On The Third Day (1973)


 

  1. Ocean Breakup/King of the Universe
  2. Bluebird is Dead
  3. Oh No Not Susan
  4. New World Rising/Ocean Breakup (Reprise)
  5. Showdown
  6. Daybreaker
  7. Ma-Ma-Ma Belle
  8. Dreaming of 4000
  9. In the Hall of the Mountain King

 

By the time On the Third Day rolled around — fittingly titled, given it’s ELO’s third outing — Jeff Lynne and company were finally beginning to tighten the screws. The overlong prog-wanderings of ELO II were scaled back, and for the first time, you get the sense that Lynne might’ve realized that it’s okay to write a song under six minutes long — and even better, to make it catchy.

The lineup was still in flux, but the core format remained intact: Lynne at the helm, Bev Bevan on drums, and a modest string section made up of two cellists and a lone violinist, all overdubbed to the moon and back in an attempt to simulate a full orchestra. The effect, while occasionally effective, often feels like three guys in a room trying very, very hard to sound like thirty. You admire the effort, but the seams are showing.

Musically, this is a transitional record. The ideas are sharper, the structures more concise, but it’s still a little too bogged down in self-conscious “importance.” The string arrangements are laid on with a trowel, and in some cases — Bluebird Is Dead comes to mind — you can’t help but wonder if the song might’ve actually benefitted from a little less sawing and a little more breathing room.

Still, there’s genuine progress here. The album features a few instrumental interludes that connect the songs, giving it a slight concept album feel. Whether that was intentional or just a convenient byproduct of the production is anyone’s guess, but it works well enough, and it’s more cohesive than their earlier efforts — even if it remains stubbornly pretentious in places.

In the U.S., they were still a cult act at best. Radio paid them no mind, and most of the album’s material went largely unheard outside of the live setting. The one track that did make a ripple was Showdown, a plodding, string-heavy rocker that sounds more like a stylistic exercise than a single. It’s not terrible, but it’s far from essential — and the production, again, feels cramped, as if the strings are trying to burst out of a studio that wasn’t quite ready for them.

Ma-Ma-Ma Belle is more promising — a straight-ahead rocker that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on a late-period Move album. It’s got real grit, and the guitar work (with Marc Bolan guesting, no less) actually cuts through the orchestral clutter for once. It doesn’t sound very much like ELO as we’d come to know them, but it’s a welcome shot of energy.

The real gem here, though, is Daybreaker, a propulsive, synth-laced instrumental that feels like a dry run for Eldorado and beyond. It flopped as a single — as did everything else here — but it’s weirdly engaging, even without vocals. That it never appeared on any of the many (many) “Best Of” collections the band would later churn out is a minor crime.

The album closes on a high note with In the Hall of the Mountain King, a six-and-a-half-minute Grieg adaptation that feels more organic and accomplished than their earlier classical flirtations. Unlike Roll Over Beethoven, which felt gimmicky and overwrought, this one actually makes the case that yes, they could pull off the “orchestra” part of their name without tripping over themselves.

On the Third Day isn’t a breakthrough, but it’s a much-needed step in the right direction. The band was still trying to figure out how to balance ambition with accessibility, and they hadn’t quite struck that magic formula yet — but they were getting closer. And you could hear it.


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