Jeff Lynne was under the influence
I'm not a live music person for several reasons, but I noticed "Jeff Lynne's ELO" will be playing TD Garden. I'm sure it will be a fine show.
Now, there are three things I will say about Mr. Lynne and ELO.
1] He's a tremendously talented musician, songwriter and producer.
2] Lynne and ELO had a reputation, earned in my opinion, for what I can only call an airless, pneumatically sealed sound. Those records are great, but they have a strangely compressed, over-produced feel.
Granted it was 1980, but the theme song for
Xanadu is a typical example,
That's less the case in Lynne's work for George Harrison, Tom Petty and others.
Given what he had to work with -- half baked, home recorded demos -- this tendency is prominent in Lynne's treatment of Lennon's "Free As a Bird" and "Real Love" from the
Anthology release.
3] Jeff Lynne has not changed his "look," such as it is, in, like, ever. Not your typical "rock star," he's the shy, nerdy type. He's almost anonymous and appears to prefer it that way.
Rock on, Jeffrey,
Hyde Park,
Wembley,
But wait, there's more!
If you're not too lazy to click the YouTube link,