Electric Light Orchestra - Time
#322
July 2 1981
By Timmy Daniels
Electric Light Orchestra
Time
Allen’s Rating: 3 out of 5
Timmy’s Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Highlights:
The Way Life‘s Meant To Be
Hold On Tight Gotta place warning ahead of time that I’m a romantic, a dreamer and a solid fool. So I’m probably like any other music lover; ha. Not just hearing what is, but what could be — mixed in with what is & current context. And also imagination, moment, experience, and emotion all tend to flood my album views like wearing a pair of blue tinted glasses. I can’t avoid it. I feel like that’s a necessary warning.
This isn’t so much an album as a journey. And it’s hard to take that journey outside the context of a massive need to get away from 2020 in any way... the longing for a simpler time that catapulted Stranger Things into the consciousness of our National nostalgia.
And if “Twilight” is the time machine, “Yours Truly” is that point when the subway reminds you with a sudden jerk that the rails sit on a a 100 years old system. I’m reminded of when I got a new cd and was so grateful to no longer have to fast forward a song. Oh glorious skip song. But I endured. Like the jerks of the subway.
“Ticket to the moon” feels like it could have been written yesterday. God how I wish they had never made Yours Truly, how much more David Bowie floating in space this experience would have been. It’s not worthy of the Bowie name to be sure, but outside such lofty comparison and taken alone as its own journey, it’s a nice float away from today. It’s the dream where you are flying. Just a drift away tune.
“The way life’s meant to be” - oh yeah, this one. Love it. It’s a dramatic slow walking dance into a door-kicked-open cha-cha journey in a nice Mexican cantina ...meets Elvis... meets evening becoming night and he or she dances with you... under the all year Christmas Lights. Now get up and dance! Oh yeah.
I’ve earmarked it as my favorite song on the album. It’s the first tune that feels like a song. It’s a “rock back and forth, crack a beer and say fuck it” number. Yeah. This is why I embraced this process, this group. To have a moment like this.
Another Heart breaks is ELO channeling Roger Waters and failing at it. But not so bad that it’s unlistenable, but such that you don’t particularly long for it again.
Rain is Falling then becomes a Beatles Channeling. Which also fails. The Harmony, drum stop changes and Morning & weather themes just feels Beatle like to me. And I could be limited in music knowledge & experience but that’s just how it felt to me. There are a couple nice changes on the keyboard which redeems this a little.
“From the end of the world” feels like an exercise tape gone wrong. It’s got a light Eurythmics flavor to it I feel. Honestly I got used to this song and played it again, which I didn’t think I would do at first. My best compliment to it: hey, it’s not horrible. I think.
The lights go down feels like I should drink some red red wine and sit by the pool, wishing I wasn’t so fat. Hoping a tan might help. Thinking positive.
I don’t hate it. It’s a little catchy, familiar. There’s a piece of crimson and clover in there, some red wine, some guitar upstrokes. It’s okay, I’ll listen.
I didn’t care for “Here’s the News”. I also don’t care for News.
21st Century Man gets the album back on theme. Which at this point, hey; why not. It feels like a B side you would listen to and tell yourself you might like it, might even listen again. But you won’t. I probably won’t either; I’m with you.
Then again maybe it could appear in a show starring Brian Cranston and make me like it.
“Hold on Tight” was the first song I recognized. Yeah. I like this piano jamming Windows Down on the freeway next to the ocean number. Yeah. Well alright.
“Epilogue” wasn’t necessary. But okay. It’s there. And this is my review. It’s here.
Hahaha. Honestly I’m not sure how this fits into the ongoing experiment but on this week this was one of the funnest things I did, and I’m thankful to skip alerts and news to just listen. Thanks for this welcome relief! I’ll Hang on tight.
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