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Post by janne on Sept 3, 2023 6:14:57 GMT
Interview with Juliana Hatfield about the ELO cover album, link below. A few snippets from the interview for those who don't have the energy to read the whole thing: - One reason she didn't cover Mr. Blue Sky, was that Weezer did a cover of it not so long ago. - She wanted to do Turn To Stone, but it just didn't work. - She wasn't that familiar with the whole catalog before this project, for instance she heard the first ELO album, for the first time during this project. - She admits being in awe of ELO's arrangements and great production, but decided to "just do her own thing", with, of course, rather sparse arrangements. illinoisentertainer.com/2023/08/cover-story-juliana-hatfield-cant-get-it-out-of-my-head/?fbclid=IwAR2S4dstyIYVlgdLdVdYdx2UdepbjX2hEQgu3J00B31pf5k2FTRm-UEffVg
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Post by lawrev on Sept 3, 2023 13:16:22 GMT
Bravo! Can't wait to hear the entire album.
We don't need another version of Mr. Blue Sky. A track from BOP would have been interesting, though.
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Post by kingofthehours2 on Sept 6, 2023 21:49:47 GMT
I like her sound. It is different but melodic. I will definitely buy the album.
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Post by janne on Sept 20, 2023 19:01:19 GMT
Third single, and it's a big one. I was worried about this one but Hatfield treats it with the right amount of respect.
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Post by janne on Nov 18, 2023 8:37:29 GMT
Album released November 17.
Available on all the usual places.
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Post by fluffy on Nov 19, 2023 17:43:33 GMT
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Post by ShardEnder on Nov 19, 2023 19:22:55 GMT
I'll stop short of writing a full review, but even when a few of these arrangements don't quite land for me, it's difficult not to at least respect the passion behind this album. I already had an inkling Juliana was a fan from her somewhat faithful take on the title track of Xanadu, though here she's (mostly) given occasionally surprising choices from Jeff's catalogue the "bedroom producer" treatment, and just like his own acoustic special recorded at Bungalow Palace over a decade ago, these perfectly demonstrate how well the underlying craft of your ELO favourites holds up even without their signature kitchen sink approach. As a quick spoiler, From The End Of The World has been reinterpreted in a way that retains the original's slight lounge feel and takes this to places I would never have thought of. We'd be so much better off with more daring reinterpretations like this to inject a bit of new personality into the songs we already know and love...
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Post by lawrev on Nov 20, 2023 2:53:27 GMT
Glad she didn't do MBS. Love the mix of songs titles on this album.
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Post by janne on Nov 21, 2023 6:10:56 GMT
My review, based only on a first listen (a few more times with the singles): Since I am a fan of both ELO and Juliana Hatfield, I'm almost afraid to write this; but I am a tiny bit disappointed.
We have heard what Juliana did with Xanadu (on the ONJ covers album) and Sweet Is The Night (on the Juliana Hatfield album), so we shouldn't be surprised about the arrangements. Still, I think the bare bones arrangements work less well on this album, than they did on the ONJ and The Police covers album.
You can of course still hear that the songs are great, I just think some of them become a little less interesting than I had expected.
And every time I hear ELO covers, I realise how important Jeff's voice is to the whole experience of an ELO song. For me, an artist's voice is so important. If I don't like the voice, I, generally, don't like the music. (And that has nothing to do with having a "nice" voice, a few of my favourite singers of all time are Lemmy and Bob Dylan...)
I will continue to listen, I might soften up a bit, but for now; slightly disappointed. A 3/5 effort.
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Post by lawrev on Nov 25, 2023 1:34:22 GMT
I received this album today and just listened to it in its entirety. I give it an 8.5/10. Very impressed with her interpretations. She was faithful to each song's architecture. but she unmoors the songs from the Lynne production construct and reinvigorates these deep cuts and big hits. Well worth the purchase.
Unlike Lynne's last two albums, this album will be in my active rotation for quite a while!
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Post by orioles70 on Dec 1, 2023 22:09:41 GMT
My local DJ played Juliana’s cover of Strange Magic for their 5 o’clock shadow feature today.
Then he followed it up by playing ELO’s Roll Over Beethoven.
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Post by oliverwilbury on Jan 1, 2024 16:17:20 GMT
Really enjoyed the album with her Secret Messages interpretation being my favourite, such an underrated song (outside hardcode fans).
Her covers of Xanadu and Sweeet Is The Night which were done years ago are also very good.
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