Unlikely New Gem...ELO


Apropos to the recent rock music with strings thread:

ELO was always a mixed bag for me. I liked all of the main songwriters - Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne, and (in later iterations) Parthenon Huxley. However, the main conceit (strings) usually detracted from the main pleasure (guitar driven pop/rock). Well.....

Jeff Lynne has gotten the band back together and released a record of beautifully crafted pop songs. IMO, it's Lynne at his best, recalling the Beatles and Tom Petty first and foremost. Not a lot of strings here (a good thing, IMO). Nothing particularly groundbreaking or original, either....just top notch songwriting, playing and singing.

Unlikely as it seems, I think the record is definitely worth hearing and might be ELO's best work (snarky "bar is low" commentary is unnecessary).
martykl
Philo,

Sorry about the odd omission in my original post:

"Alone In The Universe" it is!
The movie "Mr. Blue Sky: The Story of Jeff Lynne" is very good; highly recommended! I saw it a few months ago on Paladia. As far as I can tell, it is only available for purchase on itunes. It will be available to rent from itunes on 12/11/15. Mr. Lynne is truly a very talented singer, songwriter, and producer.