Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Electric Light Orchestra
Label: Epic Records
Release: 1979
Rating: 3.5/5
After their greatest masterpiece “Out Of The Blue” (1977), it was a tough, honestly almost impossible job for Electric Light Orchestra to make another album that ambitious and influential. After finishing a mega-successful tour with extravagant stage shows built around a spaceship and sold-out arenas, they headed into the studio to record the album that became known as “Discovery”, or, as a good chunk of their fans call it, “Disco? Very”, a phrase first used by keyboardist Richard Tandy. The reason for that cheeky quip is the heavy disco sound of most of the songs on the record, which for some is its biggest weakness, while for others it’s the main draw and a quirk that makes it unique in their discography. Either way, it was their most commercially accessible release up to that point, the one where they finally waded fully into pop rock waters and turned their backs on their symphonic (prog) rock past. That doesn’t mean their knack for exquisite melodies and infectious symphonic arrangements died along with it, though. The album is packed with all kinds of goodies and ranks among their better efforts, even if I wouldn’t call it a masterpiece, since they took at least one step back when it comes to the organic sound of the orchestral arrangements.
The big boss, singer, guitarist and producer Jeff Lynne, who, like most music stars of the day, had fallen for disco fever after the gigantic success of “Out Of The Blue”, made a few dramatic moves before release that shaped the sound of “Discovery” in a big way. He did something that had been unthinkable until then and sacked the entire string section, meaning violinist Mik Kaminski and both cellists, Melvyn Gale and Hugh McDowell. Although those musicians did show up in the music videos supporting the album, which Lynne used in place of a concert tour, that was the end of the classic ELO lineup and the organic sound of strings, and with it the beginning of the end of their most successful era and a gradual creative decline. And while the orchestral arrangements sound noticeably scaled down compared to before, Lynne managed to replace the string lines pretty successfully with fine synthesizers and Tandy’s clavinet. The pared-back symphonic sound went hand in hand with Lynne’s (expected) swerve toward a more pop rock sound and disco beats. As usual, the orchestral arrangements were written by the trio of Lynne, Tandy and longtime arranger and outside collaborator Louis Clark.
Plenty of critics, and even some of their own fans, say they totally sold out to the disco mania of the time and went for the easiest route to even bigger success, and you can at least partly agree with that. Still, this is another excellent and unique album that has all the trademark ELO strengths and some of the best creations in their story, which today rightfully count as evergreen classics. It’s precisely those grabby disco rhythms that, through some of the tracks on the album, carry the listener off to a distant, romantic era when life seemed a lot simpler and disco hadn’t yet turned into the byword for all things musically negative that it later became. Lynne kept cranking out great pop rock hit singles, led by “Shine A Little Love”, “Confusion”, “The Diary Of Horace Wimp”, “Last Train To London” and “Don’t Bring Me Down”. Needless to say, the album was a huge commercial success. At home it did even better than “Out Of The Blue”, which also spawned five hits.
Of course, it’s the musical quality of the individual compositions, not their commercial success, that counts most, and all of the songs mentioned earned that status fair and square. The first hit on the album, the opener “Shine A Little Love”, the most commercial thing in their career up to then, immediately shows off the new direction with its pronounced disco beat and melodic orchestral and guitar passages. The refined orchestral arrangements in the background mesh beautifully with Lynne’s seductively erotic vocals, the backing vocal harmonies, witty guitar bits and the disco rhythm, which is enough to make it one of the best pop rock songs in their story. The power ballad “Confusion”, another hit classic, is a somewhat more “traditional” ELO number with nice acoustic guitar backing, a romantic chorus and plenty of vocoder effects. “Need Her Love”, where the Beatles-style influences come through for the first time on the album, also has a wonderfully romantic atmosphere, plus lots of subtle guitar passages and dreamy orchestral curtains that make a perfect bed for Lynne’s superb singing and the choir-like vocal harmonies between the choruses. Lynne also throws in a short but very pretty slide guitar solo, while the orchestral arrangements, which sound rather scaled down thanks to the missing strings, are on par with those from “Out Of The Blue”.
Next up is the hit classic “The Diary Of Horace Wimp”, one of the best and most entertaining songs in their story, which makes no secret of its Beatles heritage, both in its structure and in its sarcastic yet endearing humor. The lyrics tell a funny tale of a shy young guy who, thanks to his clumsiness, has no luck with women, until one day he hits the jackpot, meets the woman of his dreams and marries her. The vocoder backing effects before each new verse and in the finale list off every day of the week that the bumbling Horace wrote down in his diary. What’s especially interesting is the contrast between the pompous orchestral arrangements and the bouncy, playful rhythm, as well as the chameleon-like color of Lynne’s voice, which often leans toward Paul McCartney here, before getting its recognizable tone back in the main chorus. The album then dives back into disco waters with the phenomenal pop rocker “Last Train To London”, another big hit single that charms with its romantic, dreamy seductiveness and an infectious chorus that easily gets the listener onto the last train to London. The disco beat meshes wonderfully with Bevan’s drum fills and a gorgeous chorus, where Lynne hits some pretty high lines for him. One of those ideal songs for a romantic evening drive somewhere by the sea.
“Midnight Blue” is solid but nothing special, yet another romantic power ballad with melancholic vocals, loads of backing vocal harmonies and simple orchestral arrangements. “On The Run” is more interesting, offering a somewhat harder rock sound with lots of drum fills, razor-sharp keyboard and guitar passages and a fun vocal performance in the chorus. The excellent “Wishing”, which hovers the whole time in a middle mood between melancholy and playfulness, opens with an ambient keyboard intro before moving into a romantic section with seductive melodies, leading to a magical chorus greased with nice orchestral touches, great vocal harmonies and occasional vocoder effects, and there’s even a short piano solo. To close things out, there’s the superb, bouncy pop rocker “Don’t Bring Me Down”, one of the biggest hits of their career, which once even found its way into an episode of the popular British sci-fi series Dr. Who. It was the first ELO song without a string section. Up front is a strong, repetitive disco beat and a cheeky chorus with the word “Groos”, which often sounds like “Bruce”, so in the end the band was eventually forced to actually start using the word “Bruce” at their concerts. The song is dedicated to NASA’s Skylab space station, which came back down to Earth in 1979, and it reflects Lynne’s fascination with space flight, also visible in the traditional ELO logo and some of the album covers.
The controversial “Discovery” definitely didn’t reach the lofty standards of the masterpiece “Out Of The Blue”, which wasn’t really to be expected, but it’s still another excellent album and a superb pop rock/disco record that only cemented the band as some of the finest makers of infectious pop rock/melodic rock songs. It’s exactly the pronounced disco rhythms that make it somehow unique in their discography, and if most disco music were as good as what ELO did on “Discovery”, it would get a lot more respect among rock fans too. With “Discovery”, ELO hit the peak of their popularity, and their star began to fade gradually afterward, even though Lynne still had a few pretty good ideas up his sleeve.
Line-up
Jeff Lynne – vocals, guitar, piano, synthesizer
Bev Bevan – drums, percussion
Richard Tandy – piano, synthesizer, electric piano, clavinet
Kelly Groucutt – bass guitar, vocals
Production
Jeff Lynne
Track list
1. Shine a little love (4:42)
2. Confusion (3:42)
3. Need her love (5:09)
4. The diary of Horace Wimp (4:17)
5. Last train to London (4:31)
6. Midnight blue (4:20)
7. On the run (3:56)
8. Wishing (4:14)
9. Don’t bring me down (4:08)
Total running time: 37:39
