Good sound at the time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnCjw5VLqMA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggLpXgJJitI&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XW15O-JXs5E&feature=related

I think they were a great band. Paul Rodgers was a great vocalist. Mick Ralphs was a tasty player who never became excessive. They wrote good songs. I may be reading too much into your comment but I think they have much less to apologize about than ELO.
I am also a big fan of Mott the Hoople and Roxy Music. That period before punk, lets say from 72 -76 in the UK produced some great stuff.
I am very fond of Roy Wood's Wizzard. Roy was in a band called Move with Jeff Lynne and he and Lynne formed ELO. Wood and Wizzard made four classic singles See my Baby Jive, Angel Fingers, Ball Park Incident and I Wish it Could be Christmas Every day. Wizzard were a very weird band here is a clip where they lip synced Angel Fingers Very Spector influenced but you can see where Roxy got some of their stuff. Roy Wood's solo album Boulders is well worth checking out just for the fact that he played all the instruments including the strings and horns.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ddz-rRI16k&feature=related

One of my favorite Bad co songs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL910k-bSHA