Discovery

This 1979 album features a stripped-down ELO, but the band’s orchestral mood and affect are fully intact. The album is rich with glorious, and often ornate, Beatlesque hooks. The arrangements are a little more punchy, spare and open. Yet there’s a heavier Bee Gees influence than before; in fact, “Shine a Little Love” and “Last Train to London” sound like ’70s Bee Gees A-sides, with falsetto-sung choruses, disco beats and brothers Gibb vocal phrasings. A sweet left turn here is “The Diary of Horace Wimp”, which features a narrative about an odd kid who overcomes intense shyness to get to the girl. The album sold more than 2 million copies in the U.S. alone and contained no fewer than five hit singles, including “Don’t Bring Me Down”, which was their biggest.