Discovery
	Produced by Jeff Lynne
	Released on June 1979
	UK CHART POSITION #1 . . . US CHART POSITION #5 . . . PLATINUM (6/19/79), 2x PLATINUM (1/10/97)
	Find it at GEMM
FZ 35769 cover [outer gatefold photo]

I f this is disco music, I’m only too happy to be hustled. In fairness, giddy pop music usually wins the day on Discovery, and the disco trappings become secondary to the merits of individual songs. Beginning with “Shine A Little Love,” Jeff Lynne uncorks another bottle of vintage Beatles music channeled through ELO’s idiomatic sound. Although pared down to a quartet, strings remain in the mix courtesy of longtime collaborator Louis Clark, gilding already golden arrangements. The synthesizers, high harmonies and Kelly Groucutt’s bouncy bass lines all borrow something from disco’s formula, but only “Last Train To London” and “Midnight Blue” feel like genre exercises. Otherwise, Discovery is the best parts of Out of the Blue distilled: “Confusion,” “The Diary of Horace Wimp” (essentially a rewrite of The Beatles’ “Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da”), “On The Run” and “Wishing” hold their own with the hits from the band’s last two records. If that weren’t enough, the album ends with an anthemic rocker in “Don’t Bring Me Down,” so popular it had millions of people wondering who “Bruce” was (the line is actually "grrooss," which clears up nothing). Sure, the whole thing is no more than good, clean fun, but it seems to me that “fun” is an underrated achievement in music. (And while I’m on the subject, polyester is an underrated fabric, having seen the best cotton clothes of my generation shrivel up like a piece of bacon. In fact, I’m wearing a cotton/polyester shirt right now. Okay, that’s probably more than you needed to know.) Unfortunately, Discovery (oh, we’re back to music now) is the last of ELO’s great pop revelations, and subsequent releases (Time et al) held no new discoveries in store. But for the time between A New World Record and Discovery, no pop band shined brighter than Electric Light Orchestra. Okay, that’s a really lame line, but I accidentally snorted some shampoo in the shower this morning (as opposed to purposely snorting shampoo I suppose), so I may be experiencing some soapyrific side effects.

FZ 35769 inner gatefold	FZ 35769 lyric sleeve

TRACK LISTING

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
   
   CD reissue bonus tracks
10. ON THE RUN (HOME DEMO)
11. SECOND TIME AROUND
12. LITTLE TOWN FLIRT
    
    All music and lyrics by Jeff Lynne

CREDITS

BEV BEVAN -- drums, roto toms (which would ordinarily fit rather neatly into the "drum" or "percussion" category), percussion
KELLY GROUCUTT -- bass guitar, vocals, backing vocals
JEFF LYNNE -- lead vocals, backing vocals, lead and rhythm guitars, piano and synthesizer, strings and choir arrangements
RICHARD TANDY -- grand piano, all synthesizers (except, I'm assuming, the one Jeff Lynne plays), electric piano and clavinet (which, I guess, one could construe as "all" clavinet), strings and choir arrangements
Louis Clark -- conductor, strings and choir arrangements
Mack -- engineer
Paul Gross, Norman Moore/Gribbitt! -- design & art direction
Jim Shea -- photography

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