Hadnt seen this mentioned here yet. A new record from Lynne's ELO - he certainly seems rejuvenated of late. Lynne plays almost every note on the album – guitars, bass, piano, drums, keyboards. He sings all the lead vocals and harmonies. He produces (of course). The only other musicians who play on it are engineer Steve Jay, who adds a little percussion, and ELO keyboard player Richard Tandy, who plays a piano solo on One More Time.
I really wish he'd get a proper drummer!Originally Posted by Dan Roth
I think his writing chops are still there, there were some lovely songs on Alone In The Universe. But the arranging of them is quite bare-bones. If you think of the classic ELO songs, several had big instrumental intros and/or outros. And of course Lynne has favoured a very dry production style for a few decades.
This is a horrible album. The drums sound awful, the songs are plodding and there's no drive in any of it.
not interested, the last one was garbage. weak even for a Jeff Lynen solo album.
he's milking the ELO name. the ELO we all knew and loved ended in 1986.
Having just given it a single listen, I think it's pretty much ELO-by-the-numbers. For fans who are hungry for something new, it's probably comfort-music at best. It's pleasant for what it is. It isn't jarring or abrasive. It isn't brilliant but neither is a lot of pop music that is a pleasurable bit of confection on a Sunday morning. I wasn't turned off by it at all.
Mongrel dog soils actor's feet
That's pretty impressive that Jeff mainly plays all the instrument. I listened to One More Time. Nothing outstanding but fairly harmless pop. It's not bad.
Last edited by mozo-pg; 11-03-2019 at 10:22 PM.
What can this strange device be? When I touch it, it brings forth a sound (2112)
I have not yet heard the new album. I'm not sure the DIY thing is best for ELO, although I don't question Lynne's right to try it. I saw the big ELO band in 1974 and 1976, and I liked that one.
We're trying to build a monument to show that we were here
It won't be visible through the air
And there won't be any shade to cool the monument to prove that we were here. - Gene Parsons, 1973
^^^ I agree on the DIY. Remember in the 80s Lynne produced a couple of albums for Dave Edmunds, where he (reasonably successfully) tried to fuse Edmunds' roots rock with some ELO synths and flourishes? Lynne then brought some of that sound back to ELO with "Rock and Roll is King" a.o. but anyway he's still going after that sound 35 years later and its not like it was all that great in the first place.
If he really wanted to get some attention he should go back to the 70s sound: a catchy, bombastic orchestrated prog/disco hybrid. That's what ELO were best at!
Though it pains me to say it, I must agree. So sad really.
I wished Lynne would revisit the "orchestral" part of the ELO name. He's eschewed that facet of ELO since Time ('82). I get why he ditched it back then but most everything he plays in concert is of the "orchestra" variety. Every album he's put out since Time has been lacking that big sound from the earlier albums. As much as I liked Zoom I can't help but imagine how much better an orchestral arrangement might have sounded. And yes. I too find the last two releases to be ponderous.
That said, I caught the beginning of his latest tour and it was better than I thought it could be.
Kudos to Mr Lynne for playing all of these instruments by himself though.
^Lynne is a very rudimentary drummer IMHO. It's not so much that Bev Bevan did anything technically great, but it does sound like he knew what he was doing behind the kit. Whereas some of the fills on, say, 'When I Was A Boy' make me cringe.
I have caught at least 1 concert performance via the AXS channel that included a significant orchestra and it was awesome. Love to hear something like that live.
I never imagined being able to hear such bad audio engineering in all steps, even worse than Billy Sherwood. For god's sake
Not good.
The Prog Corner
I have a live-album from 2017, with an rather expanded line-up, 3 keyboard-players, 3 guitar-players and the traditional string-section. It sounds good.
Probably a shot in the dark here, but I vaguely remember a small venue ELO performance, probably from the 90's, where they had 3 string players. A small stage, could have been a PBS event of some sort? Does that ring a bell with anyone? At the time I thought it was really good but for the life of me I can't recall any other details. Thanks!
"I want to be someone, who someone would want to be." Marillion
^Could be this as it was a PBS special:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoom_Tour_Live
Only gigs played in that period...the US tour was cancelled.
Last edited by JJ88; 11-06-2019 at 09:45 AM.
Yes, the concert on PBS was for the ZOOM tour and I have the DVD for this show. There are 3 women playing stringed instruments along with Jeff, Richard Tandy and support musicians.
My wife and I enjoy this concert a lot and love the album ZOOM.
We had tickets for the Detroit show but as mentioned above, the tour was cancelled due to poor ticket sales.
Soundcloud page: Richard Hermans, musical meanderings https://soundcloud.com/precipice YouTube: [https://www.youtube.com/@richardhermans4457
Thanks for the info on the Zoom DVD!
"I want to be someone, who someone would want to be." Marillion
Wow, i don't understand all the hate. To my ears (what i've heard so far) every bit as good or better than what current people like Sloan or Pugwash are putting out, all done by one of the masters who influenced them.
Terrible drumming? Jesus christ his stuff is more or less power pop with big beats and he serves the songs just fine.
Count me in!
I think it's fine too and is a great companion to Alone In The Universe. It's more like Electric Light Wilburys, but that's OK.
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