Discovery (Electric Light Orchestra album)

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Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 3/5 stars[1]
Smash Hits 8/10[2]

Discovery is the eighth studio album by British symphonic rock band, Electric Light Orchestra (ELO).

History

Discovery was the band's first number 1 album in the UK,[3] entering the chart at that position and staying there for five weeks.[3] The album contained five hit songs in "Shine a Little Love", "Don't Bring Me Down", "Last Train to London", "Confusion" and "The Diary of Horace Wimp", many of which were heavily influenced by disco (in fact, Richard Tandy came up with its well known nickname, Disco Very).[4] "Don't Bring Me Down" would become one of their only two top three hits in the UK throughout their career ("Xanadú" would be number one in 1980), and also their highest-charting US single at number 4. "The Diary of Horace Wimp" was also a hit single in the UK, not patterned after the disco sound; instead it was closer in its Beatlesque style to the band's earlier hit "Mr. Blue Sky". The album itself was the first ever to generate four top-ten singles (one of which was a Double A-side) from a single LP in the UK and was eventually certified 2x platinum by the RIAA in 1997.

Discovery is notable in that it was the first ELO album not to feature their resident string trio of Mik Kaminski, Hugh McDowell and Melvyn Gale, although they did make an appearance on the Discovery music videos that were created as a substitute for a live concert tour. Shortly afterwards, leader Jeff Lynne deemed the string section superfluous to his requirements and he decided to fire them all (although he did rehire Kaminski for the Time Tour in 1981-82, a performer on the 1983 album Secret Messages, and the Balance of Power tour in 1986).

In one of his earliest jobs, comedian/actor Brad Garrett, dressed in middle eastern clothes and turban, appears on the back cover as the menacing palace guard who is drawing his scimitar.[5][6]

Discovery was remastered as part of the Epic/Legacy remaster series in 2001; among the included bonus tracks was a cover of a Del Shannon classic, "Little Town Flirt", which was started during sessions for the album but never finished until the year the album was reissued.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Jeff Lynne, except "Little Town Flirt" written by Maron McKenzie and Del Shannon.

Side one
  1. "Shine a Little Love" – 4:43
  2. "Confusion" – 3:42
  3. "Need Her Love" – 5:11
  4. "The Diary of Horace Wimp" – 4:17
Side two
  1. "Last Train to London" – 4:32
  2. "Midnight Blue" – 4:19
  3. "On the Run" – 3:55
  4. "Wishing" – 4:13
  5. "Don't Bring Me Down" – 4:02
Bonus tracks on the 2001 edition
  1. "On the Run" (Home demo) – 1:01
  2. "Second Time Around" (Home demo) – 0:43
  3. "Little Town Flirt" – 2:53
  • Bonus tracks were previously unreleased. Track 12 was started 1979, finished 2001. Engineered by Mack and Ryan Ulyate.
  • Orchestra and choral arrangements - Jeff Lynne, Richard Tandy and Louis Clark.
  • Orchestra conducted by Louis Clark.

Personnel

Additional personnel
  • Mack – engineer
  • Jeff Lynne, Richard Tandy and Louis Clark – Orchestra and choral arrangements
  • Orchestra conducted by Louis Clark
  • Al Quaglieri – reissue producer (2001)

Promotional movie line-up

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Canada (Music Canada)[7] 3× Platinum 300,000
France (SNEP)[8] Gold 261,000[9]
Germany (BVMI)[10] Gold 250,000
Japan (Oricon) 78,000[11]
Netherlands (NVPI)[12] Gold 50,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[13] Platinum 300,000
United States (RIAA)[14] 2× Platinum 2,000,000

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Charts

Preceded by Norwegian VG-lista number-one album
25 – 36 / 1979		 Succeeded by
Slow Train Coming by Bob Dylan
UK Albums Chart number one album
16 June – 20 July 1979		 Succeeded by
Replicas by Tubeway Army
Preceded by Australian Kent Music Report number-one album
23 July - 5 August 1979
13 August - 2 September 1979
17–23 September 1979		 Succeeded by
The Very Best of Leo Sayer
by Leo Sayer

References

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  1. ↑ Allmusic review
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Wild, David. "The Story of a Rock and Roll Band and the Pop Genius Who Dared to Go Baroque." Flashback.
  5. ↑ The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn, February 2000
  6. ↑ The Bob & Tom Show, January 2000
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Enter Discovery in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  17. ↑ Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 24 February 2012
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