"Nightrider" is a song from Electric Light Orchestra's (ELO) album Face the Music.
The song's title is a tip of the hat to Lynne's first major band, The Nightriders. It was released in 1976 as the third single from the album in the United Kingdom. The B-side on the single was a live version of "Daybreaker" taken from the 1974 live album The Night the Light Went On in Long Beach.[1] Despite ELO's rising popularity, and the band playing the song on Top of the Pops on 29 April 1976, the song failed to chart.[2] The song was also included as the B-side on the US hit single "Do Ya".[3]
Between 3:16 and 3:19, the song features a string crescendo which was reused (played backwards, from 2:40 to 2:44) on another of the album's tracks, "Evil Woman".[4]
"I took the high string part of Nightrider that climbs up to a climax, and used it backwards in Evil Woman as a big effect. I was amazed when it slotted in seamlessly." - Jeff Lynne (Face the Music remaster liner notes)
Bassist Kelly Groucutt took the lead vocal on the second verse.[5][6]
ELO biographer John Van Der Kiste described the song as "another of those deceptively simple-sounding songs with a very intricate arrangement."[5] Van Der Kiste describes how the song moves from "plaintive keyboard" to "more forceful chorus" to "peaceful conclusion" and praises the "otherworldly strings that are incorporated into the arrangement.[5] Barry Delve described it as a "mini-symphony" with "complex vocal arrangements and driving strings underpinning several dynamic changes."[2] Similar to Van Der Kiste, Delve describes how the song moves from quiet introduction to galloping chorus to "dreamy conclusion."[2]
Rolling Stone critic said that "Nightrider" reminded him of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade.[4] Green Bay Press-Gazette critic Warren Gerds felt that ELO tried to do too much with the song, saying that "multiple musical shifts give the song a herky-jerky, disjointed effect that makes your head spin."[7]
References
- ^ "Electric Light Orchestra - Nightrider (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
- ^ a b c Delve, Barry (2021). Electric Light Orchestra: Every album, every song. Sonicbond. pp. 54–55. ISBN 9781789521528.
- ^ "Electric Light Orchestra - Do Ya (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
- ^ a b Spicer, Mark (2018). "The Electric Light Orchestra and the Anxiety of the Beatles' Influence". In Burns, Lori; Lacasse, Serge (eds.). The Pop Palimpsest: Intertextuality in Recorded Popular Music. University of Michigan Press. pp. 116, 122. ISBN 9780472130672.
- ^ a b c Van Der Kiste, John (2017). Electric Light Orchestra: Song by Song. Fonthill. p. 39. ISBN 9781781556009.
- ^ Christopher, Michael (28 September 2015). "When Electric Light Orchestra Unveiled a New Lineup on 'Face the Music'". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
- ^ Greds, Warren (28 March 1976). "Records in Review". Green Bay Press-Gazette. p. 14. Retrieved 9 December 2024 – via newspapers.com.
