Unlikely New Gem...ELO

Apropos to the recent rock music with strings thread:

ELO was always a mixed bag for me. I liked all of the main songwriters - Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne, and (in later iterations) Parthenon Huxley. However, the main conceit (strings) usually detracted from the main pleasure (guitar driven pop/rock). Well.....

Jeff Lynne has gotten the band back together and released a record of beautifully crafted pop songs. IMO, it's Lynne at his best, recalling the Beatles and Tom Petty first and foremost. Not a lot of strings here (a good thing, IMO). Nothing particularly groundbreaking or original, either....just top notch songwriting, playing and singing.

Unlikely as it seems, I think the record is definitely worth hearing and might be ELO's best work (snarky "bar is low" commentary is unnecessary).