Music Review ELO – Discovery

Tweet

This 1979 album by The Electric Light Orchestra (increasingly using the abbreviation ELO as their name now) marked a retreat from sweeping strings to a more disco flavoured sound, earning the album the nickname ‘Disco Very’. It carries many of Jeff Wayne’s most memorable tracks and more hit singles than any other ELO album. Highlights include the opening Shine A Little Love, Last Train To London, Confusion and The Diary of Horace Wimp. This track concerns a timid young man being compelled by a divine guide to finally pluck up the courage to ask a girl out and later to marry him. It’s a fine feel good album, lacking the impact of their giant hit Mr Blue Sky, but the closing track’s plea Don’t Bring Me Down seems un-needed, as this album is very uplifting throughout. The Arabian Nights cover art with the album itself pursued by scimitar wielding Arabian figures as though it was some mysterious Eastern artefact or magical power source is glossy but hardly exceptional. From a completely random selection this was my first record played today on my new record player. Youtube – A modern Lego animation of The Diary Of Horace Wimp Arthur Chappell