Electric Light Orchestra II by Electric Light Orchestra

Electric Light Orchestra II came out on Harvest early in 1973 (in Britain it was simply ELO 2), and it was the Birmingham band's last record for that label and the one that gave the world the three-letter nickname. Roy Wood had walked out in 1972, leaving Jeff Lynne in sole command, producing the sessions with Bev Bevan on drums, Richard Tandy on keyboards and a rotating crew of cellists and violinists, among them Mike Edwards, Colin Walker and Wilfred Gibson.

This is ELO before the futuristic trappings and the long run of hits: heaving art-rock pieces where sawing cellos grind against electric guitars and the whole thing lurches like a chamber orchestra that's been at the brown ale. The centerpiece is their souped-up "Roll Over Beethoven", which drags the classical masters into a rock-and-roll brawl and pretty much sums up the band's whole mad premise of marrying pop songs to the concert hall.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.