Jeff Lynne’s resurrected ELO shares plenty of similarities with the U.K. band that he led to ’70s pop dominance with 19 top-40 hits. But there is one crucial difference. Back then, nobody did excess quite like the Electric Light Orchestra. In contrast, “Alone in the Universe” (Columbia), the first ELO album since 2001, wears its pop-rock pomp lightly.
When Lynne cofounded the Electric Light Orchestra in the early ’70s, the progressive-rock era was dawning, the Beatles had just broken up, and anything seemed possible. Combining rock and classical music? Why not? ELO went for it in a big way, crafting elaborate melodies layered with instruments — not just keyboards that sounded like orchestras, but full-on string and brass sections.
In the ’80s and ’90s, Lynne focused on producing, working on major albums by Tom Petty, George Harrison, Paul McCartney and Roy Orbison. He also joined Petty, Harrison, Orbison and Bob Dylan in the multimillion-selling super group the Traveling Wilburys.
Much of it was technically impressive but emotionally anonymous — Lynne rarely revealed much of himself through his work. His songs were self-effacing to a fault, grasping for universal themes wrapped in sumptuous three- and four-minute packages of melody. But there’s a wistfulness to “Alone in the Universe” that works well with his expertly sculpted chord progressions. “When I was a Boy” underlines that Lynne’s love of music was a lifeline while growing up in Birmingham, England. He was the kid born to live inside recording studios, surrounded by instruments and a need to conjure melodies as transformative as the ones that poured from his radio.
The one-man orchestra touches on gospel (“Love and Rain”), disco (“One Step at a Time”) and the operatic ballads of his late friend Orbison (“I’m Leaving You”). His guitar playing isn’t showy, but masterfully subtle: the contrast between chunky rhythm and lighter, more elegant phrasing on “Love and Rain”; the brief but elegiac solo in the title track; the call-and-response between the singer’s vocal and guitar in the chorus of “One Step at a Time.”
ELO was loved and reviled for the ear candy the group routinely dished out during its heyday, and Lynne retains his talent for assembling notes and tones that become little sonic forgot-me-nots. But he pulls back on the extravagance to create something a touch more personal and concise: 10 songs in under 40 minutes. This is high-end craft from a 67-year-old studio pro with a charming tinge of melancholy in his voice.
“Alone in the Universe,” Jeff Lynne’s ELO ???
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