Great 1986 E.L.O. Album guaranteed to entertain!
If you put your mind to it, the E.L.O. 'face' on the front of the album sleeve, looks like Jeff Lynne. The same kind of principle applies to the music contained within. It's written by Jeff Lynne, so an familiar sense of melody is there, similarities to the highly commercial pop / rock with strings that really took off ten years previous. There is not much of an orchestra on this album. The trio of string players, a famous sight with E.L.O. on stage, and heard on the albums up to 1977's Out Of The Blue' were long since dispensed with, and being the mid eighties, and three years since E.L.O.'s previous album, 'Secret `Messages' ( 'Rock and Roll Is King' being the big single from that album), Lynne streamlines the formula to mostly guitars and keyboards, very period sounding (up to the minute, for the time), largely heavily out of date now, as they were those most dedicated of eighties sounds, rejected with the turn of the nineties and ever after, so it's simple, streamline faddy-sounding formula caught the ear of more people in music than the public so it seams... 'Calling America' and 'So Serious' being singles that sold, the melodic tradition was very much still wit Jeff Lynne, and there are album tracks that are dripping with melody, that the faddy production did not choke to death. In fact, tho it is a product of it's time, it's an somewhat unsung highlight of it's time, if you ask me, immaculately performed as always, and listening to it today, with it's bonus tracks including other workings of tracks on the original release, and B-Sides, the album still delivers a hefty portion of catchy pop and time flies with track after track delivering the goods... I have been a life long fan, anyway, so I will be very forgiving of Jeff Lynne's little under achievements... But there really aren't any... return plays guaranteed, and a great album to put onto your devices and / or play in your CD powered car (If you still have one) I Do!) you will not begrudge parting with the kind of money you can spend these days to own yourself a copy. i would say it's not quite 'Evil Woman', "Telephone Line', Mr Blue Sky, E.L.O., but it is a more than passible vehicle for the man of melodies to entertain you... Through the noteworthiness of this album, George Harrison and then shortly after, The Wilburys, not to mention many other artists whom wanted the 'Jeff Lynne' production sound — a post-purist E.L.O. sound, being honest, with a largely straightened out and simplified four / four spine; All kind of started here, with this album... So get a copy and enjoy... I'm sure you will!Read full review
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