(1973) United Artists label.  Original issue with original inner sleeve with lyrics.  Illinois gave this to me.  Electric effin Light Orchestra!  Play their albums loud.  I call this album the bellybutton record– all the band is displaying their bellybuttons on the cover.  Just behind and below the bellybutton is the hara– a natural balancing point and the center of your being.  Some believe the hara is the place where the man and the universe meet.  Does this thematically have anything to do with the space travel iconography and references to the universe in future albums?  Only Jeff Lynne knows.

This is their third release. For this release ELO was Jeff Lynne on guitar and vocals, Bev Bevan on drums, Richard Tardy on moog and piano, Michael D’Albuquerque on bass, Mike Edwards on cello, and Mik Kaminski on violin.

Side 1

1. Ocean Breakup/King Of The Universe  (4:05)
2. Bluebird Is Dead  (4:25)
3. Oh No Not Susan  (2:52)
4. New World Rising/Ocean Breakup Reprise  (4:40)
5. Showdown  (4:15)

Side 2

1. Daybreaker  (3:50)
2. Ma-Ma-Ma Belle  (3:52)
3. Dreaming Of 4000  (5:00)
4. In The Hall Of The Mountain King  (6:35)

Showdown was not on the original UK release, but added to the US release; it was intended to be a single.  It was the only track that got airplay on radio. No surprise that I like this band; orchestral arrangements married to pop/rock melodies and Jeff Lynne’s Lennonesque vocals.