Electric Light Orchestra discography

Below is the complete Electric Light Orchestra discography including rare imports, videos and hit singles. ELO's back catalogue is unusual in that their compilation albums far outweigh their studio output in number, owing to the large number of hit singles primarily written by Jeff Lynne. Take note that album and single chart positions are accurate but incomplete due to the limited information available on the Internet. Top 10 hit chart positions are in bold type.

Studio albums

Album information
The Electric Light Orchestra/No Answer 1st Studio Album Release Date: December 1971 (UK), March 1972 (US) Chart Positions: #32 UK Albums Chart, #196 US Billboard 200, #54 Australia RIAA Certification: non certified Singles: - "10538 Overture"
Electric Light Orchestra II/ELO II/ELO 2 2nd studio album Release Date: January 1973 Chart Positions: #35 UK Albums Chart, #62 US Billboard 200 RIAA Certification: non certified Singles: "Roll Over Beethoven"
On the Third Day 3rd studio album Release Date: November 1973 Chart Positions: #52 US Billboard 200, #46 Australia RIAA Certification: non certified, BPI Certification: Silver Singles: "Showdown", "Ma-Ma-Ma Belle", "Daybreaker"
Eldorado, A Symphony by The Electric Light Orchestra 4th studio album Release Date: September 1974 Chart Positions: #16 US Billboard 200, #40 Australia RIAA Certification: Gold Singles: "Can't Get it Out of my Head", "Boy Blue"
Face the Music 5th studio album Release Date: October 2 1975 Chart Positions: #8 US Billboard 200, #30 Australia, #41 Sweden, #24 Italy RIAA Certification: Gold, BPI Certification: Platinum Singles: "Evil Woman", "Strange Magic", "Nightrider"
A New World Record 6th studio album Release Date: October 1976 (UK, US) Chart Positions: #5 US Billboard 200, #6 UK Albums Chart, #1 Australia, #9 Norway, #9 Austria, #1 Sweden RIAA Certification: Platinum, BPI Certification: Platinum Singles: "Livin' Thing", "Telephone Line", "Rockaria!", "Do Ya"
Out of the Blue 7th studio album Release Date: November 1977 (UK, US) Chart Positions: #4 UK Albums Chart, #4 US Billboard 200, #3 Australia, #3 Norway, #2 Sweden, #23 Italy, Billboard European Top 100 Albums (2007) RIAA Certification: Platinum, BPI Certification: Platinum Singles: "Turn to Stone", "Mr. Blue Sky", "Wild West Hero", "Sweet Talkin' Woman", "It's Over"
Discovery 8th studio album Release Date: June 1979 (UK, US) Chart Positions: #1 (5 weeks) UK Albums Chart, #5 US Billboard 200, #1 Australia, #1 Norway, #3 Austria, #2 Sweden, #4 Italy RIAA Certification: Multi-Platinum, BPI Certification: Platinum Singles: "Shine a Little Love", "The Diary of Horace Wimp", "Don't Bring Me Down", "Confusion", "Last Train to London"
Xanadu Movie soundtrack album Release Date: August 1980 (UK, US) Chart Positions: #2 UK Albums Chart, #4 US Billboard 200, #2 Australia, #1 Norway, #1 Austria, #1 Sweden, #10 Italy RIAA Certification: Multi-Platinum, BPI Certification: Gold Singles: "I'm Alive", "Xanadu", "All Over the World", "Don't Walk Away"
Time 9th studio album Release Date: August 1981 (UK, US) Chart Positions: #1 (2 weeks) UK Albums Chart, #16 US Billboard 200, #3 Australia, #2 Norway, #2 Austria, #1 Sweden, #19 Italy RIAA Certification: Gold, BPI Certification: Gold Singles: "Hold on Tight", "Twilight", "Here is the News", "Ticket to the Moon", "Rain is Falling", "The Way Life's Meant to Be"
Secret Messages 10th studio album Release Date: June 1983 (UK, US) Chart Positions: #4 UK Albums Chart, #36 US Billboard 200, #19 Australia, #5 Norway, #11 Austria, #11 Sweden RIAA Certification: non certified Singles: "Rock 'n' Roll is King", "Secret Messages", "Four Little Diamonds", "Stranger"
Balance of Power 11th studio album Release Date: March 1986 (UK,US) Chart Positions: #9 UK Albums Chart, #49 US Billboard 200, #49 Australia, #4 Norway, #29 Austria, #3 Sweden, #10 Switzerland RIAA Certification: non certified Singles: "Calling America", "So Serious", "Getting to the Point"
Zoom 12th studio album Release Date: June 2001 (UK,US) Chart Positions: #34 UK Albums Chart, #94 US Billboard 200, #18 Norway, #51 Austria, #35 Sweden, #26 Switzerland, #14 Billboard Top Internet Albums RIAA Certification: non certified Singles: -

Compilation albums

Title	Year	Charts	RIAA/BPI
Showdown (UK)	1974
Olé ELO	1976	#32 US Billboard 200	RIAA: Gold
The Light Shines On (UK)	1977
The Light Shines On Vol 2 (UK)	1979
ELO's Greatest Hits	1979	#7 UK Albums Chart, #30 US Billboard 200, #1 Australia, #13 Norway, #17 Austria	RIAA: Multi-Platinum
A Box of Their Best (US)	1980
Afterglow	1990
ELO's Greatest Hits Vol. 2 (UK)	1992
Strange Magic: The Best of Electric Light Orchestra (US)	1995
Flashback	2000
The Essential Electric Light Orchestra (US)	2003
All Over the World: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra	2005	#6 UK Albums Chart, #29 Norway, #54 Sweden, Billboard European Top 100 Albums	BPI: Gold
Ticket to the Moon: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra Volume 2 (UK & Germany)	2007

Other Compilations

• Three Light Years (1978) 3 LP Box set UK
• Four Light Years (1980) 4 LP Box set UK
• The Best Of ELO (1981) 2 LP UK
• A Perfect World Of Music (1985) UK
• First Movement (1986) UK
• The Very Best Of The Electric Light Orchestra (1989) Double album UK
• ELO Classics (1990) US
• Early ELO: 1971–1973 (1991) UK
• Burning Bright (1992) US
• Light Years: The Very Best of the Electric Light Orchestra (1997) 2 CD UK, #10 Norway
• Friends & Relatives (1999) 2 CD UK
• Definitive Collection (1999) 2 CD Netherlands
• World Ballads: Electric Lights Orchestra (1999) Storm Records 17 track Russian import (The spelling of Lights is not a typo).
• The Ultimate Collection (2001) 2 CD UK & Germany, #18 UK Albums Chart
• Early Years (2004) UK
• Harvest Showdown (2005) UK
• The Harvest Years 1970–1973 (2006) 3 CD including The Electric Light Orchestra, ELO 2, singles a & b sides, rare session outtakes and the Quadraphonic mix of The Electric Light Orchestra UK
• The Collection (2006) UK

Live albums

• The Night the Light Went On (In Long Beach) (1974) Germany, Netherlands, South Africa & UK
• Live at Winterland '76 (1998) UK
• Live at Wembley '78 (1998) UK
• Live At the BBC (1999) UK
• The BBC Sessions (1999) UK

Singles and highest chart positions

ELO were early pioneers in the use of coloured vinyl as opposed to the standard black on regular '45 singles. Various coloured singles were so much the norm for their releases that normal black vinyl singles are sometimes more prized by collectors.

Year	Single	UK	US Hot 100	Main' Rock	Adult Cont'	Australia	Canadian Top 30	Album
1972	10538 Overture	9	-	-	-	-	-	The Electric Light Orchestra/No Answer
1973	Roll Over Beethoven	6	42	-	-	53	-	Electric Light Orchestra II/ELO II/ELO 2
	Showdown	12	53	-	-	-	-	On the Third Day/Showdown
1974	Ma-Ma-Ma Belle [A]	22	-	-	-	-	-	On the Third Day
	Daybreaker	-	87	-	-	-	-
	Day Tripper (live) -Germany, Netherlands [B]	-	-	-	-	-	-	The Night the Light Went On
	Can't Get It Out Of My Head	-	9	-	-	59	-	Eldorado, A Symphony
1975	Boy Blue [C]	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Poor Boy (The Greenwood) -Netherlands [B]	-	-	-	-	-	-
1976	Evil Woman	10	10	-	-	23	6	Face the Music
	Nightrider [A]	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Strange Magic	38	14	-	-	85	20
	Waterfall -France [B]	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Showdown (reissue) [C]	-	59	-	-	-	-	Olé ELO
	Livin' Thing	4	13	-	-	2	4	A New World Record
1977	Rockaria! [A]	9	-	-	-	-	10
	Do Ya [C]	-	24	-	-	-	-
	Telephone Line [D]	8	7	-	-	10	9
	Turn To Stone	18	13	-	-	17	1	Out of the Blue
1978	Mr. Blue Sky	6	35	-	-	87	-
	Wild West Hero [A]	6	-	-	-	-	-
	Sweet Talkin' Woman	6	17	-	-	38	6
	It's Over [C]	-	75	-	-	-	-
	ELO EP [A]	34	-	-	-	-	-	Three Light Years
1979	Shine A Little Love	6	8	-	-	14	Discovery
	The Diary Of Horace Wimp [A]	8	-	-	-	48
	Don't Bring Me Down [D]	3	4	-	-	6
	Confusion / Last Train to London [A]	8	-	-	-	-
	Confusion [C]	-	37	-	-	-
	Last Train to London [C]	-	39	-	-	-
1980	I'm Alive [D]	20	16	-	-	27	Xanadu
	Xanadu -Feat. Olivia Newton-John	1	8	-	2	2
	All Over The World	11	13	-	-	78
	Don't Walk Away [A]	21	-	-	-	-
1981	Hold On Tight	4	10	2	-	5	Time
	Twilight	30	38	-	-	93
	21st Century Man -France [B]	-	-	-	-	-
	Rain Is Falling [C]	-	101	-	-	-
1982	Here Is The News / Ticket To The Moon [A]	24	-	-	-	-
	The Way Life's Meant to Be [A]	-	-	-	-	-
1983	Rock 'n' Roll Is King	13	19	19	36	13	Secret Messages
	Secret Messages [A]	48	-	-	-	-
	Four Little Diamonds	84	86	-	-	-
	Stranger [C]	-	105	-	33
1986	Calling America	28	18	22	20	47	Balance of Power
	So Serious	77	-	-	-	-
	Getting To The Point [A]	97	-	-	-	-
1990	Destination Unknown [C] [E]	-	-	-	-	-	Afterglow
2001	Alright [C] [E]	-	-	-	-	-	Zoom
	Moment In Paradise -Austria [B]	-	-	-	-	-
2006	Surrender	81	-	-	-	-	A New World Record (remastered)
2007	Latitude 88 North	-	-	-	-	-	Out of the Blue (remastered)

Notes

• A ^ Not released in the US.
• B ^ Not Released in the UK or US.
• C ^ Not released in the UK.
• D ^ Single rewarded gold record from the RIAA
• E ^ Released as a promo.

Videos

• Live at Wembley (Betamax/VHS, 1978)
• Discovery (VHS, 1979) UK
• The "Out of the Blue" Tour - Live At Wembley (VHS, 1989) UK
• Fusion - Live In London (VHS, 1990) UK
• The Very Best Of ELO (VHS, 1991) UK
• Out of the Blue Tour: Live at Wembley/Discovery (DVD/VHS, 1998)
• Zoom Tour Live (DVD/VHS, 2001)
• Inside the Electric Light Orchestra 1970-1973 (DVD, 2005)
• Out of the Blue: Live at Wembley (remastered) (DVD, 2006) UK
• Electric Light Orchestra - Total Rock Review (DVD, 2006)

Books

• The Electric Light Orchestra Story (1980) ISBN 0-907 394-00-0
• Unexpected Messages (1996) ISBN 3-00-000642-7
• More Light For The Orchestra (1997) ISBN 950-43-8302-5

References

• http://home-1.tiscali.nl/~elo/Basis-frames/frames-other/feloclopedia-elo.htm
• http://members.iinet.com.au/~althomp/austelo/elo/chartelo.htm
• http://www.rockaria.com/charts.html
• http://www.webfitz.com/lyrics/Chartlst.html
• http://www.rock.co.za/files/sarock_charts.html#world
• http://lista.vg.no/artist_info.php?ArtistOp=show&artistId=2557
• http://swedishcharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Electric+Light+Orchestra
• http://austriancharts.at/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Electric+Light+Orchestra
• http://swisscharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Electric+Light+Orchestra
• http://www.hitparadeitalia.it/