Albums to watch

Alone In The Universe

Jeff Lynne’s ELO

Alone In The Universe

Album number thirteen and the first new music under the ELO name for fourteen years from the veteran progressive pop artist

ADM rating[?]

6.8

Label
Columbia
UK Release date
13/11/2015
US Release date
13/11/2015
  1. 8.0 |   The Independent

    Felted walls of instruments shugging through short songs structured with a high rate of harmonic turnover, topped by Lynne’s affectless pop-craftsman’s nose-voice
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  2. 8.0 |   Mojo

    Long damned by faint praise for unselfconscious fealty to his heroes, the definitive elements of this bijou gem are the author’s own
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  3. 8.0 |   The Observer

    It covers familiar ground, with the usual mixture of grandiose balladry and harmony-drenched, uptempo rockers
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  4. 8.0 |   NME

    If the album repeatedly reflects over and revisits his glory days like a rewritten greatest hits, it’s only a sign that he’s sharing and indulging our renewed love of this classic canon
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  5. 8.0 |   Evening Standard

    Meticulously constructed, it’s a lovely, unassuming but ceaselessly hopeful affair which recalls The Beatles at their most heartstrings-tugging
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  6. 8.0 |   Uncut

    He’s morphed from ignorable yesterday’s man to national treasure, the high priest of the guilty pleasure, the writer of our unofficial national anthems
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  7. 7.0 |   Rolling Stone

    In contrast to ELO's early prog-rock sprawl, Alone is bracingly succinct both in words and music
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  8. 7.0 |   All Music

    If he hasn't written a knockout single - a high bar for a craftsman of 67 to clear - he's nevertheless sculpted ten strong songs, each one containing a sturdy melodic foundation and dressed in the handsomest threads of 1978
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  9. 7.0 |   The Music

    The disco funk and swooning strings of One Step At A Time recaptures Lynne's glory days to feelgood effect
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  10. 6.7 |   Consequence Of Sound

    The entire second half of the album is a collection of songs you’ll have stuck in your head, wondering how they wormed their way in there
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  11. 6.3 |   Pitchfork

    This is a fine addition to their catalog, perhaps not as consistent as 2001’s Zoom but much better than these late-career revival albums tend to sound
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  12. 6.0 |   The Arts Desk

    This record is certainly not going to change the world in this decade or any other, but something about this timeless simplicity is delightfully reassuring
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  13. 6.0 |   The Guardian

    He still has a knack for putting in the twist that can lift an otherwise unexceptional song
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  14. 6.0 |   Gig Soup

    ‘Alone in the Universe’ is a simple album, with simple appeal. It feels like there are a few things missing but it should please a lot of big ELO fans
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  15. 5.0 |   Slant Magazine

    The best of these 10 tidy songs are fun and uncannily recognizable, even the first time you hear them, as songs by Lynne
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  16. 5.0 |   Drowned In Sound

    Lynne’s voice is as warm and comforting as ever, his ear for a hook still sharp and his production is as shiny and gorgeous as a celebrity model’s hair from a shampoo advert. But still, there’s something missing
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