ROCK 'N' ROLL IS KING / AFTER ALL

Rock 'n' Roll Is King was a 45 rpm single released by the Electric Light Orchestra in June 1983. After many years of a much more synthesized (and at times "disco-ized") version of ELO, Jeff Lynne started showing signs of returning to his early rock roots with the song "Hold On Tight" on ELO's previous Time album, and now with Rock 'n' Roll Is King, off of the Secret Messages album. This single did fairly well for Lynne charting rather high on many music charts throughout the world, including making it to #2 in Poland. In the UK it made it to #13, and in the US to #19.

There really isn't anything progressive about this single. It's just another in a long series of enjoyable pop music singles dating back to the mid-1970s. As such, and also due to it being in a format not highly sought after these days, I can only recommend this to collectors. Both songs are more readily available on the 2001 edition of Secret Messages (the version with the three bonus tracks). Two stars.