Description Electric Light Orchestra ‎ "Eldorado - A Symphony By The Electric Light Orchestra" Warner Bros. K56090 UK 1st pressVinyl, LP, housed in a printed inner sleeve and released in 1974. The vinyl appears to have been lightly played and is in great condition. It played through beautifully on my elderly stereo - no hop, stick or jump. The LP is housed in its original printed inner sleeve, which shows minimal signs of wear and which is also in great shape - no rips or writing. Similarly, the sleeve also shows minimal signs of use, and is also in great condition, again, with no rips or writing. The spine is intact and completely legible.Matrix/Runout Side One : K.56090.A3 TML-M UA-LA-339-G1 (SET 3) [UA-LA-399-G1 scratched out]Matrix/Runout Side Two : K.56090.B3 TML-M UA-LA 339-G-2 (SET 3) "Eldorado" (subtitled as A Symphony by the Electric Light Orchestra) is the fourth studio album by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). It was released in the United States in September 1974 by United Artists Records and in the United Kingdom in October 1974 by Warner Bros. Records. "Eldorado" is the first complete ELO concept album; bandleader Jeff Lynne conceived the story-line before he wrote any music. The plot follows a Walter Mitty-like character who journeys into fantasy worlds via dreams, to escape the disillusionment of his mundane reality. Lynne began to write the album in response to criticisms from his father, a classical music lover, who said that Electric Light Orchestra's repertoire "had no tune". The influence of the Beatles is prevalent, especially in the melody of the verse of "Mister Kingdom" which to some degree resembles the Beatles' "Across the Universe". "Eldorado" marks the first album on which Jeff Lynne hired an orchestra; on previous albums, Lynne would overdub the strings. Louis Clark co-arranged, with Lynne (and keyboardist Richard Tandy), and conducted the strings. The group's three resident string players continued to perform on recordings, however, and can be heard most prominently on the songs "Boy Blue" and "Laredo Tornado". Mike de Albuquerque departed early on in the recording process, as touring made him feel separated from his family. Lynne plays most of, if not all, the bass tracks and backing vocals for the album, even though de Albuquerque received credit. Nevertheless, de Albuquerque was involved in some of the released album, if not as prominently as previous albums. Kelly Groucutt replaced de Albuquerque for the subsequent tour, when cellist Melvyn Gale also joined. "Eldorado Finale" is heavily orchestrated much like "Eldorado Overture". Jeff Lynne said of the song, "I like the heavy chords and the slightly daft ending, where you hear the double bass players packing up their basses, because they wouldn't play another millisecond past the allotted moment." "Can't Get It Out of My Head" was released as a single (with "Illusions in G Major" as the B-side) and was a success in the US. An edited version of "Boy Blue" was released as the album's second single, but failed to make any commercial impact. The album was certified Gold in the United States soon after its release. The album and singles, however, failed to find a wide audience in the band's native United Kingdom. In July 2010, the album was named one of Classic Rock magazine's "50 Albums That Built Prog Rock" and on June 17, 2015, the album was ranked #43 on Rolling Stone's "50 Greatest Prog Rock Albums of All Time". AllMusic Review by Bruce Eder "This is the album where Jeff Lynne finally found the sound he'd wanted since co-founding Electric Light Orchestra three years earlier. Up to this point, most of the group's music had been self-contained -- Lynne, Richard Tandy, et al., providing whatever was needed, vocally or instrumentally, even if it meant overdubbing their work layer upon layer. Lynne saw the limitations of this process, however, and opted for the presence of an orchestra -- it was only 30 pieces, but the result was a much richer musical palette than the group had ever had to work with, and their most ambitious and successful record up to that time. Indeed, "Eldorado" was strongly reminiscent in some ways of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Not that it could ever have the same impact or be as distinctive, but it had its feet planted in so many richly melodic and varied musical traditions, yet made it all work in a rock context, that it did recall the Beatles classic. It was a very romantic work, especially on the opening "Eldorado Overture," which was steeped in a wistful 1920s/1930s notion of popular fantasy (embodied in movies and novels like James Hilton's Lost Horizon and Somerset Maugham's The Razor's Edge) about disillusioned seekers. It boasted Lynne's best single up to that time, "Can't Get It Out of My Head," which most radio listeners could never get out of their respective heads, either. The integration of the orchestra would become even more thorough on future albums, but "Eldorado" was notable for mixing the band and orchestra (and a choir) in ways that did no violence to the best elements of both".