Overdubs, and other wizardy Lynne had by then become so adept at. There are a couple tracks with uncredited strings, butįrankly it's hard to tell if even these are real given the heavy amount of studio remixing, Relying instead on DMX drum tracks, synthetic keyboards of all varieties, and somethingĬalled a Bottronix (whatever!). One which features virtually no actual musical instruments on several songs, Lynne The result is an incredibly boring and lifeless album, and With this album he no longer kept up a facade of separating the band from his Surprise), or for his ultra-cheesy solo dance albums (Doin' that Crazy Thing, Every Little
Usually reserved such tripe for movie soundtracks (Xanadu, Electric Dreams, Shanghai Lynne always had a knack for churning out assembly-line, by-the-numbers tunes, but
Also gone is any semblance of creative expression in the The lush and exciting cello/violin string arrangements, as well as most of the other non. Lynne was simply punching a ticket to fulfill record company contracts. There would be one moreĪlbum (Balance of Power) a few years later, but I'm not really sure why. Secret Messages was almost the end for Jeff Lynne and ELO. Posted Monday, Febru| Review this album | Report (Review #69293) Otherwise, go with something from their first three studio releases. Still, if you're interested in synthesizer-laced, but tasteful 1980's pop rock andĬan bear cheesy lyrics, you might want to take the time to seek this one out. Rock on it, I can only recommend to fans and collectors only, thus only two stars. However, since there isn't any progressive Song in particular, Hello My Old Friend, was sort of like the Beatles meet neo prog.Īnyway, all that trivia aside, this is a great, if underrated pop album of the 1980'sĪnd the last interesting work of the band. Of this extra material was even better than what made it onto the actual album. Was released as B-sides and later on the Afterglow boxset. Record release, but the record company disapproved. Title track spelling out the album's name.Īnother curiosity about Secret Messages is that Lynne had intended it to be a double
They also played Morse code using keyboards on the Which has backwards messages in the beginning and ending of the album and in some Asįar as I know, they never again recorded backwards messages until Secret Messages, Although these messages never actually existed, ELO mocked the controversyīy recording backwards messages on Fire on High from their Face the Music album. With their Eldorado album in which they were accused of recording Satanic messagesīackwards. Secret Messages was named after a controversy that followed ELO's career starting Recorded, although the lyrics are clearly a cheese festival with swiss cheese holesĭistorting the local spacetime continuum. Synthesizers, but it's on par with some of the best pop rock the band had ever Ounce of progressive rock on this interesting work. Just like every ELO album released from 1976 onward, there isn't an But let's get one thing out the way rightįrom the start. Two records at regular price for the year. I remember Secret Messages being one of my first purchases on vinyl back whenĬolumbia House was offering five records for a penny and then you had to buy one or
Palmaccio with 3 bonus tracksĢx LP and Digital album - Legacy Recordings (2018) 35th anniversary edition - The original double album format as originally conceived by Jeff Lynne (minus the unreleased track "Beatles Forever" which was intended to be track number 7 (B3). Mik Kaminski / violin solo (11) Releases informationĪrtwork: David Costa with Kim Harris (colouring)ĬD Jet Records - CDJET 527 (1983, Europe)ĬD Epic - EK 85424 (2001, US) Remastered by Joseph M. Louis Clark / string conductor (7,8,10) Richard Tandy / grand piano, Fender & Wurlitzer electric pianos, synths, sequencer, harmonica Jeff Lynne / lead & backing vocals, guitar, bass, piano, synths, percussion, drum machine, producer Hello My Old Friend (7:50) Line-up / Musicians Motor Factory / Rock n Roll is King (3:10)ĭ4. Track Listing for 2018 35th anniversary double LP:Ĭ5.