BALANCE OF POWER

Is it ELO? Maybe. But without the strings it doesn't quite hit it for me. I own this CD, along with all ELO except Xanadu (puke), and Discovery (belch). I think it to be somewhat better than most of the low ratings I have seen. Lots of synths and electronic bleeps and blips and maybe some real drums in there occasionley. It may not be ELO II or even Secret Messages but it really does show that if you want a quick, catchy pop tune, find Jeff Lynne and he'll whip one off for ya in no time. He may be one of the most neglected pure pop songsters ever. Now, is this album Prog- not really. However it is a solid pop album of it's syntho laced time period so I can't dis it totally. I can give a few stars for catchiness. I don't think it is the worst of ELO, like many have said, I leave that honor to the disco-crazed Discovery and the Xanadu soundtrack (which may not even count as a real ELO album). SO a 2 1/2 star effort for this one. 2 stars on this site.