One record at a time: 96. Electric Light Orchestra - Discovery

Having reached a zenith with their previous album, "Discovery" is where the wheels begin to fall off for ELO. There's an apocryphal story of keyboard player Richard Tandy describing the album as, "Disco Very" - and it is. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad album, but it feels like the emergence of disco drove Jeff to create something that fell awkwardly between two camps.

My copy of this record is a first pressing that includes a poster. The poster is in remarkably good condition but the same can not be said of the sleeve or the record which are pretty beaten up. I have no idea why the album sleeve features pictures based around an Arabian theme and they just seem to add to the confused nature of this album.

As the vinyl crunches along the disco tinged pomp of "Shine a Little Love" comes creeping out of the speakers. There's nothing wrong with this composition but the disco motifs mean it sounds dated today. With "Confusion" Jeff delivers his best Roy Orbison impression over the top of a disappointingly derivative backing track.  Things pick up a little with "Need Her Love" which feels like more familiar territory, but the gimmicks of "Diary of Horace Wimp" drag things back down. There is some nice vocoder work on this track but it does strike as being ELO's "Yellow Submarine".

Side two starts with "Last Train To London" which is another disco romp that features some amazing bass by Kelly Groucutt. "Midnight Blue" revives the Roy Orbison pastiche with a little vocoder thrown it to add interest. By the time I have played the unremarkable "On The Run" and "Wishing" I am ready for the album to finish. However, "Discovery" has one last ace up its sleeve in the form of the Status Quo styled rocker "Don't Bring Me Down". The drum loop (yes, it is a loop) and the Groos/Bruce refrain on this track are great, but I can't shake the vision of teenagers with denim flares dancing with their hands in their pockets. God I hated the seventies. 2/5