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Post by babyzoomer on Apr 1, 2017 12:55:32 GMT
It's TIME to get it out in the open (prompted by elophile) - I'm an incurable TIME lover; that's not to say that I am not (otherwise) a dyed-in-the-wool ELO & JL fan - it's just that there is something different (I don't mean better or worse), just something fundamentally DIFFERENT about TIME. But today inspiration struck - I realised that TIME is far, far more operatic and overarchingly emotive than other ELO albums - even Eldorado (oh no! Now I'm for it! ). It contains a consistent and binding narrative; so the individual songs fit within a matrix and each provide a variation on and contribution to the emotional journey that no other ELO album manages. It has taken me decades to arrive at the "operatic" descriptor - mostly because (like a fish in water) it is impossible to place myself 'outside' a work which forms such a fundamental part of my life.
Phew!
(Pardon me for baring my soul when we hardly know each other).
But it's sat'dy night here and I've had a few or ten......
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Post by babyzoomer on Apr 1, 2017 13:03:27 GMT
Ooops - I'm so Mozart that I forgot to pose the springboard question.... what is your opinion of TIME?
Is it somehow fundamentally different to all other ELO albums?
Did Jeff bare a little too much of his soul? Is that why he rarely performs TIME songs?
Did the sting of poor sales hurt all the more for it?
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Post by IvanDSM on Apr 1, 2017 16:09:23 GMT
Ooops - I'm so Mozart that I forgot to pose the springboard question.... what is your opinion of TIME? Time is fantastic! I had a huge prejudice against it before hearing it (due to all the bad things said about ELO's 80's period) but once I heard it I fell in love instantly! Is it somehow fundamentally different to all other ELO albums? I guess you could kind of call Time an 80's Eldorado but as you've said, Time is more cohesive than Eldorado. I guess that the way it tells the story does set it apart from other ELO albums. Did Jeff bare a little too much of his soul? Is that why he rarely performs TIME songs? Jeff does seem to have deeply invested himself personally in the 80's period (easily proven by all the business behind Secret Messages which ShardEnder has told us about). I believe he rarely perform Time songs (as well as Secret Messages songs, or even worse, Balance of Power songs) due to this. He doesn't seem to like looking back at this period, which is a shame. Did the sting of poor sales hurt all the more for it? I'm pretty sure the commercial failure of Time, Secret Messages and Armchair Theatre must've taken a huge toll on Jeff's happiness.
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Post by Timeblue on Apr 1, 2017 16:26:32 GMT
As I've said many many times on here,'Time'is my fave album (clues are in my avatar and name....) like you say,it just flows from one song to the next and is a complete story of a man finding himself in the future,not liking it and wanting to return home. Even 'Another Heart Breaks' fits well (most fans seem to find this the weak link) Again,like I have previously mentioned, my only criticism is the hit' Hold On Tight' it just doesn't sit well with me and sounds out of place even though I love the song as a stand alone piece.No album is ever perfect but 'Time' for me comes close....
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Post by Helmut83 on Apr 1, 2017 19:11:09 GMT
Time is my favourite album as well. I think Jeff's songwriting was at his very best here, and most songs were incredibly inspired. The way he managed the chords and the melodies is just masterful. Even the songs I like a bit less, I realize they are very original. Heck, even the bonus tracks are fantastic and could easily have been strong songs on any other ELO album. The only song I don't like is "Another heart breaks", I think it's a real pity it has been included because it prevents Time from being a perfect album.
I discovered ELO's discography in the same order it was released chronologically, and when I reached Time the big jump in style shocked me, but as I got over the new sound I couldn't help but realize that the songs per se were simply amazing.
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Post by wolvesgirlgonewild on Apr 1, 2017 19:51:07 GMT
Time is probably my favourite ELO album because I just love the subject matter which of course is time travel. I love anything time travel related. I think Jeff really demonstrates well the type of emotions a time traveller would experience when going into the future. The outsider status, the distain towards what you've grown up with and what the future does to your identity, like all you've known, pining to go back to their own time. Like Helmut I'm not too big a fan of Another Heart Breaks, like what's that all about? In 2095 people's hearts keep breaking? It didn't really add to the album. Jeff's vocals are also probably some of the best I've heard, there's so much passion in songs such as The Way Life's Meant To Be, that the protagonist just wants to go back to 1981 to be with his lover which he obviously misses dearly. I can't really fault the album, I could listen to that album all day and be quite content
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Post by tightrope on Apr 1, 2017 21:18:54 GMT
The album reached number 1 so I'm not sure how much of a failure it was.
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Post by tightrope on Apr 1, 2017 21:24:10 GMT
Time is my favourite album as well. I think Jeff's songwriting was at his very best here, and most songs were incredibly inspired. The way he managed the chords and the melodies is just masterful. Even the songs I like a bit less, I realize they are very original. Heck, even the bonus tracks are fantastic and could easily have been strong songs on any other ELO album. The only song I don't like is "Another heart breaks", I think it's a real pity it has been included because it prevents Time from being a perfect album. I discovered ELO's discography in the same order it was released chronologically, and when I reached Time the big jump in style shocked me, but as I got over the new sound I couldn't help but realize that the songs per se were simply amazing. I've always thought "When Time Stood Still" should have made the album instead of "Another Heart Breaks". At my first listen, I was a bit shocked as well. It was not at all what I expected tho it became one of my favorites "over time"!
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Post by eloneen on Apr 1, 2017 22:31:44 GMT
I love Time now! It does hold together well, and it has not become as dated over the years as some other 1980s music. I think each song has its place, and I think the bonus tracks are also fantastic, especially "The Bouncer!" I actually think Time might be my favorite ELO album, but it didn't start out that way.
I was a preteen when I fell in love with ELO. It started with ANWR (pure joy); then I began buying the older albums until OOTB (more joy) was released. I went to the "Big Night" concert (amazing, but no spaceship), bought Discovery (mixed reaction), and bought Xanadu (more mixed reaction). I still loved ELO, but I desperately hoped that Time would be a return to the more familiar "old sound." It was better than the two previous albums, in my opinion, but it took me a while to accept that ELO would change and evolve (mature?) over the years. I was excited about the release of Time and wanted to love it right away, but it had to really grow on me. No strings, more synths, smaller band, and a science fiction theme (not just a spaceship in concert or on an album cover)? What was happening? Since I'm not really a sci-fi fan, that was a stretch for me, but I grew to enjoy Time very much, and I also thoroughly enjoyed the Time concert, especially because I was also very much into Hall and Oates at the time. It was a great treat to see my two favorite groups in one night!
I stopped keeping up with ELO albums after that, and only really paid attention to a few of the singles and various compilations for the rest of the 1980s and 1990s. My musical interests were expanding and changing, too, as I matured.
Within the past six months I have re-immersed myself in ELO music and it has been as joyful as it was 40 years ago! Time is the album I play in its entirety the most frequently now. I wonder what kind of silly kid I must have been not to love it then. I'm so glad I rediscovered it!!
Thanks for letting me take this stroll down Memory Lane!
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Post by unomusette on Apr 1, 2017 22:42:29 GMT
I think Time is an album where Jeff explored different types of song which actually paid off and most fans love it. As opposed to Discovery and Balance of Power, and possibly Zoom, which attract a whole lot more boos and hisses from the faithful. To me it didn't sound like he was baring his soul much on Time, I heard that a lot more on BoP and various songs on subsequent albums. But I hate Another Heart Breaks, it's lazy filler material for me and I agree with tightrope that When Time Stood Still would have been a far better track to include. AHB is just that - A Horrible B-side That said, Time is one of my favourite ELO albums. I can't believe nobody has praised the opening for a start "Just on the borders of your waking mind, there lies another time...." How can you not adore an album that starts like that? I still think the new live shows should begin with that.
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Post by elophile on Apr 2, 2017 1:12:53 GMT
I discovered ELO's discography in the same order it was released chronologically, and when I reached Time the big jump in style shocked me This was my experience too. I was so shocked by how different TIME sounded that it took me a little while to warm up to. That being said, TIME would be my favorite if it wasn't for OOTB. But I really love it and listen to it all the time. I think Jeff's vocals on TIME are his all time best vocals and I love so many of the lyrics... "Maybe one day I'll feel her cold embrace And kiss her interface" and that wicked little laugh after "I have a message from another time..." in Prologue - sort of cheesy but SO GOOD (couldn't ELO be described this way?)
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Post by Helmut83 on Apr 2, 2017 1:50:42 GMT
To me it didn't sound like he was baring his soul much on Time, I heard that a lot more on BoP and various songs on subsequent albums. But I hate Another Heart Breaks, it's lazy filler material for me and I agree with tightrope that When Time Stood Still would have been a far better track to include. AHB is just that - A Horrible B-side Totally agreed about that, her Toots. It's pointless, emotionless, flat, goes nowhere at all... and as you say, lazy (what, a genius like Jeff Lynne couldn't have done better than that with a minimal effort?). Any of the 3 bonus tracks would have occupied that space much better, and if you wanted to have a song to slow down the rhythm a bit there, then the pick was, as you say, When Time Stood Still. As for the opening lines, I seem to be the only ELO fan that never cared much about their robotic speech, their secret messages, the backwards stuff and all of that. That voice could have said "Manchester United beat Liverpool 3-1 with a brace by Van Nistelrooy" and it wouldn't have changed things for me.
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Post by Helmut83 on Apr 2, 2017 2:05:58 GMT
I think the bonus tracks are also fantastic, especially "The Bouncer!" Finally someone showing some love for that fantastic song! For me, "The Bouncer" and "The way life's meant to be" are the two best songs of the album.
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Post by eloneen on Apr 2, 2017 3:07:13 GMT
I'm "SO HAPPY" that you love it, too!
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Post by babyzoomer on Apr 2, 2017 3:21:11 GMT
When I first got OOTB (how I remember that amazing weekend, playing & replaying it) I had just started reading an Arthur C Clarke novel (possibly Rendezvous With Rama) which contained a sub-plot about ending all whaling; how amazed was I at the 'synchronicity' of life to be listening to "The Whale" as well. In much the same way, when I got my first copy of 'TIME' I was suffering a recently broken heart - so "Another Heart Breaks" is always poignant and emotional for me.
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