The Electric Light Orchestra is the debut studio album by English rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), released in December 1971 in the United Kingdom by Harvest Records. In the United States, the album was released in March 1972 as No Answer, after a misunderstood telephone message made by a United Artists Records executive asking about the album name;[1] the caller, having failed to reach the ELO contact, wrote down "no answer" in his notes, and this was misconstrued to be the name of the album.
The album is focused on the core trio of Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne and Bev Bevan, who were the remaining members of rock group the Move. The Move were still releasing singles in the UK at the same time as this project was undertaken, but interest was soon to be abandoned in Wood's former band. In fact, the Move's final album, Message from the Country, was recorded simultaneously with The Electric Light Orchestra.
The sound on The Electric Light Orchestra is unique on this recording in comparison to the more slickly produced ELO albums of the subsequent Lynne years, incorporating many wind instruments and replacing guitar parts with heavy, "sawing" cello riffs, giving this recording an experimental "baroque-and-roll" feel. Because Wood, Lynne, and Bevan were the only members, the album utilized many overdubs (with some tracks having well over 10) and doubling on instruments. Lynne and Wood did the strings (with Wood doing the woodwinds) while Bevan stuck with percussion and drums. On the track "The Battle of Marston Moor (July 2nd, 1664)," Wood also had to provide the percussion as well because Bev Bevan, normally the group's percussionist and drummer, refused to play on the track due to his low opinion of it.
The album cover fittingly depicts a disconnected lightbulb in the middle of a large empty baroque-style dance hall with modern electric lights livening up the room. The back cover depicts Wood, Lynne, and Bevan adorned in era appropriate clothing and playing classical instruments (a cello, a violin, and a piccolo, respectively). The image is depicted in wall-eye style, as if they are reflected within the lightbulb's dome.[2] The gatefold cover opens up to reveal several black and white images relating to the songs (such as a radio for "Mr. Radio") as well as another picture of the band next to the credits and personnel.[2]
"Queen of the Hours", which later became the B-side to "Roll Over Beethoven" from the band's second album ELO 2, was the first ever published ELO song, released by Harvest Records in November 1971 in a compilation called The Harvest Bag which featured various Harvest records artists.[9]
The original LP was mixed in Quadraphonic sound but was only released in this format in South America. Many of these "quad" tracks appeared with the SQ encoding intact on the "First Light" series edition of the album and on a later double-CD release entitled Early ELO, 1971–1974 (available only as an import in the US). The entire "quad" version with SQ encoding intact has since been released on disc 3 of the Harvest Years compilation.
The original album art was designed by Hipgnosis; the photographs of the band on the back of the album cover, dressed in 17th-century period costume, were taken at the Banqueting House in Whitehall, adding to the Baroque flavour and emphasis on Stuart Britain found on the record.
"Mr. Radio" was intended to be the second single from the album, but was subsequently withdrawn. The edited single version made its first appearance on the 2005 compilation album Harvest Showdown instead.
The Electric Light Orchestra (First Light Series) is a two-disc expanded special 30th anniversary edition of their debut album.
Released in 2001 in the UK, disc one contains the original ELO album plus bonus tracks and an interactive CD-ROM feature, while disc two features the oldest surviving live ELO material with co/founder Roy Wood and cellist Andy Craig.
Enhanced multimedia section with interactive menu leading to EMI Promotional Film: 10538 Overture (May 1972)