What is most important to Jeff Lynne are great tunes, harmonies,nice chords and the techniques of distant miking.

But I think that he is also pretty good at conceiving interesting album concepts. "Eldorado" (the dreamer) and "Time" are brilliant concept albums. Moreover we had concepts about life and death (On The Third Day), secret messages, the end of a rel.ship (that's basically what BOP is about) and the weather elements and how they affect our mood (Concerto for a rainy day).

Now, I would love to see Jeff have another go at a concept album or concept side, for he is really good at this. So, if Jeff was going to release a concept album, what could be a suitable theme or subjcect matter.

Here are some of my ideas:

1. A night in the city

I mean this suggests itself as there are so many songs by Jeff which touch on this. I can imagine an album which presents us with a caleidoscope of places, with the car noises of OOTB's Night In The City used as an intro/outro and interludes. So, he might zoom in and out of certain locations, e.g. on the streets; someone lying in bed, but unable to sleep for fear of strangers (a night of fear ); dark places (remember the dark city demo?); poker/ bars; a song about a prostitute or whatever; many different characters and places. I think this is the missing ELO concept album.

2. The Lost Planet

The second album was originally planned as a concept album, dealing with all the problems of planet Earth, e.g. wars, pollution and stuff. Great idea, but somewhat unfulfilled.

3. Moment In Paradise

How about an album that takes you on a journey to a distant Garden of Eden? On both, a literal and figurative level. A majestic perfect world, as opposed to the real world. Songs such as One summer dream or Moment In Paradise have that dreamlike quality to it, so it seems to be a natural choice for a possible ELO concept.

4. The sea/ocean
Many references to this in ELO/Idle Race songs. I picture a character on the beach who falls asleep. On a literal level, you might have songs about sailing away on the crest of a wave, instrumentals, also songs about the underwater world or whatever. On a figurative level, you could use sea imagery, e.g. blown away like a boat out on the ocean (ATheatre).

5. Latitude 88 North or something in that style

How about an entire album which focuses on the cold regions of our planet, once again on both a literal and figurative level?Or an album that takes us to various places. You know what I mean: from the sun to the world, as it were. Or fire and ice, also in terms of emotions.