![]() ![]() And Evil Woman is still a set mainstay when they tour. Good solid album with a couple of now classic songs Evil Woman and Strange Magic. Right?įace The Music is an example of one those “build up” albums for me. Case in point, I venture a guess that no one reading this bought ELO’s No Answer as their very first ELO purchase. Even with the vision, songwriting, and studio expertise of Jeff Lynne at the helm, sometimes you don’t get on the map with your debut. My guess is that the majority of the reviews for this will be “it’s good, but not as good as…” But I guess we’ll see!įor every Boston, Van Halen, Foreigner, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Led Zeppelin where their debut is either considered their highpoint or contains their most iconic songs, you have the ELOs of the world where it took a while. Greg Schwepe: Electric Light Orchestra are one of those bands where it took a slow build up of albums until they released “the one” (which one was “the one” could be up for debate!) and became international superstars. It's insane that one guy, Lynne, can have so much talent. Face The Music is a step along the way from the first album to the last there's always great songs and always great musicianship. ![]() Tandy was brilliant on ELO 2 and then surpassed himself on Time and Secret Messages (my first and third favourite ELO albums, with ELO 2 in between). Huge shoutout to keyboardist Richard Tandy who turned Jeff's songs into orchestral masterpieces. ( Billboard)įred Varcoe: Where to start with ELO? The first album had Roy Wood doodling as he experimented with new sounds and Jeff Lynne writing great pop songs, so it was strange that after the pair split, Roy went back to writing great pop songs and Jeff produced a sensational prog-rock album ( ELO 2), which would have been one of the all-time greats if he hadn't put Roll Over Beethoven on it.īut Jeff slowly reverted to pop and he found it impossible to write a bad song. With a softer voice than Lynne's, Groucutt provides the balance that has been missed in past albums. New to the group, however, is Kelly Groucutt, who handles bass and takes over on lead vocals from time to time. Divided fairly equally into smooth, flowing melodies fronted by equally relaxing singing and easy rockers, the guitar, vocals and writings of Jeff Lynne remain dominant. "Another beautiful set from the seven Brits who helped pioneer the merger of classical and rock on a mass basis. At the time, he was also generating songs at a breakneck pace and had perfected the majestic, quasi-Beatles-type style (sort of high-wattage Magical Mystery Tour) introduced two albums earlier. It was also their first recorded at Musicland in Munich, which became Jeff Lynne's preferred venue for cutting records. "Electric Light Orchestra's more modest follow-up to Eldorado is a very solid album, if not as bold or unified. Nor do the cellos and violin seem a mere afterthought." ( Rolling Stone) In this setting he has successfully integrated a recognisable string trio (an achievement in itself) with his own melodic strings, producing a stately music without being stuffy or saccharine. Leader Jeff Lynne remains one of a few Sixties rockers who has developed a new and more adventurous style with a minimum of chaff in the process. " Face the Music is more fine work from the Electric Light Orchestra, which rather quietly has evolved into a most consistent septet. But there was hope: Evil Woman, a song initially dismissed as filler by Jeff Lynne, gave ELO their first domestic top ten hit in three years, and set them up nicely for the next album, A New World Record. Released in autumn 1975, Face The Music was a US hit, but missed the British chart. Lynne’s approach to recording was to ‘carry’ the song around in his head and build it in the studio, while keeping everyone in the dark about details such as the melody, chorus or lyrics.īut still, Lynne finessed ELO’s usual hybrid of fiddly prog-rock and pop into something that made sense, with songs such as Strange Magic and Evil Woman suggesting that the way forward meant less of the former and more of the latter. His favourite question to Mack was: “Can you make it sound more weird?” without explaining what ‘weird’ was. Lynne’s inability to express himself manifested itself in the studio. “Every morning, his attitude would be cold, as if I’d never met him before," said Mack, "walking straight past me without even saying hello." ![]()
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