Electric Light Orchestra – All Over the World Review

For a long while it was true. Electric Light Orchestra were all over the world. They still are as they look set to close out their careers on stage. It feels a fitting end, the Over and Out tour. All Over the World still stands tall as one of the band’s very best. Strip it from Xanadu and pair it with Midnight Blue, as Jeff Lynne and the band did in 1980 for a singles release, and the song receives new context. A thrill to listen to even without the backing of classics like Turn to Stone and Mr. Blue Sky, the slick instrumental playthrough and the tease of a global party, captures the constant, no-frills fun the band always aimed for. A classic of their discography which transcends the wavering qualities of Xanadu. If anything, All Over the World feels like an afterthought, a song which would have fit on Out of the Blue.  

Catchy fun from ELO, that is what All Over the World offers. But those lighter charms from the Xanadu soundtrack do not credit the band with how much work they had on their hands. A New World Record, Out of the Blue and Discovery released in quick succession. Time was just a year on from Xanadu. This urgency would guide ELO through some similar-sounding spots, though thankfully those consistent tones are a welcome turn from Lynne and the band. All Over the World does well to tie those spaceships and space-age iconography choices with the real world, the grounded material feeling a tad ironic given the plot of Xanadu and all it suggests. But there lies the fine balance ELO, even at their worst, would get right. Playful songwriting from Lynne is the key to this considerable, large series of releases.  

All Over the World is a treat. Not just because of its desire to include those bursts of joy for partying across the globe but because of the sincerity behind it. It is one challenge to adapt the thrills of seeking out a spiritual, personal awakening, but to share it with others in a global party is quite sweet. Given the horrors of the modern world, and even then, the context of terror and warfare at the time All Over the World was written, gives the song a defiant edge. Pair it with Discovery track Midnight Blue and those sincere hopes of a better future are felt. A party across the globe is contrasted with lonely, tender piano work, a challenge of their usual sound.  

Where the higher octaves of Midnight Blue may sound a tad too soppy, it pairs well with the genuine nature, the frenetic appeal, of All Over the World. Even in the wild of the world there is an intimacy, a necessary addition from Midnight Blue to this singles release, that All Over the World is swept up in. Lynne writes well on both songs though his strong suit, production and flickers of studio brilliance, are what make returning to both Discovery and Xanadu such a treat. His ear for the pop and dance of the times, and how to embrace it while still keeping the group’s identity alive, is the strongest part of his work. ELO holds onto a part of themselves which had been floating around in their earliest progressive rock days. Maintaining this is an important part of their ever-developing sound, and it is reassuring to hear it preserved on some of their more popular efforts, like All Over the World.