I'm doing the ELO album first this year. Mostly because I just want to listen to it since it's somehow been a year since I last let myself listen to a new one (I really need to get around to doing these reviews more often); but hey, at least this has a pretty great offering! Just a heads up, I'm going off of the version of the album on Spotify, which I believe is the double album version. Secret Messages continues the band's trend of experimenting with their music a lot, but now in somewhat familiar ways. It carries on from what Time did, having an eclectic mix of sounds and genres throughout the album, but now it almost has a similar feel to the days of Eldorado or Face The Music. It returns to trying to mix together modern rock elements (which at this point would be the 80's) and more classical elements, such as strings, but also some other various older styles, such as a more heavy emphasis on blues and soul throughout the songs. And of course they still retain their love of the synth and continue to mess with how they utilize it. And speaking of using more styles that the band hasn't really delved into before, like I said earlier this album is very varied in the feel and sounds of the tracks. A lot of the elements present are reminiscent of blues and jazz in a way that I haven't gotten from the band until now, such as slower and more "soulful" guitar solos, and just generally reminiscent of older music from around the Harlem renaissance, which I think works really well with how ELO's sound has evolved up to this point. This album is a refreshing change of pace from a band that almost seemed to be running out of ideas while still remaining to be consistent with what's come before and continue to be effectively experimental. The rating for this one was almost a 6, but it was brought down by the middle of the album falling off a little, becoming a little too slow and repetitive for my liking. Fortunately, it's still a pretty enjoyable listen.
Highlights: Secret Messages, Loser Gone Wild, Bluebird, No Way Out, Four Little Diamonds, Rock 'n' Roll is King, Time After Time
Rating: 5/6
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