Electric Light Orchestra‘s ninth album, the science fiction/time travel concept album Secret Messages, is released, featuring the single “Rock ‘n’ Roll Is King”. Originally a double album (slated to include the legendary lost song “Beatles Forever”), Secret Messages is pared down to a single LP late in production, and the resulting orphaned tracks become the source of most of the group’s unreleased songs for several box sets to come. 
Originally conceived and recorded as a double album, Secret Messages was for some reason cut down to a single album and released in 1983, bestowing upon the world a somewhat grating single “Rock ‘n’ Roll Is King” (I’m sure you’ll remember the chorus: “Wham-a-lam-a, bam-a-lam-a, rock ‘n’ roll is king!”) and then, for all intents and purposes, disappearing into undeserved obscurity. This entry on my Damn Near Perfect Album List is, like Time before it, an example of just how good ELO was in the 80s, even if radio didn’t think so. I can’t think of a song on here that I don’t like, with the possible exception of the CD bonus track “Time After Time”, which bears more resemblance to Jeff Lynne’s work on Electric Dreams than to ELO, and perhaps there lies a hint as to why Secret Messages was halved prior to release, though some of the deleted songs heard on Afterglow are just fine. My highest recommendations!
- Secret Messages (4:43)
- Loser Gone Wild (5:25)
- Bluebird (4:06)
- Take Me On And On (5:02)
- Time After Time (4:00)
- Four Little Diamonds (4:05)
- Stranger (4:27)
- Danger Ahead (3:53)
- Letter From Spain (2:51)
- Train of Gold (4:21)
- Rock ‘n’ Roll is King (3:45)
Released by: Jet
Release date: 1983
Total running time: 46:38
1996 music review by Earl Green