Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Electric Light Orchestra
Label: Columbia Records
Release: 2015
Length: 32:31
Rating: 3.5/5
Jeff Lynne kept his promise, and the (way too) long wait is finally over. »Alone in the Universe« is the first Electric Light Orchestra studio album in almost fifteen years, which is how long it’s been since »Zoom« (2001). Lynne, best known as a guitarist and singer, wrote all the music himself and played every instrument on the record, all under his own direction. As expected, he also handled the production, which, like always with him, is enviably good. The songs on the album are more or less solid, though only a few of them are truly exciting, never mind Lynne trying some bold, innovative sonic experiment. Still, nearly all of them manage to build that classic ELO atmosphere, although some of the older fans will surely miss more of the string harmonies that were key to their biggest hits in the seventies.
Plenty of old-school fans will be delighted by the nostalgia-soaked cover with a spaceship on it, even though their beloved band now goes by Jeff Lynne’s ELO, which was only a matter of time after founding drummer Bev Bevan gave up his rights to use the name of this cult band. Not everyone will be thrilled that ELO have turned into Lynne’s ‘one man band’ in the studio, while on the concert stage, though not in the studio, the ‘big boss’ gets company from the ‘old guard’ in just keyboardist Richard Tandy, who remains his only buddy from the former ‘partners in crime’. On the other hand, Jeff, despite his respectable age, is still in great vocal shape, and his guitar playing is just as flawless. On drums he obviously can’t compete with Bevan, but he’s still done a decent job on the other instruments too. The man who always swore by sonic perfectionism and building flawless harmonies and seductive melodies has outdone himself once again in that department.
The opening track »When I Was a Boy«, which successfully takes the listener back to far more romantic musical times, was picked as the album’s first single. »Love and Rain«, with Jeff’s older daughter Laura guesting as a backing vocalist, is also full of nostalgia and recalls the golden ELO era. The first track on the album that seriously approaches the quality of the evergreens of the past is »Dirty to the Bone« with its magical chorus and gorgeous vocal harmonies, though Jeff could have put a bit more effort into the lyrics about ‘naughty girls’ if he wanted to dodge comparisons with typical Whitesnake lyrics. »When the Night Comes«, with its nostalgic pulse and romantic chorus, also brings back the ‘good old days’ when »Out of the Blue« (1977) was the hottest thing on the music market. From there the album’s pulse and the interest of the individual tracks dip a bit, but toward the end it climbs back up to a higher level.
The excellent title track might deserve the status of a future classic. It stands out thanks to a short but very well-placed guitar solo and inspired synth effects, which makes it one of the album’s rare highlights, where all the songs are shorter than four minutes. One of the few complaints is about the album’s relative brevity: at a good 32 minutes, »Alone in the Universe« is the shortest ELO studio album to date and is over ‘in a flash’.
With »Alone in the Universe«, Jeff Lynne has made an easy-on-the-ear album that stays faithful to the classic ELO legacy and is built to please most of the fans, which was exactly the point. There aren’t many moments on it that you could stand next to the long-running ELO classics, and few songs really stand out, but the master of royal arrangements and hypnotic tunes proves he’s far from being ‘old news’, so the decision to make a new album was surely the right call.
Line-up
Jeff Lynne – vocals, all instruments except tambourine
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Steve Jay – tambourine, sound engineer
Laura Lynne – backing vocals on “Love and Rain” and “One Step at a Time”
Production
Jeff Lynne
Track list
1. When I Was A Boy (3:13)
2. Love And Rain (3:29)
3. Dirty To The Bone (3:07)
4. When The Night Comes (3:21)
5. The Sun Will Shine On You (3:30)
6. Ain’t It A Drag (2:35)
7. All My Life (2:51)
8. I’m Leaving You (3:07)
9. One Step At A Time (3:22)
10. Alone In The Universe (3:54)
