Discovery (Electric Light Orchestra album)

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Discovery
Studio album by Electric Light Orchestra
Released May 1979 (UK)
June 1979 (US)
12 June 2001 (reissue)
Recorded March - April 1979
Musicland Studios, Munich, Germany
Genre Symphonic rock, pop rock, disco
Length 38:53
Label Jet Records & Columbia Records
Epic/Legacy (reissue)
Producer Jeff Lynne
Electric Light Orchestra chronology
Out of the Blue
(1977)		 Discovery
(1979)		 Xanadu
(1980)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 3/5 stars[1]

Discovery is a 1979 album by Electric Light Orchestra.

Contents

[edit] History

Discovery was the band's first No. 1 album in the UK, entering the chart at that position and staying there for five weeks. The LP 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).[2] "Don't Bring Me Down" would become one of their only two top three hits in the UK throughout their career (Xanadú will be number One in 1980), and also their highest-charting US single at #4. "The Diary of Horace Wimp" was also a hit single in the UK, although it was not patterned after the disco sound; instead it was closer in 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 dismiss them (although Kaminski did return for the Time Tour in 1981-82, and as a performer on the 1983 album Secret Messages).

In one of his earliest jobs, comedian/actor Brad Garrett models on the back cover dressed in middle eastern clothes, turban and holding a big sword.[3][4]

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." (This track was started on the Discovery sessions as a tribute to Del Shannon. He was my first musical hero. It was never finished until now ....Jeff Lynne)

[edit] 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

[edit] Personnel

Additional personnel

(Orchestra and choral arrangements - Jeff Lynne, Richard Tandy and Louis Clark)

  • Al Quaglieri - Reissue Producer (2001)

[edit] Promotional movie line-up

[edit] Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Canada (Music Canada)[5] 3× Platinum 300,000^
France (SNEP)[6] Gold 261,000[7]
Germany (BVMI)[8] Gold 250,000^
Japan (Oricon) 78,000[9]
Netherlands (NVPI)[10] Gold 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[11] Platinum 300,000^
United States (RIAA)[12] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^

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

[edit] Charts

[edit] Chart positions

Chart (1979–80) Peak
position
Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart[13] 1
Austrian Albums Chart[14] 3
Canadian RPM Albums Chart[15] 3
Dutch Mega Albums Chart[16] 3
French SNEP Albums Chart [17] 2
Italian Albums Chart[18] 4
Japanese Oricon LP Chart[9] 31
New Zealand Albums Chart[19] 2
Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart[20] 1
Swedish Albums Chart[21] 2
UK Albums Chart[22] 1
U.S. Billboard 200 [23] 5
West German Media Control Albums Chart[24] 7

[edit] Year-end charts

Chart (1979) Position
Australian Albums Chart[13] 2
Austrian Albums Chart[25] 6
Canadian Albums Chart[26] 5
French Albums Chart[27] 16
Italian Albums Chart[18] 15
UK Albums Chart[28] 2
U.S. Billboard Year-End[29] 74
Chart (1980) Position
Australian Albums Chart[13] 48
UK Albums Chart[28] 89
Preceded by
Voulez-Vous by ABBA		 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
Rickie Lee Jones by Rickie Lee Jones		 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

[edit] References

  1. ^ Allmusic review
  2. ^ Wild, David. "The Story of a Rock and Roll Band and the Pop Genius Who Dared to Go Baroque." Flashback.
  3. ^ The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn, February 2000
  4. ^ The Bob & Tom Show, January 2000
  5. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Electric Light Orchestra – Discovery". Music Canada. http://www.musiccanada.com/GPSearchResult.aspx?st=Discovery&sa=Electric+Light+Orchestra&smt=0. Retrieved 2012-02-24. 
  6. ^ "French album certifications – Electric Light Orchestra – Discovery" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. http://www.disqueenfrance.com/fr/pag-259165-CERTIFICATIONS.html&type=8. Retrieved 2012-02-24. 
  7. ^ "Les Albums Or". infodisc.fr. SNEP. http://www.infodisc.fr/CDCertif_O.php?debut=1850. Retrieved 2011-08-31. 
  8. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Electric Light Orchestra; 'Discovery')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. http://www.musikindustrie.de/gold_platin_datenbank/?action=suche&strTitel=Discovery&strInterpret=Electric+Light+Orchestra&strTtArt=alben&strAwards=checked. Retrieved 2012-02-24. 
  9. ^ a b Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4871310779. 
  10. ^ "Dutch album certifications – Electric Light Orchestra – Discovery" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. http://www.ifpi.nl/nvpi/pagina.asp?pagkey=60463. Retrieved 2012-02-24. 
  11. ^ "British album certifications – Electric Light Orchestra – Discovery". British Phonographic Industry. http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx. Retrieved 2012-02-24.  Enter Discovery in the field Search. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Click Go
  12. ^ "American album certifications – Electric Light Orchestra – Discovery". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?artist=%22Discovery%22. Retrieved 2012-02-24.  If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
  13. ^ a b c Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0646119176. 
  14. ^ "austriancharts.at Electric Light Orchestra – Discovery" (in German) (ASP). Hung Medien. http://austriancharts.at/showitem.asp?interpret=Electric+Light+Orchestra&titel=Discovery&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-10-29. 
  15. ^ Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 2012-02-24
  16. ^ "dutchcharts.nl Electric Light Orchestra – Discovery" (in Dutch) (ASP). dutchcharts.nl. MegaCharts. http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Electric+Light+Orchestra&titel=Discovery&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-08-08. 
  17. ^ "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste > Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste : Electric Light Orchestra". infodisc.fr. http://infodisc.fr/Album_E.php. Retrieved 2012-02-24. 
  18. ^ a b "Hit Parade Italia - Gli album più venduti del 1978" (in Italian). hitparadeitalia.it. http://www.hitparadeitalia.it/hp_yenda/lpe1979.htm. Retrieved 2012-02-24. 
  19. ^ "charts.org.nz Electric Light Orchestra – Discovery" (ASP). Hung Medien. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. http://charts.org.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=Electric+Light+Orchestra&titel=Discovery&cat=a. Retrieved 2012-02-24. 
  20. ^ "norwegiancharts.com Electric Light Orchestra – Discovery" (ASP). Hung Medien. VG-lista. http://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Electric+Light+Orchestra&titel=Discovery&cat=a. Retrieved 2012-02-24. 
  21. ^ "swedishcharts.com Electric Light Orchestra – Discovery" (ASP). Sverigetopplistan. http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Electric+Light+Orchestra&titel=Discovery&cat=a. Retrieved 2012-02-24. 
  22. ^ "Chart Stats - Electric Light Orchestra – Discovery" (PHP). UK Albums Chart. http://www.chartstats.com/release.php?release=38955. Retrieved 2012-02-24. 
  23. ^ "allmusic ((( Discovery > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r6699/charts-awards. Retrieved 2012-02-24. 
  24. ^ "Album Search: Electric Light Orchestra – Discovery" (in German) (ASP). Media Control. http://www.charts.de/album.asp?artist=Electric+Light+Orchestra&title=Discovery&cat=a&country=de. Retrieved 2012-02-24. 
  25. ^ "Austriancharts.st - Jahreshitparade 1979" (in German) (ASP). Hung Medien. http://austriancharts.at/1979_album.asp. Retrieved 2010-08-01. 
  26. ^ "RPM Top 100 Albums of 1979". RPM. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.6920&type=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=c6btf3r8hs459qqt5ln3o3dcv5. Retrieved 2011-10-03. 
  27. ^ "Les Albums (CD) de 1979 par InfoDisc" (in French). infodisc.fr. http://www.infodisc.fr/B-CD_1979.php. Retrieved 2012-02-11. 
  28. ^ a b "Complete UK Year-End Album Charts". http://chartheaven.9.forumer.com/a/complete-uk-yearend-album-charts_post21.html. Retrieved 2011-09-12. 
  29. ^ "Top Pop Albums of 1979". billboard.biz. 1979-12-31. http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/charts/archivesearch/article_display/855444?imw=Y. Retrieved 2012-02-24. 
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