Discovery (1979)


 

  1. Shine A Little Love
  2. Confusion
  3. Need Her Love
  4. The Diary of Horace Wimp
  5. Last Train to London
  6. Midnight Blue
  7. On the Run
  8. Wishing
  9. Don't Bring Me Down

 

If Out of the Blue was ELO’s grand double-album extravaganza — spaceship packaging and all — then Discovery was the sleek, streamlined sequel. Gone were the punch-out models and sweeping side-long suites. In their place? A tight 38-minute set of polished, radio-ready pop that still sounded like ELO, but with one foot already stepping toward the exit ramp.

Yes, everyone knows the joke: "Disco Very". And yes, there are hints of disco on this record. But that was 1979 — practically every artist who’d seen the inside of a studio was giving it a try. And to ELO’s credit, they fold the style into their sound with more grace than most. Shine a Little Love and Last Train to London flirt with the dance floor, but they still carry enough of the band's melodic DNA to feel more like evolution than betrayal.

This was also the first ELO album made without their official string section — not that you'd notice. Jeff Lynne, always more interested in orchestration than actual orchestras, brought in session players for the studio work. The band itself had been pared down to a four-piece by this point, but the sound remained lush, layered, and unmistakably theirs. Lynne knew what he wanted, and he knew how to get it.

The real standout here is Don’t Bring Me Down, a pounding, drum-heavy anthem that became one of the band’s biggest hits — and without a single string in earshot. It was new territory for ELO, but it worked. It still does. The production is crisp, the vocal is strong, and Lynne’s Beatles-meets-disco sensibility comes through loud and clear.

Elsewhere, Confusion is a minor gem, a mid-tempo synth-pop ballad that holds together nicely and fits well in the band’s late-'70s wheelhouse. The Diary of Horace Wimp, meanwhile, is probably the most ELO-sounding track on the record — quirky, symphonic, vaguely narrative, and impossible to dislike. It’s Lynne in full McCartney-mode, telling a whimsical little story while sneaking in every production trick he can find.

The softer moments are also worth noting. Midnight Blue and Need Her Love are romantic without being schmaltzy — both melodic, gentle, and well-placed within the album’s pacing. Lynne rarely gets credit as a ballad writer, but these tracks are quiet reminders that he could deliver a tender moment when the mood struck.

If there’s a disappointment here, it’s the decision not to tour. With the band riding high and the album doing well, it would have made sense to take it on the road — spaceship or no spaceship. But Lynne, never one for the rigors of the stage, opted out, and the momentum from Out of the Blue cooled a bit faster than it might have otherwise.

Still, Discovery holds up surprisingly well. It may not have the grandeur of its predecessor, but it also doesn’t try to. Instead, it plays like the most efficient version of ELO — compact, catchy, and still unmistakably themselves, even as the musical landscape was starting to shift under their feet. This would be nearing the end when the band sounded this much like... well, the band. Change was coming. But at least they went out of the decade with one more strong, satisfying chapter.

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