Electric Light Orchestra Discography: All 15 Albums

Release date, labels, UK and US peaks and main certifications (Wikipedia, Electric Light Orchestra discography):

• The Electric Light Orchestra — December 1971, Harvest / United Artists, UK No. 32, US No. 196
• ELO 2 — March 1973, Harvest / United Artists, UK No. 35, US No. 62
• On the Third Day — November 1973, Warner Bros. / United Artists, US No. 52
• Eldorado — September 1974, Warner Bros. / United Artists, US No. 16, US Gold
• Face the Music — September 1975, Jet / United Artists, US No. 8, US Gold
• A New World Record — 15 October 1976, Jet / United Artists, UK No. 6, US No. 5, Platinum in UK and US
• Out of the Blue — 24 October 1977, Jet, UK No. 4, US No. 4, Platinum in UK and US
• Discovery — 1 June 1979, Jet, UK No. 1, US No. 5, Platinum in UK and US
• Xanadu — 11 July 1980, Jet / MCA, UK No. 2, US No. 4, US 2× Platinum
• Time — 31 July 1981, Jet, UK No. 1, US No. 16, Gold in UK and US
• Secret Messages — 24 June 1983, Jet, UK No. 4, US No. 36, Gold in UK and US
• Balance of Power — 3 March 1986, Epic / CBS Associated, UK No. 9, US No. 49
• Zoom — 12 June 2001, Epic, UK No. 34, US No. 94
• Alone in the Universe — 13 November 2015, RCA / Columbia, UK No. 4, US No. 23, UK Platinum
• From Out of Nowhere — 1 November 2019, Columbia, UK No. 1, US No. 47

The last two were credited to Jeff Lynne's ELO. Lynne adopted that name in 2014 to separate the band from offshoots such as ELO Part II and The Orchestra (Wikipedia, Electric Light Orchestra).

Out of the Blue is a double album, released on 24 October 1977 in the US and 28 October in the UK. A complete original has more than two discs and a sleeve. The package included a cardboard cut-out of the space station and a fold-out poster of the band, designed by Kosh with art by Shusei Nagaoka (Wikipedia, Out of the Blue). A copy missing either one is incomplete and should be priced as incomplete.

Side three is the Concerto for a Rainy Day suite, ending with Mr. Blue Sky. The vocoder line at the end, "please turn me over", tells the listener to flip to side four. Promotional copies of the Mr. Blue Sky single were pressed on blue vinyl, like the album (Wikipedia, Mr. Blue Sky).

Two facts keep prices down. The album had sold about 10 million copies by 2007, and cut-out copies were discounted heavily in North America soon after release. Look for a drill hole, clipped corner or saw cut on the sleeve. Goldmine never grades a cut-out cover Near Mint, as our vinyl grading scale page explains.

ELO holds the record for the most Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 hits, 20, without a single No. 1 (Wikipedia). UK and US peaks for the main singles (Wikipedia, discography):

• Xanadu (with Olivia Newton-John) — UK No. 1, US No. 8
• Don't Bring Me Down — UK No. 3, US No. 4
• Livin' Thing — UK No. 4, US No. 13
• Hold On Tight — UK No. 4, US No. 10
• Mr. Blue Sky — UK No. 6, US No. 35
• Sweet Talkin' Woman — UK No. 6, US No. 17
• Shine a Little Love — UK No. 6, US No. 8
• Roll Over Beethoven — UK No. 6, US No. 42
• Telephone Line — UK No. 8, US No. 7
• 10538 Overture — UK No. 9
• Evil Woman — UK No. 10, US No. 10
• All Over the World — UK No. 11, US No. 13
• Turn to Stone — UK No. 18, US No. 13

Chart peaks do not measure how well a song has lasted. Mr. Blue Sky peaked lower than several of these but is now certified 4× Platinum in the UK (2.4 million units) and 3× Platinum in the US, and is often called the band's signature song (Wikipedia, Mr. Blue Sky).

ELO changed labels several times, so the label on the disc narrows down when a copy was made. The first two albums came out on Harvest and United Artists. On the Third Day and Eldorado came out on Warner Bros. and United Artists. From Face the Music (1975) the band was on Jet, with United Artists and later MCA and CBS involved in distribution. Balance of Power moved to Epic. Out of the Blue itself was issued through Jet, United Artists and CBS Records International (Wikipedia).

A later pressing with a different label is not worth less because of the label alone. The label tells you which pressing to look up. Then copy the runout string from both sides and search completed sales for that exact pressing, as our how to tell if a record is valuable page describes.