Electric Light Orchestra

Zoom (2001)

 
  
  1. Alright
  2. Moment in Paradise
  3. State of Mind
  4. Just for Love
  5. Stranger on a Quiet Street
  6. In My Own Time
  7. Easy Money
  8. Really Doesn't Matter at All
  9. Ordinary Dream
  10.A Long Time Gone
  11.Melting in the Sun
  12.All She Wanted
  13.Lonesome Lullaby
  

  
  

Following the quiet retirement of Electric Light Orchestra in 1986, Jeff Lynne hardly disappeared. He re-emerged — and remained — as one of the most sought-after producers of the era, lending his talents to George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Tom Petty, and others who, like himself, had left the front lines of fame behind but not the studio. His stint with the Traveling Wilburys — a tongue-in-cheek supergroup of staggering credibility — confirmed that his gifts as a craftsman of pop had not dulled. Ironically, the one venture that failed to attract even modest success was his solo album Armchair Theatre (1990), a somewhat inconsequential piece of work that was met with near total indifference. One imagines a conversation with the label some years later: “Jeff, instead of another solo album, how about another E.L.O. album instead?”

Zoom, released in 2001, was the result — though to call it a true Electric Light Orchestra album is a stretch, even by the elastic standards of the band's late-career output. In practical terms, ELO had long since become a euphemism for Jeff Lynne and a rotating cast of contributors. This time around, only Richard Tandy — the band’s longtime keyboardist — appears, and then only briefly (one track). The rest of the original ensemble is absent. So too, largely, is the “orchestra.” Strings are few, the grandeur subdued, and the classic sonic hallmarks of the band are nowhere to be found. Whether this was an aesthetic choice or a concession to contemporary tastes is unclear, but the result feels closer to a Lynne solo album with a borrowed nameplate.

Still, judged on its own terms, Zoom is hardly a disaster. Lynne remains an effortlessly melodic songwriter, capable of conjuring hooks with a distinctively Beatlesque flair. Tracks like State of Mind, Lonesome Lullaby, and the wistful Moment in Paradise prove that the man’s instincts were still intact. The latter, in particular, hints at the melancholy grandeur of ELO’s peak years, even if its execution is more subtle than sweeping.

Where Zoom stumbles is not in quality, but in identity. The lead single Alright possesses the requisite energy but doesn’t resemble ELO in anything other than name — and therein lies the issue. By 2001, only the most devoted fans were likely to invest in a new ELO record, and what they received bore little resemblance to the band of A New World Record or Out of the Blue. Meanwhile, former members had been touring for over a decade under the legally distinct but musically familiar banner Electric Light Orchestra Part II, which — irony of ironies — arguably sounded more like classic ELO than Lynne’s own revival attempt. None of those musicians participated in Zoom, and one senses, perhaps, a quiet rift that had never fully healed.

Lynne did plan a tour, complete with a newly designed spaceship stage set — a nostalgic gesture that sadly went unrealized. Tickets did not sell. The entire affair was quietly shelved before it began, with only a single show recorded and later released on video. It is, to date, the only documented live performance associated with Zoom, and while competently executed, it offered little that could not be gleaned from the studio versions.

In the end, Zoom was not quite a comeback, nor was it a swan song. It was a reminder — perhaps an unnecessary one — that Jeff Lynne was still writing, still recording, and still capable. But as an ELO album, it fell between eras, sounding like neither a return nor a reinvention. Admirable, listenable, but not essential.

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