However, there is more than one way to make an ELO album, and the loss of all of the original band members except Richard Tandy inevitably left a gaping hole in their sound. Since Bev Bevan had also left the name to Lynne, it quickly became a Jeff Lynne solo group, which happened to own all the licensing rights to his old group.

It’s not like Lynne lost his touch in the years that followed. He had spent all that time honing his craft behind the board, and his collaborations with George Harrison and Tom Petty had given him a new life as a producer. And no matter how mild-mannered he seemed, there’s nothing better for a rock producer than to claim on his resume that he revived three Beatles songs.

However, as far as the last few albums go, zoom felt a bit lackluster to fans. It’s not that the band sounded different, but it was clear that Lynne had settled into the role of producer and collaborator, so now that he doesn’t have all of his bandmates at his disposal, it’s hard to say Problems come from the new players contributing their own work or Lynne taking on a little too much responsibility.

Although Lynne was proud of the album, she recalled being unpleasantly surprised by the album’s response Uncut, “I just felt like making a record. I had six or seven songs finished and it was just something I felt like doing at the time. I kept it pretty straight. There weren’t many gimmicks or strange twists. I guess it was a bit disappointing that it didn’t get better, but a lot of people like it. A lot of nice things are said about me zoom.”

If you listen to the record without the typical ELO story, it’s still fun. Lynne already had a great solo album under her belt armchair theater, and many of the great moments here seem to pick up where they left off, even if a few traces of the Traveling Wilburys remain in the way he wrote the tunes.

zoom probably won’t replace copies of Face the music in fans’ record collections, but it’s far from the absolute travesty most people think it is. Lynne just wanted to see what would happen with a modern version of his old band, and even without all the familiar faces he could create symphonies just as good as what he made in his heyday.

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