Time might be winding for this series which I thought up all by myself. It was supposed to be never ending, kind of like The Neverending Story", but that movie did end so the title did lie even though there was a sequel but that was a lie as well. Hopefully (?) I'll change my mind and go on for a bit more so I can say I did it for a year.
We shall see, I guess.
This week's selection is 1981's Time from ELO which is the followup to their biggest selling studio album, 1979's Discovery which was certified 2x platinum. If you want to get REALLY technical, you could say that this was the followup to the soundtrack to "Xanadu" which was released in 1980 and was also certified 2x platinum, but that album also featured Olivia Newton-John, The Tubes, Gene Kelly and Cliff Richard so it isn't actually an ELO album.
Time did reach gold status but it was their lowest charting album since 1974's Eldorado with both albums reaching #16 on the US charts. So, it was a top 20 album which isn't a bad thing. The album reached #1 in the UK and Germany and was in the top 10 in many other countries.
I remember when this album came out and the first thing that struck me was the album cover. Compared to the previous couple of albums, it was kind of bland and that might have carried over to my feelings when I listened to the album. I actually was kind of expecting "Discovery II" and that's not what I got. Listened to it maybe a couple of times and forgot about it.
Listening to it now and when I got that box set a few years ago, I now enjoy it. I still find the album cover to be bland, but interesting. I want the damn spaceship!
Well, allmusic.com doesn't like it too much, but at least ELO hasn't Bryan Adamed AM (yet):
Time takes its cues more from such bands as the Alan Parsons Project and Wings than from Jeff Lynne's fascination with Pepper-era Beatles. Sure, all the electronic whirrs and bleeps are present and accounted for, and Time did spawn hit singles in "Hold on Tight" and "Twilight," but on the average, ELO had begun to get too stuck on the same structure and content of their releases. "The Way Life's Meant to Be" echoes very early ELO hits like "Can't Get It Out of My Head," and the "Prologue" and "Epilogue" segments try and bring about a unifying concept that doesn't quite hold up upon listening all the way through. Time proves to be competent ELO but not great ELO.
Time
1. Prologue
2. Twilight
3. Yours Truly, 2095
4. Ticket To The Moon
5. The Way Life's Meant To Be
6. Another Heart Breaks
7. Rain Is Falling
8. From The End Of The World
9. The Lights Go Down
10. Here Is The News
11. 21st Century Man
12. Hold On Tight
13. Epilogue
Availability: The single album, remastered and with three bonus tracks (not included here), can be found for less than $7.
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I have been trying to get to this all week. But as you can see, by the lack of a comment by me up to this point, I have failed miserably. I tried to listen to it a couple of nights ago when I retired to the pleasure palace for the evening, but I fell asleep after about two songs. Twilight is a fantastic ELO track. It sort of has an epic feel, somewhat like a big song from a movie. Parts of the song make me think of Cheap Trick. Your Truly sounds very futuristic, maybe that's the reason for 2095 in the title. I wonder what this world will be like in 2095, if there is even life here at that time. What I do know is that no person that I know today is likely to be alive then, and that makes me sad. The next song sounds quite sad too, but I dig it a lot.
Next song is just okay. Rain is Falling is a good track. I really like Lynne's voice. Sounds a bit like some backward stuff at the beginning of From The Sun To The World. Song isn't that good. The album plays out without any more particularly outstanding songs. 21st Century Man is Beatle like as well as Queen like. That's not usually a bad thing. Well, actually, Hold On Tight is a pretty standout track.
Nice post, sorry it took so long to get to it...not really. But I did enjoy it.
There are no birthdays today
Norma Jean Fox
(11/30/1945-9/7/2010)
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