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Electric Light Orchestra - Discovery CD (album) cover

DISCOVERY

Electric Light Orchestra

 

Crossover Prog

2.89 | 274 ratings

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Tarcisio Moura
Prog Reviewer
3 stars The beginning of ELO's decline. Well, after the great pop masterpiece of Out Of The Blue, this was a kind of disappointment. the band lost the three string players that gave much of the band's charm and uniquiness. From now on they used full orchestrars when needed and became just another pop prog band of the day. More pop than ever, I should point out.

Not that the record is bad, no. After all Jeff Lynne was still writing, producing and arranging fine pop tunes, but the band lost much of its appeal and, contrary to their earlier effords, this one dated a lot over the years. It is the typical late 70's record that was fighting obscurity when punk/disco/new wave seemed to be taking over the music scene. And I can't deny that ELO did one of the best mixes of pop and disco in the wonderful form of Last Train To London: definitly a disco rhythm section delivers this great pop tune with fantastic clavinet sounds and orchestral background. Very clever and very inspired, it deserved to be the big hit of the LP (and it was).

Unfortunatly the rest of the CD is not of the same caliber. There are the usual fine tunes that only Lynne can deliver, like Shine A Little Love, Confusion and On The Run. The beatlesque The Diary of Horace Wimpp and the rocking Don't Bring Me down are also of interest. But there is a lack of energy and creativity that was always present in their previous effords. The excessive use of the vocoder is also annoying.

Conclusion: still a good release. But it is not essential in any way. Be sure to have all their classic albums before getting this one. 3 stars.

Tarcisio Moura | 3/5 |

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