Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Electric Light Orchestra
Label: Epic Records
Release: 1983
Length: 46:52
Rating: 2.5/5
“Secret Messages” was proof that after the solid but unspectacular concept project “Time” (1981), Electric Light Orchestra had really started losing their compass, a band that once wowed people with records boasting a high degree of artistic uniqueness and perfectionism, especially in crafting interesting, orchestra-spiced arrangements on the lion’s share of their creations. They were turning more and more into an average melodic rock, or rather pop rock, band with nothing new to offer their followers. Their golden days were behind them.
Big boss Jeff Lynne, who on top of singing, playing guitar and keys had always dutifully handled the producer’s chair too, had ambitious plans for “Secret Messages” and originally intended to record and release it as a double album. Had that worked out, it would have been one of the very few records of its kind at the time (the ’80s). But the label leaned on him with a lame excuse, claiming that because of the energy crisis of the day there wasn’t enough money for such “expensive” projects. So it forced him to release “Secret Messages” as a single album in the end. Six tracks that were meant for the unrealized double release later came out on “Afterglow” (1990), a special box set of collected works.
Going by Lynne’s original ideas the album would probably have been a lot better, but it ended up as a thoroughly average affair that sails with mixed results between the traditional ELO sonic finesse and the synth-slathered musical trends of the day. Compared to “Time,” the synthesizers in the production are no longer so dominant, the new wave elements are rarer, and the band’s rock side, mostly thanks to the bigger role of the guitar, pushes its way a bit more to the front again on most tracks. But that’s a poor consolation when you can feel the obvious lack of inspiration in the individual arrangements, especially the orchestral ones they were most famous for. Those mostly sound completely generic and synthetic. Lynne’s and Tandy’s synth-simulated orchestral passages were never comparable to the real string section that once adorned their best achievements anyway.
Relations between the brilliant but domineering Lynne, who wanted to prop up their dwindling commercial success at all costs, and the other members, who were more inclined to return to the band’s sonic roots, were already far from great, and this dictatorial move by the label only chilled the creative process further. The album’s very title shows that Jeff was running short on ideas, as it’s an allusion to subliminal messages. It wasn’t the first time (see the review of the album “Face The Music,” 1975) that they took a biting satirical jab at (mostly American) Christian fundamentalists, who had grown horns again at that time, after Ronald Reagan’s rise, and launched a new crusade against “satanic” messages in rock music. That’s why most tracks deliberately feature messages recorded backwards on the tape, which are of course totally innocent and mostly jokey. Lynne had always found playing around with subliminal messages fun, but I have no doubt that the rest of the band were slowly starting to get properly bored.
On most of “Secret Messages,” ELO sound like a thoroughly average melodic rock band. Although there isn’t a single outright bad song on the album, apart from maybe the closing “Rock ‘n’ Roll Is King” there isn’t a trace of an evergreen ELO classic on it. The title track that opens the album is a promising piece, but after the intro noodling with sound effects it turns into a totally average melodic rock power ballad. Lynne’s charismatic, “Beatles-like” vocals still guarantee that characteristic ELO sonic recognizability, and even the central guitar riff isn’t bad, but sadly the whole way through there’s a completely generic synth sound and a repetitive rhythm line that gets boring real quick.
On “Loser Gone Wild,” another, this time somewhat better, melodic rock power ballad, Lynne and Tandy play around a lot with the sound of the synthesizers popular at the time, which dominate the whole thing. Here, though, they manage to find their way as a good bed for subtle vocal harmonies and Lynne’s short slide guitar bits. With his romantic vocal expression, Lynne saves quite a few songs on the album from the grave. The solid “Bluebird” is a fairly characteristic ELO pop rocker with romantic vocal harmonies and convincing orchestral arrangements on keyboards.
“Take Me On And On” is yet another romantic ballad, with a strong ambient stamp thanks to solid synth curtains, and it also has a good guitar solo and even better singing from Lynne. Things get worse with “Time Afer Time,” a thoroughly generic pop rocker with canned female backing vocals in the chorus and orchestral samples in the background, which didn’t even appear on the original LP release. Lynne knew what he was doing. The bouncy R’n’B pop rocker “Four Little Diamonds,” one of the album’s singles, is a fairly fun piece, even if it has more in common with Status Quo than ELO, with Lynne’s cheap lyrical love confession about an unfaithful woman who finally ran off with the ring he’d given her, engraved with four little diamonds.
One of the better tracks, which passes the test of time without trouble, is definitely the deeply romantic “Stranger,” a nice proof that they were still capable of making excellent pop rock. “Danger Ahead” is another solid melodic rocker with a good chorus. The romantic funeral dirge “Letter From Spain” is mostly a showcase of the unique ELO multi-part vocals, while “Train Of Gold,” with yet another solid slide guitar solo, is a rather botched attempt to return to the classic sound. Perhaps the best sign of how average and unconvincing “Secret Messages” is comes from the fact that one of its better tracks is the closing “Rock ‘n’ Roll Is King,” also released as a single, a pure rock’n’roll charge in the style of “Roll Over Beethoven.” Although I was never a fan of that dancey side of theirs, you have to admit they made yet another solid pop classic, the only song from the album that still finds its way onto radio stations. It also features returning guest and former member Mik Kaminski on his famous blue violin. After Lynne kicked him out of the band in the late ’70s, this time he struck a compromise and worked with him in the studio one last time as a guest musician.
Despite the many criticisms it usually gets, “Secret Messages” isn’t a bad album, but it’s missing quite a bit before a listener could enjoy it from start to finish the way they can with most of the band’s records. Its main problem is that it has very few of those “real” ELO songs that could charm a listener right away with a refined, melodic fusion of rock and classical, so it belongs only in the collection of the band’s loyal followers. Lynne repeatedly stressed that the last three ELO albums of the ’80s, namely “Time,” “Secret Messages” and “Balance Of Power” (1986), were made purely out of contractual obligations to the label, claiming that the band’s heart wasn’t in making them. That’s just a lame excuse for why these albums weren’t on the artistic level of their ’70s output and didn’t achieve nearly as much commercial success. The band as a collective had also started losing ground. First drummer Bev Bevan (temporarily) left and joined Black Sabbath, followed by bassist Kelly Groucutt. The latter even later sued Lynne and the ELO management over unpaid royalties. Lynne managed to rouse the crippled rock behemoth for one more record, and then he sent it off to sleep for a long time (ELO Part II was a whole different, yet still interesting story).
Lineup
Jeff Lynne – vocals, backing vocals, guitar, synthesizer, bass guitar, piano, percussion, Oberheim DMX
Bev Bevan – drums, percussion
Richard Tandy – synthesizer, grand piano, electric piano, harmonica, Oberheim DMX
Kelly Groucutt – bass guitar, backing vocals
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Mik Kaminski – violin (Rock ‘n’ Roll Is King)
Dave Morgan – additional backing vocals
Production
Jeff Lynne
Track list
1. Secret Messages (4:43)
2. Loser Gone Wild (5:25)
3. Bluebird (4:06)
4. Take Me On and On (5:02)
5. Time After Time (4:00)*
6. Four Little Diamonds (4:05)
7. Stranger (4:27)
8. Danger Ahead (3:53)
9. Letter from Spain (2:51)
10. Train of Gold (4:21)
11. Rock ‘n’ Roll Is King (3:45)
