Post by denny on Nov 14, 2020 17:29:57 GMT
Time is my favorite ELO album. I purchased the LP on release back in '81 when I was still in grade school. It was the first new ELO album (not counting Xanadu as a 'complete' ELO album) I had bought as a fan of the band. I got Discovery a year after its initial release and then Greatest Hits shortly afterwards and started working my way back to the rest of the catalog...
Back to Time... Prologue blew me away with the instrumentation and vocoder, morphing into the hard driving Twilight. I could tell things were different from the more lush, orchestral albums which I loved, but I loved this too. The songwriting on Time was impeccable, not a clunker in the bunch (maybe From the End of the World?). I wasn't too clear on the plot/concept as a twelve year old but the soaring melodies had me completely hooked. Looking back, I will always maintain that this album should have been a huge hit rather than the sales disappointment it is looked upon in North America. The band should have been commended for changing a winning formula, Hold On Tight with its uplifting message, to my ears should have been a #1. That song should have put to a rest the complaint that "all ELO songs sound the same"...
In my view Balance of Power was Jeff's 'cynical' album, going through the motions, getting out of ELO, not caring anymore etc... I have read that he is quite fond of that work. What if Time was Jeff's first attempt at letting ELO slide on purpose?
1. Concept album: Come on, in that era only Pink Floyd could get away with something like that (The Wall), ELO was already a critical pinata and attempting a high brow concept was only asking for more derision. (Didn't Rolling Stone give Time 2 stars) (I am no fan of Rolling Stone by the way...)
2. Lyrical content: IBMs and jumpsuits, ivory towers and plastic flowers, wheels of tomorrow, French verses etc. I thought the lyrics were creative and astute but was Jeff taking the p*ss?
3. "Officially" changing to ELO rather than Electric Light Orchestra - was this purposeful sabotage/confusion?
4. Tour: Stripped down stage presentation was a comedown after the Big Night spaceship. Hits medley was useless, short show time was not fan friendly I wasn't there for any shows of course, only going by observances and readings... We know Jeff hated touring, most pictures of him I have seen from the Time tour don't show an overly happy camper...
5. String section gone, classical instruments downplayed, full on synthesizers: Changing with the times, or Jeff hating on the "Orchestra" tag around his neck?
So... Time, lasting masterpiece or the sound of the beginning of the end???
Back to Time... Prologue blew me away with the instrumentation and vocoder, morphing into the hard driving Twilight. I could tell things were different from the more lush, orchestral albums which I loved, but I loved this too. The songwriting on Time was impeccable, not a clunker in the bunch (maybe From the End of the World?). I wasn't too clear on the plot/concept as a twelve year old but the soaring melodies had me completely hooked. Looking back, I will always maintain that this album should have been a huge hit rather than the sales disappointment it is looked upon in North America. The band should have been commended for changing a winning formula, Hold On Tight with its uplifting message, to my ears should have been a #1. That song should have put to a rest the complaint that "all ELO songs sound the same"...
In my view Balance of Power was Jeff's 'cynical' album, going through the motions, getting out of ELO, not caring anymore etc... I have read that he is quite fond of that work. What if Time was Jeff's first attempt at letting ELO slide on purpose?
1. Concept album: Come on, in that era only Pink Floyd could get away with something like that (The Wall), ELO was already a critical pinata and attempting a high brow concept was only asking for more derision. (Didn't Rolling Stone give Time 2 stars) (I am no fan of Rolling Stone by the way...)
2. Lyrical content: IBMs and jumpsuits, ivory towers and plastic flowers, wheels of tomorrow, French verses etc. I thought the lyrics were creative and astute but was Jeff taking the p*ss?
3. "Officially" changing to ELO rather than Electric Light Orchestra - was this purposeful sabotage/confusion?
4. Tour: Stripped down stage presentation was a comedown after the Big Night spaceship. Hits medley was useless, short show time was not fan friendly I wasn't there for any shows of course, only going by observances and readings... We know Jeff hated touring, most pictures of him I have seen from the Time tour don't show an overly happy camper...
5. String section gone, classical instruments downplayed, full on synthesizers: Changing with the times, or Jeff hating on the "Orchestra" tag around his neck?
So... Time, lasting masterpiece or the sound of the beginning of the end???