric Light Orchestra: Jeff Lynne (vocals, guitar); Mik Kaminski (violin); Mike Edwards (cello); Richard Tandy (piano, Moog synthesizers); Michael De Albuquerque (bass); Bev Bevan (drums).
Electric Light Orchestra: Jeff Lynne (vocals, guitar); Mik Kaminski, Wilf Gibson (violin); Colin Walker, Mike Edwards (cello); Richard Tandy (piano, Moog synthesizer); Michael d'Albuquerque (bass guitar); Bev Bevan (drums).
Additional personnel: Marc Bolan (guitar).
Electric Light Orchestra's third album showed a marked advancement, with a fuller, more cohesive sound from the band as a whole and major improvements in Jeff Lynne's singing and songwriting. This is where the band took on its familiar sound, Lynne's voice suddenly showing an attractive expressiveness reminiscent of John Lennon in his early solo years, and also sporting a convincing white British soulful quality that was utterly lacking earlier. The group also plugged the holes that made its work seem so close to being ragged on those earlier records. "Showdown" and "Ma-Ma-Ma Belle" (the latter featuring Marc Bolan on double lead guitar with Lynne) became AM radio fixtures while "Daybreaker" became a concert opener for the group and, along with "In the Hall of the Mountain King," kept the group's FM/art rock credentials in order. ~ Bruce Eder
In some ways, 1973's ON THE THIRD DAY is the first "true" ELO album. Though co-founder Roy Wood had left the band to form the more experimental Wizzard after the first album, his influence was still all over 1972's ELO II, especially on the orchestrated cover of Chuck Berry's "Roll Over Beethoven." ON THE THIRD DAY, however, is pure Jeff Lynne, the first album completely devoted to his soon-to-be enormously successful blend of psychedelic-era Beatles and 19th-century classical music. The pristinely recorded results are ultra-melodic and incredibly lush, with ballads like "Bluebird Is Dead" and rockers like the hits "Showdown" and "Ma-Ma-Ma Belle." The recurrent "Ocean Breakup" theme foreshadows the concerto-like elements of ELO's next record, ELDORADO, while the group's rockish rearrangement of "In the Hall of the Mountain King" is the group's final attempt at Emerson, Lake & Palmer-like classical-rock fusion.
Uncut (p.104) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[With] symphonic pop, string-driven things and post-glam..." Electric Light Orchestra On The Third Day Songs On The Third Day Music Review Average Rating: (4.7 out of 5 stars)   Ambiguous yet still phenomenal
ELOs third album bears a portentous title, and it is well deserved considering the commercial Leviathan they were to become. This album is highly experimental and is very eclectic. It has a lot of orchestral arrangements interconnected with hard rock. Just check out "Ma ma ma belle" and "Showdown" - these 2 are absolute classics, and they have 1970s hard rocking sounds with orchestra. "On the third Day" is an album where Jeff Lynne is clearly finding his feet, getting the ELO sound ready for blast off when it comes time for the 'flying saucer' albums from 1976-79. Check out the bizarre use of synthesizers on "New World Rising" and "Daybreaker"; in a few years time, the sounds created by keyboardist Richard Tandy (known as 'magic fingers') were to become part of the trademark sound of ELOs most successful albums. Closing with an ambitious version of "In the Hall of the Mountain King", "On the third day" showcases the blueprint of ELOs ambition - to become a successful commercial rock/orchestra ensemble that will create new boundaries for other artists to attempt to follow (and none have been able to surpass ELOs success, scope or finesse, except perhaps the Alan Parsons Project). It must also be noted that this Expanded edition absolutely rocks - check out "All that lives is born to die" - this by far the best addition to the album, and it perplexes me as to why Jeff Lynne decided to omit it for the album's original release.
Submitted by James Richardson (Elizabeth, South Australia)
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 Prelude to Greatness
3rd album in which well crafted fromulated songs come to the forefront. Good from start to finish and back again !!!! Bluebird is Dead !!!
Submitted by B Sparks (Hamilton, ON, CANADA) 
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GREAT!
i don't give 5 stars often but this deserves it.. nicely remastered and my favorite ELO
Submitted by endymion65 (Savannah, GA)
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