Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	78/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Classic Rock	9/10
The Independent
American Songwriter
Pitchfork	6.3/10
Música Nueva
Slant Magazine
Rolling Stone

Alone in the Universe is the thirteenth studio album by British rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), and the first credited to Jeff Lynne's ELO. The moniker came out from Lynne as a response to ELO tribute and imitation bands, who repeatedly used ELO for promoting their own tours. Released on 13 November 2015, the album is the first of new original material credited to the group since Zoom in 2001, and the second since the original group's disbandment in 1986. The album was met with generally favourable reviews, peaking at number two on the Billboard Top Rock Albums and number four on the UK Albums Chart, where it has been certified Platinum.

ELO originally disbanded in 1986. In 2001, co-founder Jeff Lynne attempted to reform the band for a new tour to promote Zoom, the last studio album of original material credited to ELO, but the tour was cancelled due to low ticket sales. Lynne returned to freelance record producing. Years later, BBC DJ Chris Evans invited Lynne on the air and, with listener backing, urged him to tour again. The recording of his solo covers album, Long Wave (2012), was also inspirational for Lynne, and led him to experiment more with his songwriting based on the described "adventurous" qualities of the traditional pop standards he had chosen.

The group subsequently returned for a single performance at Hyde Park in September 2014 as Jeff Lynne's ELO. Of the original ELO members, Lynne was the only founding member present, accompanied by Richard Tandy, the band's veteran keyboardist. Lynne said he hadn't spoken to co-founder Bev Bevan in about 30 years, adding "Richard is my lifetime man in the group. ... He's a great musician, a great piano player and I really enjoy his company."Alone in the Universe would be recorded at Lynne's home studio, Bungalow Palace, over the course of 18 months. Lynne played nearly every instrument himself; the only other two people involved in the album's production were Laura Lynne, Jeff's daughter, who sings background vocals on "Love and Rain" and "One Step at a Time", and Steve Jay, the album's engineer, who plays the shaker and tambourine.

...
Wikipedia