Zoom

Although Zoom marks ELO's first proper album for 15 years, it'd be unjust to accuse Jeff Lynne of resting on his laurels. After all, the ELO main man has been busier than most in that time, becoming a much sought-after producer for the likes of Tom Petty (Full Moon Fever and Into The Great Wide Open), George Harrison (Cloud Nine), Paul McCartney (Flaming Pie) and the Beatles themselves (he produced the reunion single "Free As A Bird" from their first Anthology). On Zoom, Lynne again demonstrates his unique knack for combining simple tunes and lyrics with grandiose, symphonic music, a formula that made ELO one of the biggest bands of the 1970s. Zoom lacks the thematic coherence that marked some of the band's best work (notably Out of the Blue, A New World Record, Eldorado and Time) and got ELO unfairly lumped in with the prog-rock crowd; instead, Lynne showcases his strengths as a composer of pop songs--after all, this is the man who wrote those 70s-rock staples "Living Thing", "Evil Woman" and "Don't Bring Me Down". On Zoom, his songs are a bit more introspective and personal, as well as slightly scaled down--the namesake "Orchestra" has become more of a string quartet. But with songs like the Beatles-esque "Ordinary Dream", the rocking "Easy Money" (with Ringo Starr on drums), the mellow "A Long Time Gone" (with George Harrison on slide guitar) and first single "Alright", it's a change that works. Let's just hope it doesn't take so long for the next ELO album to arrive. --Robert Burrow

Label: Unknown
Studio: Epic
Released: 2001-06-11
Format: Audio CD