Electric Light Orchestra – Confusion Review

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Split opinion on Confusion and its B-Side, Last Train to London, has one thing in common. Jeff Lynne may have been the beating heart of Electric Light Orchestra around this transition from culturally present pieces like Out of the Blue to a commercial punch of radio-friendly jingles on Discovery, but his writing was the focus. Forget the strings, as ELO did for Discovery, and bring on this sense of colloquial sentiment, this Last Train to London B-Side blows much of Discovery out of the water in the context of the album. But here, paired with Confusion and endlessly replayed, no doubt, it becomes a watered-down version of the higher-strung, emotionally relevant tones Lynne had taken on previous albums. Confusion and Last Train to London are both great ELO songs, but when taken out of that disco-like context, they do become middle-of-the-road efforts. 

That is not to say either song is not a catchy classic. Both Confusion and Last Train to London will be well-known to ELO listeners, passing or dedicated. They may be well-loved, too, and rightly so. The floaty sensibility heard on Confusion is a real delight while Last Train to London has some of the finest instrumental work the band would provide from Discovery onwards. Lynne captures tone and instrumental charm here more than he does lyrical complexity. Very tame storytelling and basic writing are all he needs to make us feel morose under twinkling skies. Love lost is the usual route through ELO songs and Confusion, with its glitchy, electrified voice interjecting the title, the repetition of it later in the song, is a run of usual staples from the band. A greatest hits of their studio flourishes, and it works.  

Confusion is about the feeling, the sensation of questioning your choices and the outcome. Everything falls into place as it should and yet it lacks the final surge of meaning, that crowning moment which gives us the necessary, heartfelt core of the song. Hopes of one final encounter with a lost loved one are right there for the taking, but Lynne shies away from it, and moves on from elaborating or giving it a subtler tone or gutsier purpose. Broad generalities are the core of plenty ELO songs but, like Confusion, are backed by an instrumental boom and a sharp mind in the studio. It is what gives this and Last Train to London some essential replay value. Boisterous songs remain sharp and intense, and that is what Lynne can offer here. 

Expecting anything more than memorably fun, albeit light tracks, is relatively bad faith. Confusion and Last Train to London are enjoyable ditties where the skill of Lynne as a producer overtakes his senses as a songwriter. A song does not need to be anything more than a sweet bit of noise, and that is exactly what Discovery is. What Confusion and Last Train to London is the feeling of freedom in music – an obvious and massively broad piece to contend with if there are no specifics in the lyrics. No suggestion of anything more than a simple “will they, won’t they,” gets the job done, though. Lynne is brief with his style but makes up for it in abundance with his work in the studio, in bringing those new instrumental moments together.