Electric Light Orchestra – Secret Messages (Deluxe Edition) (1983/2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:11:55 minutes | 2,58 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Epic – Legacy
35 years later, this new re-edition finally corrects a terrible injustice. Despite its colossal success at the end of the 1970s, the powerful major distributing ELO in the United States vetoed the double-album project, forcing Jeff Lynne – who had become the band’s uncontested leader −, to change his strategy and tame his ambitions, settling for a reasonably long simple album. Professionals in the business had strong doubts over whether or not this veteran of the 70s could survive the 80s, a decade in which pop music lost all dignity. In other words, he who was one of the few to come close to the Beatles’ excellence and knew how to adapt, with more or less finesse, to the zeitgeist, particularly the disco wave, was in danger of becoming old fashioned… Still, his two previous albums, Discovery (1979) and the ambitious Time (1981) both topped the charts in many countries, as well as his original soundtrack for the disappointing film Xanadu.
Listening to the twenty-five tracks of this revised and corrected version of Secret Messages, it becomes clear that Lynne’s updating work should have earned him more respect. Retaining its idiosyncratic components that allowed for rock’n’roll influences to harmoniously coexist with pronounced classical influences, ELO broadened their skill set while mastering the latest progress in technology. Tracks that had been scattered over singles, compilations, or the following album (Balance Of Power) have finally been re-integrated, with, as a bonus, a handful of previously unreleased songs that are well worth a listen. Only Beatles Forever is missing, the tribute Lynne still doesn’t deign to officially release, despite achieving his dream by producing the Liverpool band during their Anthology period, after collaborating with two of its members (George Harrison and Ringo Starr). – Jean-Pierre Sabouret
Tracklist:
1-1. Electric Light Orchestra – Secret Messages (04:43)
1-2. Electric Light Orchestra – Loser Gone Wild (05:27)
1-3. Electric Light Orchestra – Bluebird (04:13)
1-4. Electric Light Orchestra – Take Me On and On (04:59)
1-5. Electric Light Orchestra – Stranger (04:28)
1-6. Electric Light Orchestra – No Way Out (03:28)
1-7. Electric Light Orchestra – Letter from Spain (02:58)
1-8. Electric Light Orchestra – Danger Ahead (03:47)
1-9. Electric Light Orchestra – Four Little Diamonds (04:09)
1-10. Electric Light Orchestra – Train of Gold (04:21)
1-11. Electric Light Orchestra – Endless Lies (03:34)
1-12. Electric Light Orchestra – Buildings Have Eyes (04:03)
1-13. Electric Light Orchestra – Rock ‘N’ Roll Is King (03:13)
1-14. Electric Light Orchestra – Mandalay (05:19)
1-15. Electric Light Orchestra – Time After Time (03:55)
1-16. Electric Light Orchestra – After All (Shorter Version) (00:39)
1-17. Electric Light Orchestra – Hello My Old Friend (08:31)
