A presence on stage began to grow and thanks to continued listening experiences of The BBC Sessions, it is easy to hear where Electric Light Orchestra started to succeed. Those covers of Chuck Berry and instrumental adaptations of classical music were fine enough – they are still a part of the band after all –but not until Eldorado and Face the Music did it feel like the band had something fresh to show. Opener Fire on High sets the scene for this unofficial compilation, a fiery piece of work by Jeff Lynne and the band. A darker pitch in this opening instrumental reflects the Eldorado to Face the Music trip rather nicely, and it makes all the difference when considering ELO as a band with a lasting stage presence. They were paving the way forward with some slick, impressive instrumentals.
Bits like Poker shine a light on this. Tremendous and mighty strings crashing through with a sense of rocking purpose. ELO was light on their feet around this time, and the heavier material reserved for the latter stages of this entry to The BBC Sessions is where it all begins to take form. There are still confident, early pieces like On the Third Day and Nightrider, exceptional and fitted with fairy-tale-like strings and relatively tense lyrical style. Situations in the past, the crowded mind trying to slip a few encounters and interactions out the back door. Nightrider sounds exceptional here, with brilliant vocal work from Lynne and some note-perfect instrumentals. Those earlier tracks, while great fun, begin to pale in comparison to fresh material at the time. Eldorado and Evil Woman blow King of the Universe out of the water. A shame it had to happen this way, but the band’s push into deeper sounds is wonderful.
Their pursuit of their own yellow brick road, all the while layering strings on the top of Eldorado, is an all-time great performance from ELO, who finally find their feet on stage. Earlier entries into The BBC Sessions hear a band struggling to click but this seamless transition from Eldorado into Can’t Get It Out of My Head is awe-inspiring. All the hard-fought studio moments, this desire to separate the sound of the Roy Wood-led band and the Lynne era finally comes to a head and it leaves the likes of Strange Magic and Evil Woman leading the charge. A little too high in pitch on Strange Magic, but still a phenomenal performance. Everything falls into place as it should and a band cannot be asked for much more than that.
Closer Ma Ma Belle feels inevitable but a welcome throwback to the band’s earlier days. A song which would not find itself in contention for future live performances. Rightly or wrongly so, the best track of the bunch becomes Evil Woman. It feels like a passing of the torch, and you can hear it unravel in real time on The BBC Sessions. Instrumental sections jut out and provide a place for the band to catch their breath but also to work on furthering the style of Eldorado into A New World Record. They were not far off from a sound which still dominates their image today – more popular than ever as the band veers towards on-stage retirement. The BBC Sessions: Volume Three is the best of the pre-Out of the Blue bunch. It hints at what was to come, and ELO, naturally, made good on these on-stage promises.
