A NEW WORLD RECORD

With A New World Record, ELO entered pop stardom and by this time had completely abandoned progressive rock. By shifting their music this way, Lynne was able to gain the success he had always desired and made a ton of money doing it. There isn't anything wrong with that, nor is there anything wrong with this style of music. I really enjoyed this album a lot when I was growing up and still enjoy it from time to time today. But this is PROG Archives (emphasis on the PROG, if you noticed), and although ELO's earlier albums are well deserving of a place in the Archives' hallowed halls, from this point forward we're dealing with what is an endless string of pop rock albums. And rightly so, I can only assign two stars to this album as it really is for collectors and not prog enthusiasts. But if you enjoy some really nice toe-tapping, intelligently constructed pop rock (though lyrically cheesy), you'll probably love this (as I do). Otherwise, prog rock fans are best to avoid. However, their first three albums are highly recommended and I would suggest starting there.