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Post by Timeblue on Apr 24, 2020 22:43:19 GMT
In my spare time today as I was relaxing in the sun with my headphones on,I listened to BOP in its entirety and with the volume turned to 11 I was pleasantly surprised. Heaven Only Knows is a great opener followed by So Serious.The feeling has always been that this has been a meloncholy album,Jeff going through the motions,last album etc....it really is a good album! Not perfect by any means but what album is? (Send It still doesn't cut it though...)
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Post by BSJ on Apr 24, 2020 23:10:58 GMT
It took many, many, many listens for me to like anything about this album. I remember not being able to get through the first song, "Heaven Only Knows". Now I can throw it in a rotation without mistrusting it. "In For The Kill" justifies it's slot.
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Post by Timeblue on Apr 24, 2020 23:17:12 GMT
I had you in mind for some reason when I wrote this! You once mentioned before your feelings about this album ....
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Post by BSJ on Apr 24, 2020 23:25:51 GMT
A member (I can't remember who, let yourself known) pointed out Damey's deft singing on this album helping me come round.
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Post by Horacewimp on Apr 25, 2020 7:37:31 GMT
It’s a solid album in my opinion, some good tracks on it, Calling America, Getting to the Point, Is it Alright to name but a few.
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Post by Timeblue on Apr 25, 2020 10:35:11 GMT
I love Heaven Only Knows,it just drives along and is the ideal opener (but only if played LOUD!)
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Post by Timeblue on Apr 25, 2020 11:07:43 GMT
Or 'really bloody loud' as someone once said in 1986....
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Post by lasttrain929 on Apr 25, 2020 11:08:53 GMT
I’m really glad to see some defending this album, so often when seeing people ranking ELOs albums last to first this is the one in last place. Even the art work gets slated. I always enjoy playing this album never seeing it as down beat or depressing. As for the art work I thought it was bright and eye catching, of it’s time, mid 80s. But your right timeblue it needs to be played loud. Not saying it’s ELOs finest but but it’s a good solid album. Well worth another listen.
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Post by Timeblue on Apr 25, 2020 11:23:18 GMT
The artwork is a bit of a letdown imo but it doesn't detract from my opinion of the album itself. It came out at the time when I was really getting into ELO (exploring their history,band members and finally getting to see them) So this album has fond memories for me.
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Post by lasttrain929 on Apr 25, 2020 13:28:14 GMT
The artwork is a bit of a letdown imo but it doesn't detract from my opinion of the album itself. It came out at the time when I was really getting into ELO (exploring their history,band members and finally getting to see them) So this album has fond memories for me. Yes most people I know disliked the cover (well all of them.... but I liked the singles artwork of Getting to the point and so serious. Had an Ultravox, OMD feel about them. Two great bands as well.
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Post by skyclad1904 on Apr 25, 2020 15:33:26 GMT
A member (I can't remember who, let yourself known) pointed out Damey's deft singing on this album helping me come round. I can remember some years ago, i talked to you at the lost planet radio about balance of power...I told you, that i absolutely love this album and that in my opinion, it has Jeffs best singing...
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Post by denny on Apr 25, 2020 17:17:19 GMT
A revisitation to Balance of Power...First off, I looked on this album as an extra gift from the band that wasn't expected. In the pre internet world the access to information was quite limited. I read/knew that Bev had done the tour with Black Sabbath, there was the legal action from Kelly, and Jeff had dipped his toe into the solo thing with the Electric Dreams soundtrack, so I had thought the band was done. For whatever reason I had picked up a Billboard magazine in'85(?) because they had a little article on Mack. He was working on the Freddie Mercury solo album but also mentioned he was working on an album with "ELO's Jeff Lynne" which gave me a glimmer of hope. I already knew that ELO was on the downswing in North America, I believe the shadow of Xanadu loomed large as they lost their foothold with Rock FM stations. (Some may trace that back to Discovery...) Anyhow, Time should have been a smash but was rather a 'moderate' success, Secret Messages underperformed Time...it seemed the band missed out on the boost that videos gave to the entire industry in those days of the '80s. The teens my age did not know who they really were as the videos/singles that were released didn't connect in a big way. So then came Balance of Power...My happiness at picking up the LP was tempered when I pulled out the sleeve and received the first gut punch - Kelly wasn't there. I didn't mind the new cover art as I found the angular lines easier to reproduce on my textbooks/notebooks than the Wurlitzer Juke Box symbol! The first single Calling America was a good song and gained some traction with my schoolmates but was not a 'Classic' like the days gone by. The album was too short, side 2 ended poorly with the Roy Orbison pastiche Endless Lies and the weak Send It. The good songs were very good, I felt there was some effort on Getting to the Point and Without Someone (should have been the second single). I couldn't believe Moody Blues had a huge hit with Wildest Dreams and Getting to the Point never hit?! I enjoyed So Serious but never considered it a contender for a single and it stiffed. The saxophone and the Steve Winwood sound synths on some tracks made me question whether Jeff was trend chasing or was he just taking the piss out of the current music scene? That kind of led me to believe that this album truly was a 'Balance of Payment' contractual obligation thing. Or course we have obtained much more info about Jeff's state of mind at the time which gives a clearer picture of those days. The mini tour with the opening slot for Rod didn't feel right - kind of like how the mighty have fallen... Just felt like what an awful way for my favourite band to flame out, going out on a whimper rather than a high. In the 80's era I will always maintain that Time was a better album than REO Hi Infidelity, Foreigner 4, Moody's Long Distance Voyager, Stones Tattoo You, Journey Escape... I believe Secret Messages was just as good as Police Synchronicity, Def Lep Pyromania, ZZ Top Eliminator... But for the first time, with Balance of Power I knew other bands had outperformed my band. I bought Van Halen's 5150 near the same time as Balance and 5150 blew it away... To this day I still know the Balance album pretty much word for word though I rarely play it. I missed Kelly, and Bev was as underutilized as the previous Secret Messages. I believe I rated Balance just above the debut album in the recent rate the album poll. An album that made me happy and sort of sad at the same time...
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Post by BSJ on Apr 25, 2020 17:34:33 GMT
A member (I can't remember who, let yourself known) pointed out Damey's deft singing on this album helping me come round. I can remember some years ago, i talked to you at the lost planet radio about balance of power...I told you, that i absolutely love this album and that in my opinion, it has Jeffs best singing...
I like the artwork. Specially the singles.
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Post by Grroosss on Apr 25, 2020 20:16:47 GMT
If I'd first heard Balance of Power in the context of when it was released, who knows, I might've had a very different opinion on it, but I've always enjoyed it. Zoom and Alone In the Universe already existed when I started listening to ELO, so BOP didn't quite carry the same sense of finality to me, and it probably also helped that BOP was one of the first albums I bought in my impressionable, early ELO fandom days. With the exception of Getting to the Point (the only sad ELO song that truly feels sad, imo) and Without Someone, BOP is pretty high-energy and, well, "a bop". I definitely agree with Timeblue that it should be played loud. Not ELO's finest, but if anything is testament to the fact that they're still great songs, it's this: BOP was one of the few albums I didn't take to college with me at the beginning of the year (I left it at home for nobodyschild to listen to, since she was mad that I'd taken it last year--maybe it just appeals to our age group for some reason?). Despite playing my other albums frequently, I never managed to convert my roommates into ELO fans... I brought BOP back with me after coming home for Christmas--first time I put it on, I caught my roommates jamming out to it!
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Post by Horacewimp on Apr 25, 2020 20:45:27 GMT
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