Science Fiction Pop

Review Score: (8/10)
After the DISCOVERY-XANADU fiasco, ELO rebounded with its best effort since A NEW WORLD RECORD. This record is a concept album about a man who is unwittingly transported to the future (the year 2095). Now let's not worry about the fact that it is a pretty daft concept (Lynne's own description) or that some of the songs don't necessarily fit, including the hit single "Hold on Tight" (#10). What the concept does for Lynne is give him a chance to create what amounts to a pop science fiction soundtrack album. And generally speaking, this works very well for him, although not necessarily for Bev Bevan whose drumming gets a bit buried in the mix (but, hey, he bought a rather nice mansion in the North Country with the money he made on ELO, AND he still got to get his aggression out banging the skins with Black Sabbath, so I'm not gonna get all weepy for him, if you know what I mean).

After an obligatory "Prelude" the album opens with a great one-two punch consisting of "Twilight" and "Yours Truly, 2095," which are both pop songs the likes of which you could imagine George Jetson whistling along to while driving (flying?) to work at Spacely Sprockets. The second of these songs reveals a kinky side to Lynne's personality as it appears to be about doing naughty things with robots, which we won't go into here in great detail since this is a kid-friendly forum. By the time these songs are finished the listener can't help it, he or she (alright, more likely he) is hooked.

The rest of the album never quite hits these heights again, although "Here is the News," "Way Life's Meant to Be," and "21st Century Man" all come close. "Rain is Falling," which was released as a single but failed to chart, is another high-point, being arguably the best ballad Lynne had written since "Can't Get it Out of My Head." Of course, "Hold on Tight" is great also, but it feels like it was tacked on at the end, probably at the request of the record company.

Over-all, this was an impressive return to form for ELO.

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