Message From The Country 1971 Album

The Move

At this point, Wood, Lynne, and Bevan were working on two albums at once, although the real work was on the ELO debut record. This last Move album was just that - close the book on the project once and for all. Still, it's a fairly good effort, mainly consisting of progressive pop material (tinged with the Wood/Lynne classical touch), interspersed with send-up material that is mildly entertaining. For example, Bevan does a hilarious - in that it's off the mark - imitation of Johnny Cash on "Ben Crawley Steel Company". But the serious stuff makes an impact as well, like on the soaring title track (composed by Lynne) and Wood's forlorn "It Wasn't My Idea To Dance". My preference is for the experimental nature of Looking On, but this is a good follow-up, and send-off.