History Music / ElectricLightOrchestra

ELO, meanwhile, continued its steady decline: ''Secret Messages'', a planned double album ultimately reduced to a single LP by its TroubledProduction (including an acrimonious lawsuit between Lynne and Groucutt over the latter's pay, culminating in Groucutt being fired and legally forbidden to profit from the ELO name), was initially successful on release in 1983, but quickly fell off the charts. Lynne effectively disbanded ELO following the album, reuniting them three years later as a pared-down three-piece (comprising Lynne, Bevan and longtime keyboardist Richard Tandy) to record ''Balance of Power'' to fulfil a contractual obligation. The album, a [[LyricalDissonance lyrically dour work with a light synthpop aesthetic]], was largely unsuccessful, and ELO was seemingly finished for good. Subsequently, Lynne continued the development of his increasingly prolific and successful production career, helping to revive both Music/RoyOrbison's and Music/GeorgeHarrison's careers, producing a very successful solo album for Music/TomPetty (two later albums of Petty's were likewise produced by Lynne) and becoming a member of the Travelling Wilburys. Lynne would record only one solo album during this period - 1990's ''Armchair Theatre'', which featured a steadier, more country and rockabilly-influenced pop aesthetic than his prior work with ELO; this would henceforth become Lynne's signature songwriting and production style.

In 2001, meanwhile, Jeff Lynne - now holding full legal ownership of the band's name - released another album under the ELO moniker, ''Zoom'', wielding a more ''Armchair Theatre''-adjacent sound than his '70s output. Lynne and Tandy were the sole members of the original band featured on the album, however. Lynne then reformed ELO with some new members and started a new tour. However, it was cut short, primarily due to the illness and subsequent death of his friend George Harrison. Tandy and Lynne later continued to perform ELO songs sporadically, notably for a short concert film and documentary recorded at Lynne's own bungalow, and at a highly successful concert in Hyde Park in 2014 later released on home video. The interest led to a new album release by Lynne in 2015, ''Alone in the Universe'', with the band now billed as "Jeff Lynne's ELO"; Lynne provided the majority of the album's instrumentation himself, virtually rendering it an ELO album InNameOnly. The newly-reconstituted group has gone on several tours since (concluding with a farewell tour in 2024), with another album, ''From Out of Nowhere'', releasing in 2019.

Formed in 1970 by Music/RoyWood, Jeff Lynne and Bev Bevan from the experimental art rock band Music/TheMove, ELO was originally conceived as a rock band with classical instruments and sounds -- an electrified light orchestra, hence its name. In other words, it was intended to bring the synthesis of ClassicalMusic and rock that the inchoate genre of ProgressiveRock promised to its logical conclusion. Due to budgetary constraints, however, Wood provided the majority of the group's instrumentation, with Lynne likewise shouldering multiple instrumental duties. After the release of their first album - a moody, atmospheric sprawl of experimental orchestral suites and accessible-yet-ambitious art rock (such as the maudlin "10538 Overture" and "Mr. Radio") in 1971, Wood left the band, leaving Lynne (now the band's creative lead and only credited songwriter) and drummer Bev Bevan as its remaining founding members (with both holding partial rights to the ELO name, a detail that would become crucial to the group's legacy). That didn't stop them, however. After recruiting several new members across the following years (among them keyboardist and occasional guitarist Richard Tandy (who had previously played on several of The Move's songs, most notably providing the harpsichord part on "Blackberry Way"), string players Mik Kaminski, Melvyn Gale and Hugh [=McDowell=] and bassist/secondary vocalist Kelly Groucutt, known for providing the falsetto harmonies adorning the group's most famous work), ELO would eventually rise to mainstream prominence by the midpoint of the [[TheSeventies 1970s]].

ELO's sound started changing considerably as time went on. The group's first two post-Wood albums, ''ELO II'' and ''On the Third Day'', were lush, portentous symphonic art-rock characterized by elongated ProgressiveRock suites and atmospheric instrumental interplay. Although neither were major successes, both yielded moderate hits, an expanded symphonic cover of Music/ChuckBerry's "Roll Over Beethoven" and the foreboding "Showdown", respectively. The latter attracted the acclaim of Music/JohnLennon, who, in a 1973 radio interview, praised the track and dubbed ELO "sons of Beatles" for expanding upon musical concepts and aesthetics suggested by the Fab Four's later output. Lennon's approval, when compounded with the group's growing chart success, emboldened Lynne significantly. As of the group's next release, the fantasy-themed concept album ''Eldorado'', in 1974, ELO's initial centralization of lengthier orchestral prog-rock epics therefore began to wane in favor of a more hook-based (and, perhaps not coincidentally, [[Music/TheBeatles Beatles-esque]]) pop sensibility, with the eponymous orchestra relegated to an increasingly secondary role and delegated chiefly to arranger Louis Clark beginning with said album. Resultantly, the subsequent albums, 1975's ''Face the Music'' and 1976's ''A New World Record'', were major commercial successes, yielding such iconic progressive pop anthems as "Evil Woman", "Strange Magic", "Livin' Thing" and "Telephone Line". 1977's ''Out of the Blue'', a double album frequently viewed as the group's best work (and containing the band's arguable signature song "Mr. Blue Sky"), wielded an even more commercially-viable sound, hence the increasingly synth-based aesthetic and shortening durations of its tracks, although the progressive pop aesthetic of the previous two albums nonetheless remained audible. 1979's ''Discovery'', released at the apex of the group's popularity, would, however, herald a more distinct stylistic sea change into synth-heavy and disco-based soft rock while heavily reducing the group's signature orchestrations. The string section (albeit not Louis Clark, who was retained as a keyboardist and arranger) would be quietly dismissed in 1980, coinciding with the recording of six similarly disco-influenced tracks for the film ''Film/{{Xanadu}}''; one of these compositions was the film's title track, sung by Music/OliviaNewtonJohn during its finale sequence. Although the film's soundtrack proved a substantial hit, its release coincided with the plummeting of ELO's critical credentials (owing to both the film's dismal reception and the contemporaneous backlash against disco), leading Lynne to view his involvement as an OldShame.

ELO's sound started changing considerably as time went on. The group's first two post-Wood albums, ''ELO II'' and ''On the Third Day'', were lush, portentous symphonic art-rock characterized by elongated ProgressiveRock suites and atmospheric instrumental interplay. Although neither were major successes, both yielded moderate hits, an expanded symphonic cover of Music/ChuckBerry's "Roll Over Beethoven" and the foreboding "Showdown", respectively. The latter attracted the acclaim of Music/JohnLennon, who, in a 1973 radio interview, praised the track and dubbed ELO "sons of Beatles" for expanding upon musical concepts and aesthetics suggested by the Fab Four's later output. Lennon's approval, when compounded with the group's growing chart success, emboldened Lynne significantly. As of the group's next release, the fantasy-themed concept album ''Eldorado'', in 1974, ELO's initial centralization of lengthier orchestral prog-rock epics therefore began to wane in favor of a more hook-based (and decidedly [[Music/TheBeatles Beatles-esque]]) pop sensibility, with the eponymous orchestra relegated to an increasingly secondary role and delegated chiefly to arranger Louis Clark beginning with said album. Resultantly, the subsequent albums, 1975's ''Face the Music'' and 1976's ''A New World Record'', were major commercial successes, yielding such iconic progressive pop anthems as "Evil Woman", "Strange Magic", "Livin' Thing" and "Telephone Line". 1977's ''Out of the Blue'', a double album frequently viewed as the group's best work (and containing the band's arguable signature song "Mr. Blue Sky"), wielded an even more commercially-viable sound, hence the increasingly synth-based aesthetic and shortening durations of its tracks, although the progressive pop aesthetic of the previous two albums nonetheless remained audible. 1979's ''Discovery'', released at the apex of the group's popularity, would, however, herald a more distinct stylistic sea change into synth-heavy and disco-based soft rock while heavily reducing the group's signature orchestrations. The string section (albeit not Louis Clark, who was retained as a keyboardist and arranger) would be quietly dismissed in 1980, coinciding with the recording of six similarly disco-influenced tracks for the film ''Film/{{Xanadu}}''; one of these compositions was the film's title track, sung by Music/OliviaNewtonJohn during its finale sequence. Although the film's soundtrack proved a substantial hit, its release coincided with the plummeting of ELO's critical credentials (owing to both the film's dismal reception and the contemporaneous backlash against disco), leading Lynne to view his involvement as an OldShame.

ELO's sound started changing considerably as time went on. As of the release of the concept album ''Eldorado'' in 1974, their initial centralization of lengthier orchestral prog-rock epics began to wane in favor of a more hook-based (and decidedly [[Music/TheBeatles Beatles-esque]]) pop sensibility, with the eponymous orchestra relegated to an increasingly secondary role and delegated chiefly to arranger Louis Clark beginning with said album. Resultantly, the subsequent albums, 1975's ''Face the Music'' and 1976's ''A New World Record'', were major commercial successes, yielding such iconic progressive pop anthems as "Evil Woman", "Strange Magic", "Livin' Thing" and "Telephone Line". 1977's ''Out of the Blue'', a double album frequently viewed as the group's best work (and containing the band's arguable signature song "Mr. Blue Sky"), wielded an even more commercially-viable sound, hence the increasingly synth-based aesthetic and shortening durations of its tracks, although the progressive pop aesthetic of the previous two albums nonetheless remained audible. 1979's ''Discovery'', released at the apex of the group's popularity, would, however, herald a more distinct stylistic sea change into synth-heavy and disco-based soft rock while heavily reducing the group's signature orchestrations. The string section (albeit not Louis Clark, who was retained as a keyboardist and arranger) would be quietly dismissed in 1980, coinciding with the recording of six similarly disco-influenced tracks for the film ''Film/{{Xanadu}}''; one of these compositions was the film's title track, sung by Music/OliviaNewtonJohn during its finale sequence. Although the film's soundtrack proved a substantial hit, its release coincided with the plummeting of ELO's critical credentials (owing to both the film's dismal reception and the contemporaneous backlash against disco), leading Lynne to view his involvement as an OldShame.

Burdened by the critical dismissal attracted by ''Xanadu'', the abrupt death of Music/JohnLennon (a significant blow for Lynne, a longtime Beatles superfan whose work Lennon had specifically praised and likened to the Fab Four in 1973) and the revelation that the group's manager Don Arden had quietly siphoned millions from the band's earnings into his personal bank accounts (placing ELO near the epicentre of one of the largest-scale music industry scandals of the decade), Lynne's mental health and, correspondingly, his investment in ELO began to plummet in 1981. ELO's following work, the wistful and new wave-influenced concept album ''Time'' - featuring a man torn from his love life and abruptly transported into a cold, impersonal technocracy in the far future - echoed many of Lynne's concerns during this period; while mostly neglected by contemporary critics, it has since become VindicatedByHistory as one of ELO's defining works. Owing to Lynne's burnout (and a corresponding desire to invest more time in his family life), ELO ceased touring the following year, further reducing its exposure. During the interim, Kelly Groucutt, his role and funds increasingly dwindling with the loss of touring, released a solo album featuring contributions from numerous ELO members; despite heavy exposure on MTV, the album unfortunately failed to see any major sales or critical approval.

* IAmTheBand: Jeff Lynne, notably the group's lead singer, sole credited songwriter, lead guitarist and producer for the bulk of its existence. Although the group's live shows from the mid-late '70s frequently provided a showcase for other band members (granting extended solos to string players Hugh [=McDowell=] and Mik Kaminski and assigning several numbers to Kelly Groucutt, himself almost entirely relegated to backing vocals on ELO's contemporary studio work), Lynne was extensively involved in the band's studio albums; by the early '80s, Lynne's creative control had expanded to the extent of handling numerous instrumental duties himself, hence the group's downsize in personnel.

Formed in 1970 by Music/RoyWood, Jeff Lynne and Bev Bevan from the experimental art rock band Music/TheMove, ELO was originally conceived as a rock band with classical instruments and sounds -- an electrified light orchestra, hence its name. In other words, it was intended to bring the synthesis of ClassicalMusic and rock that the inchoate genre of ProgressiveRock promised to its logical conclusion. Due to budgetary constraints, however, Wood provided the majority of the group's instrumentation, with Lynne likewise shouldering multiple instrumental duties. After the release of their first album - a moody, atmospheric sprawl of experimental orchestral suites and accessible-yet-ambitious art rock (such as the maudlin "10538 Overture" and "Mr. Radio") in 1971, Wood left the band, leaving Lynne (now the band's creative lead and only credited songwriter) and drummer Bev Bevan as its remaining founding members. That didn't stop them, however. After recruiting several new members across the following years (among them keyboardist and occasional guitarist Richard Tandy (who had previously played on several of The Move's songs, most notably providing the harpsichord part on "Blackberry Way"), string players Mik Kaminski, Melvyn Gale and Hugh [=McDowell=] and bassist/secondary vocalist Kelly Groucutt, known for providing the falsetto harmonies adorning the group's most famous work), ELO would eventually rise to mainstream prominence by the midpoint of the [[TheSeventies 1970s]].

Following a failed attempt to persuade Lynne to commit to another album, Bev Bevan - initially aided by three musicians entirely unrelated to ELO - created ELO Part II in 1989 and released an eponymous album (a harder, more AOR-adjacent work featuring longtime ELO string arranger Louis Clark in a prominent guest capacity) two years later. Over the subsequent years, Part II evolved into an increasingly successful touring act, particularly following the long-term addition of ELO veterans Kelly Groucutt (who, following legal wrangling granting him membership of the group, could now act as a more frequent lead vocalist) and Mik Kaminski (former ELO cellist Hugh [=McDowell=] likewise briefly became a live member, but only retained membership for a single tour owing to conflicts with other band members). Now boasting four ELO members/affiliates, Part II released the heavily ArenaRock-inspired ''Moment of Truth'' in 1994. Bevan ultimately left the band in 1999 and, to settle a lawsuit filed by Lynne (who would distance himself from many of his former bandmates owing to the Part II project), eventually sold his share of the ELO name to him (in a smaller-scale repeat of this incident, Bevan would later form his own touring incarnation of The Move alongside fellow founding member Trevor Burton, likewise drawing the ire of Roy Wood). The remaining ELO Part II members continue to perform, however, renamed as "The Orchestra", and released the (ironically more ELO-reminiscent) ''No Rewind'' in 2001. They later toured in the fall of 2015, but they continued to perform regularly in Ride/WaltDisneyWorld's "Garden Rocks" series during the spring Flower and Garden Festival at Epcot. While the Orchestra continues to perform into the present, Kaminski is the sole remaining member (following Groucutt's passing in 2009 and Clark's in 2021) with any connection to the original ELO.

* ArtifactName: As time went on, the role of the string section decreased, rendering the "light orchestra" part of their name more and more moot. By the release of ''Time'', the violins had disappeared entirely (though the synths often still provide a lush orchestration).

Formed in 1970 by Music/RoyWood, Jeff Lynne and Bev Bevan from the experimental art rock band Music/TheMove, ELO was originally conceived as a rock band with classical instruments and sounds -- an electrified light orchestra, hence its name. In other words, it was intended to bring the synthesis of ClassicalMusic and rock that the inchoate genre of ProgressiveRock promised to its logical conclusion. Due to budgetary constraints, however, Wood provided the majority of the group's instrumentation, with Lynne likewise shouldering multiple instrumental duties. After the release of their first album - a moody, atmospheric sprawl of experimental orchestral suites and accessible-yet-ambitious art rock (such as the maudlin "10538 Overture" and "Mr. Radio") in 1971, Wood left the band, leaving Lynne (now the band's creative lead and only credited songwriter) and drummer Bev Bevan as its remaining founding members. That didn't stop them, however. After recruiting several new members across the following years (among them keyboardist Richard Tandy, string players Mik Kaminski, Melvyn Gale and Hugh [=McDowell=] and bassist/secondary vocalist Kelly Groucutt, known for providing the falsetto harmonies adorning the group's most famous work), ELO would eventually rise to mainstream prominence by the midpoint of the [[TheSeventies 1970s]].

Burdened by the critical dismissal attracted by ''Xanadu'', the abrupt death of Music/JohnLennon (a significant blow for Lynne, a longtime Beatles superfan whose work Lennon had specifically praised and likened to the Fab Four in 1973) and the revelation that the group's manager Don Arden had quietly siphoned millions from the band's earnings into his personal bank accounts (placing ELO near the epicentre of one of the largest-scale music industry scandals of the decade), Lynne's mental health and, correspondingly, his investment in ELO began to plummet in 1981. ELO's following work, the wistful and new wave-influenced concept album ''Time'' - featuring a man torn from his love life and abruptly transported into a cold, impersonal technocracy in the far future - echoed many of Lynne's concerns during this period; while mostly neglected by contemporary critics, it has since become VindicatedByHistory as one of ELO's defining works. Owing to Lynne's burnout (and a corresponding desire to invest more time in his family life), ELO ceased touring the following year, further reducing its exposure. During the interim, Kelly Groucutt, his role and funds increasingly dwindling with the loss of touring, released a solo album featuring contributions from numerous ELO members; despite heavy exposure on MTV, the album unfortunately failed to see any major sales or critical approval. ELO, meanwhile, continued its steady decline: ''Secret Messages'', a planned double album ultimately reduced to a single LP by its TroubledProduction (including an acrimonious lawsuit between Lynne and Groucutt over the latter's pay, culminating in Groucutt being fired and legally forbidden to profit from the ELO name), was initially successful on release in 1983, but quickly fell off the charts. Lynne effectively disbanded ELO following the album, reuniting them three years later as a pared-down three-piece (comprising Lynne, Bevan and longtime keyboardist Richard Tandy) to record ''Balance of Power'' to fulfil a contractual obligation. The album, a [[LyricalDissonance lyrically dour work with a light synthpop aesthetic]], was largely unsuccessful, and ELO was seemingly finished for good. Subsequently, Lynne continued the development of his increasingly prolific and successful production career, helping to revive both Music/RoyOrbison's and Music/GeorgeHarrison's careers, producing a very successful solo album for Music/TomPetty (two later albums of Petty's were likewise produced by Lynne) and becoming a member of the Travelling Wilburys. Lynne would record only one solo album during this period - 1990's ''Armchair Theatre'', which featured a steadier, more country and rockabilly-influenced pop aesthetic than his prior work with ELO; this would henceforth become Lynne's signature songwriting and production style.

Burdened by the critical dismissal attracted by ''Xanadu'', the abrupt death of Music/JohnLennon (a significant blow for Lynne, a longtime Beatles superfan whose work Lennon had specifically praised and likened to the Fab Four in 1973) and the revelation that the group's manager Don Arden had quietly siphoned millions from the band's earnings into his personal bank accounts (placing ELO near the epicentre of one of the largest-scale music industry scandals of the decade), Lynne's mental health and, correspondingly, his investment in ELO began to plummet in 1981. ELO's following work, the wistful and new wave-influenced concept album ''Time'' - featuring a man torn from his love life and abruptly transported into a cold, impersonal technocracy in the far future - echoed many of Lynne's concerns during this period; while mostly neglected by contemporary critics, it has since become VindicatedByHistory as one of ELO's defining works. Owing to Lynne's burnout (and a corresponding desire to invest more time in his family life), ELO ceased touring the following year, further reducing its exposure. During the interim, Kelly Groucutt, his role and funds increasingly dwindling with the loss of touring, released a solo album featuring contributions from numerous ELO members; despite heavy exposure on MTV, the album unfortunately failed to see any major sales or critical approval. ELO, meanwhile, continued its steady decline: ''Secret Messages'', a planned double album ultimately reduced to a single LP by its TroubledProduction (including an acrimonious lawsuit between Lynne and Groucutt over the latter's pay, culminating in Groucutt being fired and legally forbidden to profit from the ELO name), was initially successful on release in 1983, but quickly fell off the charts. Lynne effectively disbanded ELO following the album, reuniting them three years later as a pared-down three-piece (comprising Lynne, Bevan and longtime keyboardist Richard Tandy) to record ''Balance of Power'' to fulfil a contractual obligation. The album, a [[LyricalDissonance lyrically dour work with a light synthpop aesthetic]], was largely unsuccessful, and ELO was seemingly finished for good. Subsequently, Lynne continued the development of his increasingly prolific and successful production career, helping to revive both Music/RoyOrbison's and Music/GeorgeHarrison's careers and producing a very successful solo album for Music/TomPetty (and he would later produce two more of Petty's solo records).

In 2001, meanwhile, Jeff Lynne - now holding full legal ownership of the band's name - released another album under the ELO moniker, ''Zoom'', wielding a quieter, steadier aesthetic than his '70s output. Lynne and Tandy were the sole members of the original band featured on the album, however. Lynne then reformed ELO with some new members and started a new tour. However, it was cut short, primarily due to the illness and subsequent death of his friend George Harrison. Tandy and Lynne later continued to perform ELO songs sporadically, notably for a short concert film and documentary recorded at Lynne's own bungalow, and at a highly successful concert in Hyde Park in 2014 later released on home video. The interest led to a new album release by Lynne in 2015, ''Alone in the Universe'', with the band now billed as "Jeff Lynne's ELO"; Lynne provided the majority of the album's instrumentation himself, virtually rendering it an ELO album InNameOnly. The newly-reconstituted group has gone on several tours since (concluding with a farewell tour in 2024), with another album, ''From Out of Nowhere'', releasing in 2019.

Burdened by the critical dismissal attracted by ''Xanadu'', the abrupt death of Music/JohnLennon (a significant blow for Lynne, a longtime Beatles superfan) and the revelation that the group's manager Don Arden had quietly siphoned millions from the band's earnings into his personal bank accounts (placing ELO near the epicentre of one of the largest-scale music industry scandals of the decade), Lynne's mental health and, correspondingly, his investment in ELO began to plummet in 1981. ELO's following work, the wistful and new wave-influenced concept album ''Time'' - featuring a man torn from his love life and abruptly transported into a cold, impersonal technocracy in the far future - echoed many of Lynne's concerns during this period; while mostly neglected by contemporary critics, it has since become VindicatedByHistory as one of ELO's defining works. Owing to Lynne's burnout (and a corresponding desire to invest more time in his family life), ELO ceased touring the following year, further reducing its exposure. During the interim, Kelly Groucutt, his role and funds increasingly dwindling with the loss of touring, released a solo album featuring contributions from numerous ELO members; despite heavy exposure on MTV, the album unfortunately failed to see any major sales or critical approval. ELO, meanwhile, continued its steady decline: ''Secret Messages'', a planned double album ultimately reduced to a single LP by its TroubledProduction (including an acrimonious lawsuit between Lynne and Groucutt over the latter's pay, culminating in Groucutt being fired and legally forbidden to profit from the ELO name), was initially successful on release in 1983, but quickly fell off the charts. Lynne effectively disbanded ELO following the album, reuniting them three years later as a pared-down three-piece (comprising Lynne, Bevan and longtime keyboardist Richard Tandy) to record ''Balance of Power'' to fulfil a contractual obligation. The album, a [[LyricalDissonance lyrically dour work with a light synthpop aesthetic]], was largely unsuccessful, and ELO was seemingly finished for good. Subsequently, Lynne continued the development of his increasingly prolific and successful production career, helping to revive both Music/RoyOrbison's and Music/GeorgeHarrison's careers and producing a very successful solo album for Music/TomPetty (and he would later produce two more of Petty's solo records).

Burdened by the critical dismissal attracted by ''Xanadu', the abrupt death of Music/JohnLennon (a significant blow for Lynne, a longtime Beatles superfan) and the revelation that the group's manager Don Arden had quietly siphoned millions from the band's earnings into his personal bank accounts (placing ELO near the epicentre of one of the largest-scale music industry scandals of the decade), Lynne's mental health and, correspondingly, his investment in ELO began to plummet in 1981. ELO's following work, the wistful and new wave-influenced concept album ''Time'' - featuring a man torn from his love life and abruptly transported into a cold, impersonal technocracy in the far future - echoed many of Lynne's concerns during this period; while mostly neglected by contemporary critics, it has since become VindicatedByHistory as one of ELO's defining works. Owing to Lynne's burnout (and a corresponding desire to invest more time in his family life), ELO ceased touring the following year, further reducing its exposure. During the interim, Kelly Groucutt, his role and funds increasingly dwindling with the loss of touring, released a solo album featuring contributions from numerous ELO members; despite heavy exposure on MTV, the album unfortunately failed to see any major sales or critical approval. ELO, meanwhile, continued its steady decline: ''Secret Messages'', a planned double album ultimately reduced to a single LP by its TroubledProduction (including an acrimonious lawsuit between Lynne and Groucutt over the latter's pay, culminating in Groucutt being fired and legally forbidden to profit from the ELO name), was initially successful on release in 1983, but quickly fell off the charts. Lynne effectively disbanded ELO following the album, reuniting them three years later as a pared-down three-piece (comprising Lynne, Bevan and longtime keyboardist Richard Tandy) to record ''Balance of Power'' to fulfil a contractual obligation. The album, a [[LyricalDissonance lyrically dour work with a light synthpop aesthetic]], was largely unsuccessful, and ELO was seemingly finished for good. Subsequently, Lynne continued the development of his increasingly prolific and successful production career, helping to revive both Music/RoyOrbison's and Music/GeorgeHarrison's careers and producing a very successful solo album for Music/TomPetty (and he would later produce two more of Petty's solo records).

ELO's sound started changing considerably as time went on. As of the release of the concept album ''Eldorado'' in 1974, their initial centralization of lengthier orchestral prog-rock epics began to wane in favor of a more hook-based (and decidedly [[Music/TheBeatles Beatles-esque]]) pop sensibility, with the eponymous orchestra relegated to an increasingly peripheral role and delegated chiefly to arranger Louis Clark beginning with said album. Resultantly, the subsequent albums, 1975's ''Face the Music'' and 1976's ''A New World Record'', were major commercial successes, yielding such iconic progressive pop anthems as "Evil Woman", "Strange Magic", "Livin' Thing" and "Telephone Line". 1977's ''Out of the Blue'', a double album frequently viewed as the group's best work (and containing the band's arguable signature song "Mr. Blue Sky"), wielded an even more commercially-viable sound, hence the increasingly synth-based aesthetic and shortening durations of its tracks, although the progressive pop aesthetic of the previous two albums nonetheless remained audible. 1979's ''Discovery'', released at the apex of the group's popularity, would, however, herald a more distinct stylistic sea change into synth-heavy and disco-based soft rock while heavily reducing the group's signature orchestrations. The string section (albeit not Louis Clark, who was retained as a keyboardist and arranger) would be quietly dismissed in 1980, coinciding with the recording of six similarly disco-influenced tracks for the film ''Film/{{Xanadu}}''; one of these compositions was the film's title track, sung by Music/OliviaNewtonJohn during its finale sequence. Although the film's soundtrack proved a substantial hit, its release coincided with the plummeting of ELO's critical credentials (owing to both the film's dismal reception and the contemporaneous backlash against disco), leading Lynne to view his involvement as an OldShame.

Sadly, ELO started to decline after the release of their following work (and second concept album), the wistful and new wave-influenced ''Time'', in 1981, coinciding with both a decline in Lynne's mental health and a desire to invest more time in his family life. The group ceased touring the following year, further reducing its exposure. ''Secret Messages'', a planned double album ultimately reduced to a single LP by its TroubledProduction (including an acrimonious lawsuit between Lynne and Kelly Groucutt over the latter's pay, culminating in Groucutt being fired and legally forbidden to profit from the ELO name), was initially successful on release in 1983, but quickly fell off the charts. Lynne effectively disbanded ELO following the album, reuniting them three years later as a pared-down three-piece (comprising Lynne, Bevan and longtime keyboardist Richard Tandy) to record ''Balance of Power'' to fulfil a contractual obligation. The album, a [[LyricalDissonance lyrically dour work with a light synthpop aesthetic]], was largely unsuccessful, and ELO was seemingly finished for good. Subsequently, Lynne continued the development of his increasingly prolific and successful production career, helping to revive both Music/RoyOrbison's and Music/GeorgeHarrison's careers and producing a very successful solo album for Music/TomPetty (and he would later produce two more of Petty's solo records).

Following a failed attempt to persuade Lynne to commit to another album, Bev Bevan - initially aided by three musicians entirely unrelated to ELO - created ELO Part II in 1989 and released an eponymous album (a harder, more AOR-adjacent work featuring longtime ELO string arranger Louis Clark in a prominent guest capacity) two years later. Over the subsequent years, Part II evolved into an increasingly successful touring act, particularly following the long-term addition of ELO veterans Kelly Groucutt (who, following legal wrangling granting him membership of the group, could now act as a more frequent lead vocalist) and Mik Kaminski (former ELO cellist Hugh [=McDowell=] likewise briefly became a live member, but only retained membership for a single tour owing to conflicts with other band members). Now boasting four ELO members/affiliates, Part II released the heavily ArenaRock-inspired ''Moment of Truth'' in 1994. Bevan ultimately left the band in 1999 and, to settle a lawsuit filed by Lynne (who would distance himself from many of his former bandmates owing to the Part II project), eventually sold his share of the ELO name to him (in a smaller-scale repeat of this incident, Bevan would later form his own touring incarnation of The Move alongside fellow founding member Trevor Burton, likewise drawing the ire of Roy Wood). The remaining ELO Part II members continue to perform, however, renamed as "The Orchestra", and released the (ironically more ELO-reminiscent) ''No Rewind'' in 2001. They later toured in the fall of 2015, but they continued to perform regularly in Ride/WaltDisneyWorld's "Garden Rocks" series during the spring Flower and Garden Festival at Epcot. While the Orchestra continues to perform into the present, Kaminski is the sole remaining member (following Clark and Groucutt's deaths) with any connection to the original ELO.

In 2001, meanwhile, Jeff Lynne released another album under the ELO name, ''Zoom''. However, Lynne and Tandy were the sole members of the original band featured on the album. Lynne then reformed ELO with some new members and started a new tour. However, it was cut short, primarily due to the illness and subsequent death of his friend George Harrison. Tandy and Lynne later continued to perform ELO songs sporadically, notably for a short concert film and documentary recorded at Lynne's own bungalow, and at a highly successful concert in Hyde Park in 2014 later released on home video. The interest led to a new album release by Lynne in 2015, ''Alone in the Universe'', with the band now billed as "Jeff Lynne's ELO"; Lynne provided the majority of the album's instrumentation himself, virtually rendering it an ELO album InNameOnly. The newly-reconstituted group has gone on several tours since (concluding with a farewell tour in 2024), with another album, ''From Out of Nowhere'', releasing in 2019.

Sadly, ELO started to decline after the release of their following work (and second concept album), the wistful and new wave-influenced ''Time'', in 1981, coinciding with both a decline in Lynne's mental health and a desire to invest more time in his family life. The group ceased touring the following year, further reducing the group's exposure. ''Secret Messages'', a planned double album ultimately reduced to a single LP by its TroubledProduction (including an acrimonious lawsuit between Lynne and Kelly Groucutt over the latter's pay, culminating in Groucutt being fired and legally forbidden to profit from the ELO name), was initially successful on release in 1983, but quickly fell off the charts. Lynne effectively disbanded ELO following the album, reuniting them three years later as a pared-down three-piece (comprising Lynne, Bevan and longtime keyboardist Richard Tandy) to record ''Balance of Power'' to fulfil a contractual obligation. The album, a [[LyricalDissonance lyrically dour work with a light synthpop aesthetic]], was largely unsuccessful, and ELO was seemingly finished for good. Subsequently, Lynne continued the development of his increasingly prolific and successful production career, helping to revive both Music/RoyOrbison's and Music/GeorgeHarrison's careers and producing a very successful solo album for Music/TomPetty (and he would later produce two more of Petty's solo records).

Sadly, ELO started to decline after the release of their following work (and second concept album), the wistful and new wave-influenced ''Time'', in 1981, coinciding with both a decline in Lynne's mental health and a desire to invest more time in his family life. ''Secret Messages'', a planned double album ultimately reduced to a single LP by its TroubledProduction, was initially successful on release in 1983, but quickly fell off the charts. Lynne effectively disbanded ELO following the album, reuniting them three years later as a pared-down three-piece (comprising Lynne, Bevan and longtime keyboardist Richard Tandy) to record ''Balance of Power'' to fulfil a contractual obligation. The album, a [[LyricalDissonance lyrically dour work with a light synthpop aesthetic]], was largely unsuccessful, and ELO was seemingly finished for good. Subsequently, Lynne continued the development of his increasingly prolific and successful production career, helping to revive both Music/RoyOrbison's and Music/GeorgeHarrison's careers and producing a very successful solo album for Music/TomPetty (and he would later produce two more of Petty's solo records).

Following a failed attempt to persuade Lynne to commit to another album, Bev Bevan - initially aided by three musicians entirely unrelated to ELO - created ELO Part II in 1989 and released an eponymous album (a harder, more AOR-adjacent work featuring longtime ELO string arranger Louis Clark in a prominent guest capacity) two years later. Over the subsequent years, Part II evolved into an increasingly successful touring act, particularly following the long-term addition of ELO veterans Kelly Groucutt (now as a more frequent lead vocalist) and Mik Kaminski (former ELO cellist Hugh [=McDowell=] likewise briefly became a live member, but only retained membership for a single tour owing to conflicts with other band members). Now boasting four ELO members/affiliates, Part II released the heavily ArenaRock-inspired ''Moment of Truth'' in 1994. Bevan ultimately left the band in 1999 and, to settle a lawsuit filed by Lynne (who would distance himself from many of his former bandmates owing to the Part II project), eventually sold his share of the ELO name to him (in a smaller-scale repeat of this incident, Bevan would later form his own touring incarnation of The Move alongside fellow founding member Trevor Burton, likewise drawing the ire of Roy Wood). The remaining ELO Part II members continue to perform, however, renamed as "The Orchestra", and released the (ironically more ELO-reminiscent) ''No Rewind'' in 2001. They later toured in the fall of 2015, but they continued to perform regularly in Ride/WaltDisneyWorld's "Garden Rocks" series during the spring Flower and Garden Festival at Epcot. While the Orchestra continues to perform into the present, Kaminski is the sole remaining member (following Clark and Groucutt's deaths) with any connection to the original ELO.

In 2001, meanwhile, Jeff Lynne released another album under the ELO name, ''Zoom''. However, Lynne and Tandy were the sole members of the original band featured on the album. Lynne then reformed ELO with some new members and started a new tour. However, it was cut short, primarily due to the illness and subsequent death of his friend George Harrison. Tandy and Lynne later continued to perform ELO songs sporadically, notably for a short concert film and documentary recorded at Lynne's own bungalow, and at a highly successful concert in Hyde Park in 2014 later released on home video. The interest led to a new album release by Lynne in 2015, ''Alone in the Universe'', with the band now billed as "Jeff Lynne's ELO"; Lynne provided the majority of the album's instrumentation himself, virtually rendering it an ELO album InNameOnly. The newly-reconstituted group has gone on several tours since, with another album, ''From Out of Nowhere'', releasing in 2019.

Formed in 1970 by Music/RoyWood, Jeff Lynne and Bev Bevan from the experimental art rock band Music/TheMove, ELO was originally conceived as a rock band with classical instruments and sounds -- an electrified light orchestra, hence its name. In other words, it was intended to bring the synthesis of ClassicalMusic and rock that the inchoate genre of ProgressiveRock promised to its logical conclusion. After the release of their first album - a moody, atmospheric sprawl of experimental orchestral suites and accessible-yet-ambitious art rock (such as the maudlin "10538 Overture" and "Mr. Radio") in 1971, Wood left the band, leaving Lynne (now the band's creative lead and only credited songwriter) and drummer Bev Bevan as its remaining founding members. That didn't stop them, however. After recruiting several new members across the following years (among them keyboardist Richard Tandy, string players Mik Kaminski, Melvyn Gale and Hugh [=McDowell=] and bassist/secondary vocalist Kelly Groucutt, known for providing the falsetto harmonies adorning the group's most famous work), ELO would eventually rise to mainstream prominence by the midpoint of the [[TheSeventies 1970s]].

ELO's sound started changing considerably as time went on. After the release of the concept album ''Eldorado'', their initial centralization of lengthier orchestral prog-rock epics began to wane in favor of a more hook-based (and decidedly [[Music/TheBeatles Beatles-esque]]) pop sensibility, with the eponymous orchestra relegated to an increasingly peripheral role and delegated chiefly to arranger Louis Clark beginning with ''Eldorado''. Resultantly, the subsequent albums, 1975's ''Face the Music'' and 1976's ''A New World Record'', were major commercial successes, yielding such iconic progressive pop anthems as "Evil Woman", "Strange Magic", "Livin' Thing" and "Telephone Line". 1977's ''Out of the Blue'', a double album frequently viewed as the group's best work (and containing the band's arguable signature song "Mr. Blue Sky"), wielded an even more commercially-viable sound, hence the increasingly synth-based aesthetic and shortening durations of its tracks, although the progressive pop aesthetic of the previous two albums nonetheless remained audible. 1979's ''Discovery'', released at the apex of the group's popularity, would, however, herald a more distinct stylistic sea change into heavily disco-based soft rock while eliminating the group's signature orchestrations almost entirely.

Sadly, ELO started to decline after the release of their second concept album, ''Time'', in 1981, coinciding with Lynne's accelerating depression. ''Secret Messages'', a planned double album ultimately reduced to a single LP by its TroubledProduction, was initially successful on release in 1983, but quickly fell off the charts. Lynne effectively disbanded ELO following the album, reuniting them three years later as a pared-down three-piece (comprising Lynne, Bevan and longtime keyboardist Richard Tandy) to record ''Balance of Power'' to fulfil a contractual obligation. The album, a [[LyricalDissonance lyrically dour work with a light synthpop aesthetic]], was largely unsuccessful, and ELO was seemingly finished for good. Subsequently, Lynne continued the development of his increasingly prolific and successful production career, helping to revive both Music/RoyOrbison's and Music/GeorgeHarrison's careers and producing a very successful solo album for Music/TomPetty (and he would later produce two more of Petty's solo records).

Formed in 1970 by Music/RoyWood, Jeff Lynne and Bev Bevan from the experimental art rock band Music/TheMove, ELO was originally conceived as a rock band with classical instruments and sounds -- an electrified light orchestra, hence its name. In other words, it was intended to bring the synthesis of ClassicalMusic and rock that the inchoate genre of ProgressiveRock promised to its logical conclusion. After the release of their first album - a moody, atmospheric sprawl of experimental orchestral suites and accessible-yet-ambitious art rock (such as the maudlin "10538 Overture" and the faintly George Harrison-esque "Mr. Radio") in 1971, Wood left the band, leaving Lynne (now the band's creative lead and only credited songwriter) and drummer Bev Bevan as its remaining founding members. That didn't stop them, however. After recruiting several new members across the following years (among them keyboardist Richard Tandy, string players Mik Kaminski, Melvyn Gale and Hugh [=McDowell=] and bassist/secondary vocalist Kelly Groucutt, known for providing the falsetto harmonies adorning the group's most famous work), ELO would eventually rise to mainstream prominence by the midpoint of the [[TheSeventies 1970s]].

Formed in 1970 by Music/RoyWood, Jeff Lynne and Bev Bevan from the experimental art rock band Music/TheMove, ELO was originally conceived as a rock band with classical instruments and sounds -- an electrified light orchestra, hence its name. In other words, it was intended to bring the synthesis of ClassicalMusic and rock that the inchoate genre of ProgressiveRock promised to its logical conclusion. After the release of their first album - a moody, atmospheric sprawl of experimental orchestral suites and accessible-yet-ambitious art rock (such as "10538 Overture" and "Mr. Radio") in 1971, Wood left the band, leaving Lynne (now the band's creative lead and only credited songwriter) and drummer Bev Bevan as its remaining founding members. That didn't stop them, however. After recruiting several new members across the following years (among them keyboardist Richard Tandy, string players Mik Kaminski, Melvyn Gale and Hugh [=McDowell=] and bassist/secondary vocalist Kelly Groucutt, known for providing the falsetto harmonies adorning the group's most famous work), ELO would eventually rise to mainstream prominence by the midpoint of the [[TheSeventies 1970s]].

Formed in 1970 by Music/RoyWood, Jeff Lynne and Bev Bevan from the experimental art rock band Music/TheMove, ELO was originally conceived as a rock band with classical instruments and sounds -- an electrified light orchestra, hence its name. In other words, it was intended to bring the synthesis of ClassicalMusic and rock that the inchoate genre of ProgressiveRock promised to its logical conclusion. After the release of their first album in 1971, Wood left the band, leaving Lynne (now the band's creative lead and only credited songwriter) and drummer Bev Bevan as its remaining founding members. That didn't stop them, however. After recruiting several new members across the following years (among them keyboardist Richard Tandy, string players Mik Kaminski, Melvyn Gale and Hugh [=McDowell=] and bassist/secondary vocalist Kelly Groucutt, known for providing the falsetto harmonies adorning the group's most famous work), ELO would eventually rise to mainstream prominence by the midpoint of the [[TheSeventies 1970s]].