|
Post by thewordsofaaron on Nov 15, 2015 15:34:37 GMT
Just had the chance to listen to it all the way through for the first time, so I don't have much to say. BUT... Did anyone else find themselves smiling at all the throwback riffs and phrases? I can't remember them all off the top of my head, but each song sounded like something I loved from years gone by. "Midnight blue..." "Twilight..." "Pulls you in, takes you down..." And then later in another song, "Sad affair..." I found myself thinking this was a career summary, lol! (And yes, I'm one of those who also thought it was very Zoomish) "Pulls you in, takes you down..." Good one! I hadn't noticed that! I love when Jeff quotes himself... It's like finding a prize in your Cheerios. yes....loads of nods to the past....but still a great new record....if i may call it that these days....though i still think its not Zooms brother....
|
|
|
Post by thewordsofaaron on Nov 15, 2015 16:56:03 GMT
Phew.....ive fianlly had a chance to listen to the new album...hooray!....after those nasty people at Amazon messed up the delivery and then my son was watching tv....grrrr...!....lol.... three times listened to now....
This, in my opinion...which happens to be right of course.. lol ....is a great album....Jeff today...and not some kind of throwback to yesteryear...! A NEW ALBUM....
Im not going to go in to some in-depth review, pulling chord changes apart etc...i think thats been done here and in other places...and to be honest i think everything these days is way over analyzed....
For me there are so many fine bits that make up the whole on this....its stunning....it really is.....
Jeffs voice is still grand, still striking...damn it he can hit some notes that I wish I could...he can still craft a song as good as anyone....this is NOT Zooms long lost brother, for me anyway....this is a stand alone work....sure, it nods to other things in the past, but it should do....it should reference past glories whilst at the same time progressing forward...it does all of those and for me throws in a few surprises....
OK....i know some people may be a little disappointed that the strings have, mostly, departed....but to be honest for me that happened years ago...if I had to choose an era that I loved best it would be the heavy ELO of Face The Music, Eldorado, On The Third Day and Jeffs amazing leap of faith to A New World Record which is possibly the ultimate ELO recording...great stomping tunes and strings with epic titles and timings to go with them....but thats only if I had to choose....luckily I dont have to...phew!! Thats a relief...because for starters....I would miss this album dearly...it already contains some of my favourite ELO tracks that can sit up there proudly with Rockaria, Mr Blue Sky, Turn To Stone, Wild West Hero, Daybreaker, Ma-ma-Belle, Down Home Town, Four Little Diamonds...I could go on but you get the idea I guess....
Alone In The Universe....why does this leave me so absolutely heartbroken...Jeff....yer bugger....and all that sweeping woe at the end...typical Jeff...but it sounds fresh too....has to be one of my absolute favourites....and I thought When I Was A Boy brought tears to my eyes....wow!...
Talking of which...I dont think I will ever tire of hearing When I Was A Boy....it will always remind me of my mum delivering bread and I accompanied her on occasions...when I was a boy...
Love and Rain is a nice funky number....and his little girl sure makes a good backing singer....why isnt she on tour with him...maybe she will be...she should be...love the guitar solo too..and I like the way Jeff mixes it up during the last minute or so of the track...nice....
Dirty To The Bone surprised me...quite why I decided it should be a rocking track I dont know....maybe the title...I know this is the track that got a bit of a ticking off for the 'cows come home' lyric....maybe its me...nothing wrong with it...it fits neatly and goes well...maybe the person who wrote that review is just a mean American know nothing...any Brit knows what 'the cows come home' means.....seemed a bit churlish really.
When The Night Comes....nice strings behind the reggae riff...this is a real catchy little number...I dont think its a single release though....
The first verse of The Sun Will Shine On You is really great...not that the rest of it isnt too bad either...but that intro verse...I reckon if this was played on the radio without introduction I wonder how many people would even know it was Jeff (obviously we would!)....I think this is one of the unexpected tracks and a real departure for Jeff...Jeff not sounding like Jeff and being someone new...and that is fantastic and I love it and him for it....well done Jeff...
Aint It A Drag....loved this when I was at the Beeb concert...one of those summing up songs...telling people the way it is....Jeff saying to everyone to stop putting him under one type of music....its a great little dance tune....with a fabulous 'everyone join in' line....aint it a drag!!
And now...ladies and gentlemen....Jeff will be COMPLETELY and UTTERLY brilliant....'Im so glad I found you, I just wanna be around you'.....I must remember to take a box of tissues with me to the O2 next year....THE highlight of the highlights on this album....man, When I Was A Boy x 10 and Pachelbels Canon all wrapped in one...a warm, snuggly song that wraps you up, breaks your heart and still leaves you feeling warm inside.....Jeff, what are you doing to me?....
All My Life has to be THE hit from this album....and I hope they push it out there....double A side it with Alone In The Universe....cant fail...
Im Leaving You....a nice track, possibly the weakest for me on the album....but only because of that first line...'Golden days drifting through the haze'...ouch! Possibly thats just me...but...after that the track goes on to be really nice....with those fabulous vocal reflections of Roy Orbison...and once past that first line im happy...
Jeffs plaintiff cry of 'Talk to me.....' is fabulous and demanding to listen onward through the track...and I love the quick 'one step at a time' change half way through...pretty darn good......One Step At A Time...yep....! It will 'soon be better'....a nice way to be made to feel.
Alone In The Universe....having already said it should be part of a double A side release....I suppose more typical of Jeff's sound....another heartbreaker...'such a long, long way from home'....that out-tro....brilliant....how a Jeff Lynne song should end....
and now for those bonus tracks...
Fault Line....I think this is a really cheery little tune, a tip of the stetson to c&w music...Down Home Town time again....I think its great in the running order and should be counted as part of the album rather than a bonus track....love it....
Blue...Jeffs Strictly moment surely....a dance tune not for the disco but for the proper dancefloor....I like it....its different...possibly the problem with calling these two last tracks 'bonus'....this one isnt the strongest track on the album....so maybe the finish should have been Fault Line...the cheer up track.....however, that doesnt mean this track should not have been on here....maybe just somewhere else in the running order....
so...theres my review...though im biased...but I just dont see how people could avoid buying this album if it gets a good airing (im sure radio 2 will help here, they have already of course)....it would be nice to hear a few of these tracks out there alone, in their own particular universe....
Jeff played a blinder....
|
|
|
Post by jackpunch on Nov 15, 2015 17:13:17 GMT
Dont get the Zoom comparison, to me this is Long Wave, SM and BOP. Favourites are AITU, Sun will shine, love and Rain, One Step, Aint it a drag, WIWAB. Love the pre chorus and chorus to All my life, but I think the verse is weak. Infact, if I had one criticism it would be that the choruses are so much stronger than the verses, at least they are to me.
Not a fan of I'm leaving you or fault line. Blue should have been on the album. When the night comes has a great feel but gets a little stuck for me. Dirty to the bone reminds me of Danger Ahead. Love the intro, but not gone that much on the verse.
Overall 8.5 for me
|
|
|
Post by kcabnrut on Nov 15, 2015 19:29:52 GMT
Just had the chance to listen to it all the way through for the first time, so I don't have much to say. BUT... Did anyone else find themselves smiling at all the throwback riffs and phrases? I can't remember them all off the top of my head, but each song sounded like something I loved from years gone by. "Midnight blue..." "Twilight..." "Pulls you in, takes you down..." And then later in another song, "Sad affair..." I found myself thinking this was a career summary, lol! (And yes, I'm one of those who also thought it was very Zoomish) "Pulls you in, takes you down..." Good one! I hadn't noticed that! I love when Jeff quotes himself... It's like finding a prize in your Cheerios. YES! Prize in the Cheerios. Very well put :-) I forgot to mention "steppin' out," so I'll add that to the list, haha! I wish I could find the right words to describe what I'm trying to say. It's not Zoom, or Zoom's brother....but maybe cousin? It's not necessarily the songs, but how it was produced, the general sound and feel of it, even if it's nothing more than Jeff's "matured" voice as opposed to the voice of the Jeff of the 70s-80s.
|
|
|
Post by soonerorlater on Nov 15, 2015 19:36:06 GMT
OK....I've listened to it on a half decent hi-fi set up, I've listened to it on an iPod dock, I've played it in the car, I've listened with and without earplugs and headphones....
This is simply a fantastic album!
I'm interested to see that a good number of you are particularly enchanted by When The Night Comes, still the only song that I can't get into. There's always one though - All She Wanted, Without Someone, Time After Time, Yours Truly, 2095 etc. They're not exactly bad as such but they're often skipped over (by me) in an attempt to quickly reach the other songs that are so much better! It's not exactly a bad list to join and I'm sure we've all got a list of least favoured!
|
|
|
Post by thewordsofaaron on Nov 16, 2015 13:09:32 GMT
OK....I've listened to it on a half decent hi-fi set up, I've listened to it on an iPod dock, I've played it in the car, I've listened with and without earplugs and headphones....
This is simply a fantastic album!
I'm interested to see that a good number of you are particularly enchanted by When The Night Comes, still the only song that I can't get into. There's always one though - All She Wanted, Without Someone, Time After Time, Yours Truly, 2095 etc. They're not exactly bad as such but they're often skipped over (by me) in an attempt to quickly reach the other songs that are so much better! It's not exactly a bad list to join and I'm sure we've all got a list of least favoured! indeed...a list thats not too bad at all....for me it would be Im Leaving You....but again....its not that disappointing that i would never listen to it....cos if the album is on in the car or at home it gets listened to right thru.... im still agog with All My Life....one of Jeffs finest tracks....from all the ELO albums....i kid you not....(its only my opinion....but its right lol )
|
|
|
Post by Helmut83 on Nov 16, 2015 17:39:02 GMT
I must say I really enjoyed "Ain't it a drag" at first listen. Jeff's most fluent and fresh sounding song in decades. I'm surprised reviewers here didn't rate it that well. I loved it.
|
|
|
Post by thewordsofaaron on Nov 16, 2015 17:54:46 GMT
I must say I really enjoyed "Ain't it a drag" at first listen. Jeff's most fluent and fresh sounding song in decades. I'm surprised reviewers here didn't rate it that well. I loved it. I love it too....def gave it a good review...great when Jeff did this at the been gig...
|
|
|
Post by bmac on Nov 16, 2015 17:58:46 GMT
I will give my full review when I have listened to the album a bit more, but I will say this: The singing on All My Live is stunning to me. The part where he sings it twice before the chorus is a God give talent. Not just his singing but his decision to sing it the way he does. Just a friggin gift I tell you.
|
|
|
Post by thewordsofaaron on Nov 16, 2015 18:07:44 GMT
I will give my full review when I have listened to the album a bit more, but I will say this: The singing on All My Live is stunning to me. The part where he sings it twice before the chorus is a God give talent. Not just his singing but his decision to sing it the way he does. Just a friggin gift I tell you. I agree...absolutely....brilliant...love it...ive elevated it to one of my favourite elo tracks ever...Jeff at his mighty best....superb... There's not enough superlatives for tho track...
|
|
|
Post by lightyearsahead on Nov 16, 2015 21:35:34 GMT
My review of Alone In The Universe...
Most die-hard ELO fans pine for the classic period and sound of the mid-70's; the beautiful, finely crafted gems that populated the albums On The Third Day through to Out Of The Blue. That period was ELO and as Tony Curtis proclaimed at Wembley in 1978, they were the 'most outstanding rock group in the world...'.
The expectations of Alone In The Universe were set extremely high, and questions floated around on fan forums; 'would it be like the classics?', 'would it be Armchair Theatre part 2?' or 'would it be something completely different?'
The answer is all three. Jeff Lynne has produced an album pulling sounds and melodies from all his favourite decades and genres and has, as a result, produced a very good album, which should please most ELO listeners. It's not a great album mind, it's not a career defining epic, it's not A New World Record or Out Of The Blue but it satisfies nonetheless.
The Master has written, produced and most importantly created all the tracks on the album, but it misses the core of Richard Tandy on the piano and synth but more tellingly it misses Bev Bevan on drums. As such, it feels more mechanical, more computer generated and that's a shame. I listened to Face The Music immediately after listening to Alone and the passion, the harmonies, the individual sounds of the strings, the piano and the drums so obvious on FTM were all missing from Alone and that's a disappointment.
There's no Evil Woman on this album, there's no Livin' Thing, there's not a single track that would appear on.a Greatest Hits compilation in a few years time except for maybe the auto-biographical When I Was A Boy... at a push.
There's some good tracks; Love And Rain pulls from 1973's Showdown and the best track on the album, the title track, could almost be the follow-up to Mission (A World Record).
When The Night Comes is weirdly catchy despite the strange mechanical strings in the chorus whilst The Sun Always Shines On You is a beautiful, heart-string pulling ballad.
Dirty To The Bone pulls from the 1983 Secret Messages album and could be described as Four Little Diamonds reprised with the same sentiments and All My Life sounds like a love song penned for Jeff's girlfriend. I'm Leaving You could easily have been the next track on from Stormy Weather on Armchair Theatre and evokes the same feeling of sitting in a bar overlooking a bay as the rain comes down.
It's certainly a grower and gets better the more you listen to it, as the tunes become more familiar but I feel a little wistful for the glory days, of harmonies to die for, for strings, guitars and drums to play along in the air with, and for that classic ELO sound.
|
|
|
Post by unomusette on Nov 16, 2015 22:07:46 GMT
When I Was a Boy - This has a deceptively simple melody, however the more I hear this song the more I like it and I think Jeff probably really enjoyed taking a while creating it. It has lovely personal lyrics and all the little touches that bring classic ELO to mind, plus some interesting bits you can probably only hear on earphones, such as a shivery little cymbal sound that zooms away now and then. It's been played to death on Radio 2 but it's still always a treat to hear it, this is a VERY rare thing in my house. Love and Rain - The tempo, the guitar solo and the funky bass sound do bring Showdown to mind and this song has grown hugely on me. It also has Showdown echoes in the heavy "red indian" type drumming in the chorus which brings back the Western feel of Showdown. Well it does for me. Jeff does have a bit of a thing for cowboys and indians, bless him. The star of the show is Laura Lynne, she has a great voice and when it takes a different turn at around 2:30 it raises the song even higher. Dirty to the Bone - Cheery and rather pretty tune for a song where someone's getting a right poke in the eye. Great catchy chorus, love that handclapping, I really can't fault it at the moment but I have a feeling it might wear thin if I hear it too much. When the Night Comes - Another interesting tempo, Jeff gives his voice a good workout, love the strings, it's like being given a big hug listening on earphones. Proper earworm and that's really not a chore. Spotted the reference to Midnight Blue straight away, and Twilight not long after - do I win a prize? The Sun will Shine on You - This one doesn't do a lot for me to be honest, it's a bit ploddy. I do like the piano motif though and Jeff's voice is sounding in mighty fine shape. Ain't it a Drag - I can easily imagine this on a Wilbury album, the influence of Tom Petty and George Harrison is right up there. I like it, it rattles along nicely and the slide guitar is fab. Makes me want to twist and shout All my Life - N'aww, someone's getting the big smooch here. Proper retro ELO sound here I think, it sounds huge, a bit like Wild West Hero except he resists an enormous outro which is a bit a of a shame. I'm Leaving You - this is a song that sounds like it could have been on Armchair Theatre. Very Roy Orbison too, in the tempo of course and there's even a sneaky descending guitar bit that might have been pinched from You Got It. It's OK but not a stand out track for me. I expect it's one of Jeff's favourites though. One Step at a Time - Love it as soon as it kicks off, it's so breezy sounding and the chuckling synth (?) sound in the background is fab. The chorus is insanely catchy, the strings are back, it's faultless. Apart from finishing too soon, that is Alone in the Universe - Great outerspacey sound, it reminds me slightly of a Pink Floyd song as it kicks off (Us and Them I think) Trust Jeff to write a song about a space probe drifting off into infinity though, this is full of interesting little sounds and lovely vocal layers, it's a winner. Fault Line - This is lifted above being bog standard rockabilly fare by the interesting lyrics and twinkling guitar fills. Has anyone else ever written a song about living in California on the San Andreas fault, tempting fate whilst playing in the sun? He makes it sound such fun. Blue - This has grown on me, it's really warm sounding and Jeff's lead vocal is nice and close to the microphone, yummy LOVE the piano sound towards the end. This song sounds like it should be played by a band in white tuxedos, at a cocktail party on a cruise ship somewhere balmy, where the cares of the world are far away and all that matters is how quick the next glass arrives. Le sigh. Mine's a mojito. This album has been a proper treat I must say. I wasn't expecting to get so much of the feel of "classic" ELO but there's a good dollop of strings without having them on every track so we take them for granted. There are nods to Jeff's work with his Wilbury mates and to his more recent solo work too. I wouldn't say it's totally in the vein of either Zoom or Armchair Theatre, it has elements of both but it stands very nicely alone for me. 9 out of 10 I'd say. Stand out tracks are When I Was a Boy, Love and Rain, When the Night Comes, One Step at a Time and Blue. But the rest aren't half bad either
|
|
|
Post by rooster on Nov 17, 2015 17:51:06 GMT
I've already reviewed the album but this is a little update - until now I've listened on headphones through the computer via the CD, then the CD imported to I-tunes & in the car.
Just now I got out my old Linn (must be the name) Classik CD/amp player - OMG what a difference. Every single track is brighter, crisper, wider, louder, fuller - just absolutely superb. I'm sure a lot of the reviews where people have said it sounds "muddy" must be due to modern day digital listening equipment. I'd love to know how good it sounds on vinyl if the improvement of listening on a decent CD player is anything to go by.
I was already pleased with this new bit of musical joy from the great man but now it's just warped into complete ecstasy!
|
|
|
Post by Chippa on Nov 17, 2015 18:28:16 GMT
I will give my full review when I have listened to the album a bit more, but I will say this: The singing on All My Live is stunning to me. The part where he sings it twice before the chorus is a God give talent. Not just his singing but his decision to sing it the way he does. Just a friggin gift I tell you. That's actually my favorite vocal part on the whole album. He's just singing it with a lot of heart, without the vocal gymnastics.
|
|
|
Post by thewordsofaaron on Nov 17, 2015 20:48:53 GMT
I will give my full review when I have listened to the album a bit more, but I will say this: The singing on All My Live is stunning to me. The part where he sings it twice before the chorus is a God give talent. Not just his singing but his decision to sing it the way he does. Just a friggin gift I tell you. That's actually my favorite vocal part on the whole album. He's just singing it with a lot of heart, without the vocal gymnastics. can i join in the praise for that bit.....i love this track.....its bloody brilliant....love Jeffs singing....there arent many that are still able to sound like they did 40 years ago....
|
|