Electric Light Orchestra: Jeff Lynne (vocals, guitar, piano, synthesizer); Kelly Groucett (vocals, bass); Richard Tandy (piano, clavinet, synthesizer); Bev Bevan (drums, percussion).

Producer: Jeff Lynne.

Reissue producer: Jeff Lynne, Al Quaglieri.

Recorded at Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany. Includes liner notes by Jeff Lynne.

Digitally remastered by Joseph M. Palmaccio (Sony Music Studios, New York, New York).

Electric Light Orchestra: Jeff Lynne (vocals, guitar); Kelly Groucutt (vocals, bass guitar); Richard Tandy (guitar, piano, Clavinet, Moog synthesizer); Bev Bevan (drums, percussion, background vocals).

Recording information: 1979.

The last of ELO's classic trio of late-'70s releases, after 1976's A NEW WORLD RECORD and 1977's OUT OF THE BLUE, 1979's DISCOVERY was also the group's last significant commercial success. A bit more self-consciously experimental than the previous pair of ELO albums--"The Diary of Horace Wimp" could have come from the pen of Jeff Lynne's more musically adventurous former musical partner Roy Wood--the album also finds Lynne finally taking notice of the musical trends of the day. The hyper-prominent snare pulse, keening violins, and scratchy guitar of the opening "Shine a Little Love" marks this as ELO's disco song, though the Beatlesque harmonies of the bridge are unmistakably Lynne's. The album's big hit, "Don't Bring Me Down," couldn't be called punk, or even new wave, but the in-your-face arrangement and snarling vocals do at least betray some hint of the more aggressive new music.

Entertainment Weekly (6/29-7/6/01, p.145) - "...Dated but still fun, 1979's disco-ey DISCOVERY finds Jeff Lynne cleverly aping the Bee Gees..." - Rating: B

Q (Summer/01, p.120) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Extraordinarily moving..."