Product Description

Though 1974's ELDORADO is subtitled "A Symphony by the Electric Light Orchestra" and features both a portentous spoken-word prologue and an instrumental finale, this album marks Jeff Lynne's final break from classical-rock fusion in the Emerson, Lake & Palmer sense. Though there're a handful of recognisable lifts from classical and romantic composers, particularly in the swelling opening of "Boy Blue" and the grandly-titled "Illusions in G Major", most of the orchestral arrangements here are in service to Lynne's increasingly accomplished pop songs. One of those is "Can't Get It Out of My Head", a classic '70s pop ballad and FM radio staple that's among Lynne's very best work. Though this was the only hit single on ELDORADO, the rest of the album is nearly as strong. "Laredo Tornado", a Lennonesque mid-tempo strut recalling ELO's earlier hit "Showdown", is a particular standout. Worldwide superstardom was just around the corner.

Track Listing

1. Eldorado Overture
2. Can't Get It Out Of My Head
3. Boy Blue
4. Laredo Tornado
5. Poorboy (The Greenwood)
6. Mr Kingdom
7. Nobody's Child
8. Illusions In G Major
9. Eldorado
10. Eldorado (Finale)
11. Eldorado Instrumental Medley
12. Dark City

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5375 in Music
• Released on: 2001-06-11
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered

Amazon.co.uk Review
A concept album about the fantastic world of dreams, Eldorado may be the Electric Light Orchestra's most fully realised recording. Combining the grand, sweeping vision that founders Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood first envisioned when they formed ELO, with the craftsmanship and outstanding production values that marked the mega-hit albums A New World Record and Out of the Blue, Eldorado is a near-perfect fusion of rock & roll with a full orchestra. While newcomers to the band won't necessarily find much here in terms of stand-out tracks, true ELO fans will know that this merely demonstrates the quality of the album as a coherent whole. Digitally remastered, it now sounds better than ever. --Robert Burrow

Customer Reviews

Extended edition (2 extra tracks) review, 4.5 stars
I am just reviewing the main extra track here, as all the other reviews tell you what you need to know about the main album.
I got this as a 2-4-1-pack (Eldorado plus Secret Messages)in a clever but cheap cardboard sliding (aka scratching) sleeve, but the CDs inside are gems.
I bought the Eldorado extended edition because I had always wanted the Instrumental Medley bonus track. It's exactly what I had expected - some of the orchestral / band 'backing tracks' (no voices) all joined up into an 8-minute mini-overture - just like you're at the opera! It's def worth getting for this extra. Ideally, it would be at the start of the album, to settle you down ready for the main album, overture-style. (You can even have an 8-minute karaoke session on your way to/from work.)
I always thought of the album as a mini-pantomime soundtrack, with the whole recording being quite 'close' - you are in a small local theatre rather than a massive concert hall as the later albums. My vinyl album was very fuzzy, but this remaster is excellent - all the orchestral instruments loud and clear, adding to the magical 'school orchestra and local opera group/drama group' effect. All the ideas that came to fruition a little later (as other reviews) are in place, but with the production a tad under budget. But this is part of the charm. There is a strange magic ;-) to this whole album - a Christmas feel to it. I give it 4 stars because there is no 4.5; and New World Record probably pips it, as nothing will top the last 3 minutes of that one - and there are plenty of other ELO albums just as good or better. The triple box (or, rather, 'book') set is great, too, if still available.
The 2nd extra bonus track is a throwaway 45 second add-on.
I hope that helps if you're looking to buy the extended edition.

Do yourself a favour......buy it!
I remember this one first time around. I bought the vinyl version back in the mid-70s and swapped it recently for the digital version.

As many of the other reviewers have inferred, this is undisputedly the best (or one of the best) ELO albums. I would go further than this and say this is one of the best 70s albums - a real "Desert Island Disk".

If you thought ELO were the progressive violin-rock band of "10538 Overture" and "Showdown" or the poppy pre-electro combo that brought you "Livin Thing" and "Wild West Hero", think again.

"El Dorado" is the missing link between both genres and despite the politically correct attitudes of today that forbids anything called a concept album, all of the songs stand in their own right setting several moods all the way through the quickest 40 minutes of music you'll ever hear.

Very oddly, however, commercial success wasn't forthcoming. True, "Can't Get it Out of My Head" was a top 30 hit, briefly, back in 1975 and that was it as far as singles from the album were concerned. And yet the album bristles with great music and a great story parodied on the front cover artwork by Dorothy's famous red slippers from the 1939 film "Wizard of Oz".

For me, "El Dorado" surpassed the previous and excellent "On the Third Day" and, rather harshly, I would add that ELO went slightly off message with subsequent "Out of the Blue" and "New World Record" efforts although this is a bit like saying that the Aston Martin has been spoiled because the ashtray is full.

"El Dorado" is a more than a gem.....it's a big diamond.

Do yourself a favour.....buy it!!!

The best ELO-album
Just after purchasing the remastered version of A New World Record and listening to Out of the Blue, I guess this is the best ELO-album, the one you'll be going to listen to frequently. It's their grandest sounding-album, complete with choirs and orchestra and it's (almost) a fantasy-concept-album. Other than bands like King Krimson, Yes and Genesis, ELO will never be 'cool'; too much melodies, very influenced by the Beatles, but that never mattered to me.
Highlights are the intro/I can't get it out of my head, Poorboy and the Eldorado/Eldorado(finale)-tracks! If you want to try something by this band, start here (for under four quid!). You'll be amazed!