Message From The Country - THE MOVE****

Message From The Country/Ella James/No Time/Don't Mess Me Up/Until Your Moma's Gone/It Wasn't My Idea To Dance/The Minister/Ben Crawley Steel Company/The Words Of Aaron/My Marge

Message From The Country was the final album from the highly successful pop group The Move. Leading members Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne would shortly form the Electric Light Orchestra.

“The song selection is a rich palette of varied genres. Rather than jamming extensively around a smaller set of compositions, the band set out to make fascinating musical and lyrical vignettes in a relatively short time span per song.”

“Simply put, this is an unusual album for The Move, and, in many ways, the polar opposite of the first Electric Light Orchestra album, yet it is the perfect missing link between the two groups. It’s dense and experimental, yet loose and fun, which is definitely a rarity in prog rock.”

“At this point you could see that this was the beginning of the end; the band was pared down to a three-piece that had it sights on something else previously unheard. As it turns out, they were working on the debut ELO record simultaneously as this was being recorded. That being said, the material on here is great and varied and never boring. The dabbling with 50s rock and classical music is at the forefront and you could see the writing power of Lynne and Wood really begin to pick up steam.”

“Though possessing a couple of stronger tracks than their previous release, this one is slightly less consistent overall, possibly due to its diversity. Material ranges from semi-hard rock, to very commercial ELO sounding tracks. The quality of the majority of this is considerably off par.”

“Message From The Country was a modest change in direction for the band; dropping some of their earlier pop and psychedelic inclinations in favour of what might best be described as a rough stab at proto-Electric Light Orchestra styled pop. Nothing here was as elaborate, or orchestrated as the forthcoming ELO catalogue, but you could hear the band (particularly Wood), playing around with new ideas and ways to expand or modify their sound.”

“This was the last album from The Move, recorded simultaneously with Electric Light Orchestra's self-titled debut. Often humorous, often playful, it's a very fun album to listen to.”