The ‘The’ was dropped from Electric Light Orchestra as the band, now under the sole authorship of Jeff Lynne, attempted to assert a tighter reign on their work. That doesn’t quite come across on listening to On The Third Day, an album whose title references the resurrection story, but is neither a resurrection nor a revelation. It treads water from the previous LP. The progressive rock emphasis is certainly in evidence in the structure of the songs and their presentation musically. The artwork echoes the prog feel of E.L.O.2, having Jeff Lynne isolated in space staring at a glowing planet earth, the second of several album covers with an outer space theme. Overall, though, the album is a mixed bag of accessible 'pop' - what one might term 'prog-pop' and more inventive but less marketable songs.
The album kicks off with the grating overture of Ocean Break Up segueing neatly into King of the Universe. As before the lyrical content is obscure. Throughout the first side, Lynne uses the metaphor of lost love to represent a dying planet [earth] and a vague eco-theme takes shape. Bluebird Is Dead seems to confirm this, while Oh No Not Susan hints more at the romantic implications of the metaphor. All the six tracks are interlinked and pass by in a rapid fire fifteen-and-a-half minutes. The grungy brusqueness of Ocean Break Up and its Reprise are offset by the ethereal treatment given to the other melodies. Flavours of Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells can be heard seeping into the rhythms.
American versions of the LP, and subsequent reissues, have included Showdown on the first side. This bolsters the run time. Showdown was a hit in the US, where ELO were still being distributed by Harvest Records. Although Showdown reached a respectable No.12 in the UK, it could not be included on the LP at the time of release [December 1973] as Harvest, part of Warner Bros, would not allow its inclusion on an United Artists album. No such problem in the US where Warners also released the LP. Showdown is a great track which blends well into the overall ambience of the first side, although it feels a little Eagles-lite. One considers Lynne’s songwriting during this period was still hawking other artists and composers for ideas. It is open to debate if he ever shook off the accusation.
Side two kicks off in fine style with Daybreak, an instrumental that feels attached thematically to the previous side. It displays the full talents of the ELO line up which was the same as the previous album minus Colin Walker’s cello and Wilf Gibson’s violin and plus Mik Kaminski’s violin. Gibson, however, does feature on side two because it was recorded simultaneously with E.L.O.2. Marc Bolan guested as a dual lead guitarist on two tracks from this half, including the next single, the raunchy Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, also a minor hit.
No surprise then that despite those four-minutes of rockin’ n’ rollin’ the full ‘electric orchestra’ sound features more prominently on side two, just as it did on the previous album. Grieg’s In the Hall of the Mountain King is given a decent riff and re-evaluation, but the experience is a tired one; energy seems lacking which isn’t the case with Daybreak. Overall, side two doesn’t have a consistent musical thrust to it, feeling a bits and pieces enterprise, while the first side, despite a low key nature and perhaps not sounding so commercial, feels more coherent.
On The Third Day is best listened to as a whole, not in parts, although occasionally those individual parts give rise to much excitement. Its critical reception was middling and the album failed to chart in the UK.
ON THE THIRD DAY
Side One
Ocean Break Up – King of the Universe – Bluebird Is Dead – Oh No Not Susan – New World Rising – Ocean Break Up Reprise – Showdown
Side Two
Daybreak – Ma-Ma-Ma Belle – Dreaming of 4000 – In the Hall of the Mountain King
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 30,967Chief of Staff
Considered by some observers as a one of the best prog rock albums of the early seventies, El Dorado misses the mark for me.
I used to play this endlessly as a mid-teen, until I finally heard the lyrics and realised Jeff Lynne was – as usual – spouting utter rubbish about fantasy stories dreamed up by a bloke who hates his desk job. The songs don’t feel substantial enough for progressive rock. There is an actual orchestra featured on this one, so the sound is quite exceptional. The problem is the uneven nature of the songs themselves, which start off and climax weirdly ethereal and rather frightening, while in between morphing back and forth between expansive ballads and rock-pop three minute wonders. Can’t Get It Out Of My Head is the best thing on it. The album passes in a blur without much else standing out. The cover is one of the band's poorest, a mock up of a scene from The Wizard of Oz, repeated on the back, no gatefold, no lyric sheet.
Like the previous album, El Dorado did not chart.
EL DORADO: A SYMPHONY
Side One
El Dorado Overture – Can’t Get It Out Of My Head – Boy Blue – Laredo Tornado – Poor Boy (The Greenwood)
Side Two
Mister Kingdom – Nobody’s Child – Illusions in G Major – El Dorado – El Dorado Finale
Gosh, it’s been decades since I listened to this album, I loved it, and like you, listened to it many times. You’ve inspired me to play it again, I hope it remains as I remember it and the magic hasn’t been diluted.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 30,967Chief of Staff
Heard this on the Radio yesterday…forgot just how brilliant this song and band were/are…
How Does It Feel was only a top 20 hit in 1975 - I mean, how? Seriously, all those stompers get to number one, but great as they are IMO Slade's finest stuff was done in 1974-5 when melody finally penetrated their music. Massively under rated, massively brilliant.
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 30,967Chief of Staff
I bit the bullet twenty years too late and went to see Robbie Williams at the Emirates last night. £85.50 for a seat in the gods. It was over a ton to go on the pitch and 200+ for stageside, so I consider I got a decent price out of it. I only bought the ticket Weds morning - they were cheaper on Tuesday but I didn't realsie dynamic pricing was in force so missed the 'pit' for £77.
It's a bit tricky getting into the stadium. My Ticketmaster ticket was entirely operated thru my mobile phone, so if you don't own a smartphone, I have no idea what you do. The barcode has a remote optical 'slider' on it that constantly operates so it is impossible to screensave the ticket and get in - you must have online access. No idea what a 'wallet' is, and no idea how to access it, so I had to rely on my network access and of course it died up close to the stadium due to the amount of people attempting to access the event all going online like I was. Eventually got a signal and got into the Ticketmaster app, got scanned and was in. After that, you only need to show the email with your seat number. The Emirates has plenty of facilities and it is properly organised out for this kind of event. Very clean. Oodles of marshalls. People are dumb though. By the stairs queues were massive for the refreshments, walk around fifty metres or so and there was no queue at all. Beer was £8.50 !!!! 🙈
My seat was, as I say, up in the gods, but a decent view of the stadium and the stage. I am used to those stick figures. U2 at Wembley on The Joshua Tree tour without the video screens springs to mind. [At least I think it was that tour...] Anyhow, Rag n Bone Man set a good early standard but the place was half empty - another trouble with stadium gigs - as everyone met up, drank beer, ate snacks, got lost, found a seat, etc etc.
The self-styled King of Entertainment himself appeared at 8.15pm to a rumble of applause and cheers, but much of the audience hadn't realised the show was starting and missed the first couple of numbers. The stage was fairly barren, augmented by a kaleidescope of big screens and a pair of angel's wings emblazoned with the moniker RW. Mr Williams wore trackies all night. Hmm. Anyway, I've been a long term admirer of Robbie Williams, as I associate very closely with his personal confession style of lyricism. He is astute, observational, confessional, ironic and leveled with doses of humour and pithy politics. The melodies, especially the early Guy Chambers compositions have genuine emotional depth and power. These two wrote songs fast and furious, like a latter day Taupin & John, one seeming to tap into the other's emotional and musical journey with consummate ease. This BRITPOP tour is designed to promote his latest album / CD / download but he didn't play a single track from it [Britpop is not released yet] so instead it was a gracious and much loved compilation of hits and more hits and a few unexpecteds. Turns from 5ive and Lulu added to the fun and sense of occasion. Occasionaly pyrotechnics and stage craft enlivened a few of the numbers, the skimpily clad dancers were nimble, energetic and acrobatic. The band on point. Mr Williams dawdled a little spending too many minutes between songs explaining how dreadful his life has been and how he has found peace and redemption and satisfaction with his wife and family - makes you nauscious, happy and envious all at once. Thankfully the songs came with a blast and a cheerful smile and a shimmy. When he sang, there was real power, heart and soul and a few surprises. I loved what he did when he did it, but too often he left it up to the audience to sing-a-long-a-robbie or deviated from the lyrics. Luckily he didn't do this with a quintet of probably his best, defining songs: Let Me Entertain You, Old Before I Die, Love My Life, Feel and Angels.
Overall, despite the long comedic biographical stretches BLOODY BRILLIANT - I mean come on, the man even sang the theme tune from MINDER and you don't get that a Beyonce concert [she was performing down the road at White Hart Lane].
Love Robbie Williams, one of Britains best pop stars - if not the best - of the last twenty or so years.
SET LIST
Rocket
Let Me Entertain You
[Excerpts] All My Life / Song 2 / Seven Nation Army /Rim Tim Tagi Dim / Minnie the Moocher / Livin on a Prayer
Monsoon
Old Before I Die
[Excerpt] Theme from Minder 'I Could Be So Good For You'
Rock DJ
Love My Life
Keep on Movin [with 5ive]
Strong
The Road to Mandalay
[Acoustic, with Thom Rylance, excerpts] Supreme / Let Love Be Your Energy / Sexed Up / Candy
Relight My Fire [with Lulu]
Something Beautiful
Millenium
Theme From New York New York
Come Undone
Kids
She's the One
My Way
[Encore]
Feel
Angels
[closing riff]
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 30,967Chief of Staff
Robbie gets a lot of stick…he was certainly a ‘victim’ of the “build ‘em up, then tear them ‘em down” practice…although he WAS fairly culpable with this…👀
When he’s on it - he IS brilliant…although I’m not a fan of his “sing-a-long-a-Robbie” either…I've paid for a ticket to watch & listen YOU sing it 🙄
£8.50 for a beer at a London gig? Count your blessings…in Manchester it can be as much as £9.80! 😳
When he’s on it - he IS brilliant…although I’m not a fan of his “sing-a-long-a-Robbie” either…I've paid for a ticket to watch & listen YOU sing it 🙄
Yes, I agree - I experienced similar misgivings watching Rod Stewart back in 1990/91 where he barely sang a word to tracks like Sailing and I Don't Wanna Talk About It. You are right @Sir Miles I didn't pay to entertain myself - as it were. I have seen the Rolling Stone six times and Jagger never ever stops singing - he understands what the audience expect from the band and delivers it. Thanks for reading and I have now corrected the grammatical errors.
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 30,967Chief of Staff
From the Season 2 premiere of Miami Vice, 'Prodigal Son' first broadcast on Sept 29, 1985 on NBC.
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 30,967Chief of Staff
I’m currently listening to The Beatles Channel on Sirius XM….24/7 Beatles and Beatle related tracks…this has been played a bit recently…and I genuinely forgot just what a great track it is…
For me, their best album is FACE THE MUSIC. Not a duff song on the album...the hits are fantastic and the album cuts are all, at a minimum, 'good'.
I had a good friend in the 90s, a real metalhead, who was obsessed with ELO. He was the one who got me into them and got me to explore their catalog of music beyond just the hits. If you want to learn songwriting and production, you really should dive into these albums. Great stuff.
Thank You @HarryCanyon - and just for you - next up....
FACE THE MUSIC (1975)
Electric Light Orchestra
Jeff Lynne made a conscious decision while touring the El Dorado LP to stop faffing about with prog-rock storytelling and start writing and producing four-minute commercial masterpieces. The result is Face the Music, ELO’s most immediately accessible album and certainly the first collection that works as a cohesive whole, not as a series of individual disjointed pieces.
The band saw another reshuffle as established members Mike De Albuquerque and Mike Edwards departed and Kelly Grouchet and Melvyn Gale were recruited to bolster the bass and string departments. Lynne and Musicland engineer ‘Mack’ also chose to continue using a full orchestra on some tracks, as had occurred on the previous LP. The result was eight lush, listenable and exciting pop songs. I guess Lynne might dislike the term ‘pop’ but I do see it as something of a stretch to define ELO as rock n roll. Like all great commercial bands, they dig into many genres, rock n roll being one, but – as here – the expansive pallet Lynne brings to his writing allows classical, folk, choral, the troubadour ballad as well as good old rock n roll.
Fire On High is an instrumental inspired by The Exorcist and criticism of El Dorado being the spawn of the devil [some fool decided to play it backwards and discovered ‘hidden messages’ – what a dolt]. So, the only words spoken – other than a mocking Hallelujah! are spoken backwards: ‘The music is reversible but time is not, turn back, turn back, turn back, turn back.’Fire On High is an excellent opening to the album, a brave choice to commence with an instrumental, but the way the song develops, moving through a ticking timepiece to a dramatic false beginning and a seemingly chaotic series of claps, choirs and strings. The tension builds until 90-seconds in Bev Bevan’s drums, cymbals and the orchestra kicks in with a dramatic clap of thunder. The track works as an opener because it draws us into what follows, the sweep of the romantic strings, the heavy strumming for the blues, the ethereal choirs, the rolling drums. We really feel that a god is being knocked out of the sky by the thunder, lightening and rain and brought sinking to earth by the voices of angels.
Waterfall slows the pace dramatically, before springing to an uplifting chorus. The mid-section instrumental bridge again displays the bands affinity with orchestration, while the Moog synthesiser adds a hint of unexpected otherworldliness. The song acts as a subtle intro to the next track Evil Woman, a disco influenced straight up Beatles-inspired song that became a perennial favourite. It was released as a single and made the top ten. You might think that’d be a catapult to success, but the second single Strange Magic did only fair business while Night Rider – despite the best efforts of the BBC, who featured it twice on Top of the Pops – didn’t even chart. Evil Woman remains a classic slice of seventies pop music. It is probably the track which most obviously points the way forward for Jeff Lynne and ELO.
Side one climaxes with Night Rider, which like the opener builds from a slow start into something more substantial and musically harmonious. The duo-melodies are particularly strong. Again the swirling strings are highly representative of future ELO projects. The galloping nature of the tune and another danceable refrain propel us through the story of a lost love affair, of a woman who ‘never reaches the end, who must travel on’. The music matches the lyrical content better than it ever did on El Dorado.
Poker thrashes us into side two, a song that is not about card games but gambling with love. A good, tight, rapid rocker, this one fairly pounds us along to those dirty dingy hotels and the groupies crawling along the passageways, the chances a band might want to take as ‘the joker closes in’.
Strange Magic calms us down beautifully. Lovely chorus, a whiff of delicate strings. A piano makes a welcome. Very good. Not quite a ballad, more a chant, a love song to whoever or whatever you want, the sun, the meadows, the sailing ships, they all get a look in, mostly though it is just musical magic all round.
Down Home Town is a naughty little ditty about life on the road and wanting to move on to the cheerful ‘Land of Dixie’. This folk – rock – troubadour song is both cheerful and scathing about the rock industry. The third verse boasts of ELO’s well-received US concerts ‘You see them winning every show – the best damn band around’. The hint of Dixieland seems to mock Elvis’s American Trilogy – ‘Look away’ sings the choir – as if rock n roll and the ballad singer’s travelling choral show has finally moved on.
The album draws to a close with One Summer Dream, whose soft, calming orchestral intro belies the heavy deep rich tempo and wistful swirl of the verses and chorus. The song builds to a super straddling climatic fading thrum. It is the longest track on the album, probably one of ELO’s best album tracks, and is longer than anything on the previous ‘prog rock triumph’ El Dorado.
Face the Music, unbelievably, failed to chart in the UK until it was repackaged in the Three Light Years boxset. That is some oversight by the record buying public. However, sales internationally made it the band’s first million seller [it was a top ten hit in the USA]. The cover was designed by Fred Valentine, a mock up of an electric chair, while the back photo showed the band pressed up against a glass window, presumably watching the execution. Their eyes are tinted a demonic red, which is a spectral touch perhaps not needed, for the album doesn’t really head down that devilish route.
I love Face the Music. It is a great forty minutes of pure pop. Every song is a winner, memorable and hummable. If I was ever asked to pick out an ELO album to serve as an introduction to the band, this would be it. Short, sharp and superbly crafted.
FACE THE MUSIC
Side One
Fire On High – Waterfall – Evil Woman – Night Rider
Side Two
Poker – Strange Magic – Down Home Town – One Summer Dream
Comments
The Beach Boys - Getcha Back
(Discovered this song yesterday during a long drive)
Ric Ocasek - Emotion in Motion
RIP Ric Ocasek
Madonna - The Look Of Love
Rick Wakeman: The Myths and Legends of King Arthur etc. Not my favourite of his (Journey To The Centre of the Earth) but inventive and enjoyable.
I like Rick Wakeman, haven’t listened to him for a long time, it’s time that changed! JTTCOFE is looming!
ON THE THIRD DAY(1973)
Electric Light Orchestra
The ‘The’ was dropped from Electric Light Orchestra as the band, now under the sole authorship of Jeff Lynne, attempted to assert a tighter reign on their work. That doesn’t quite come across on listening to On The Third Day, an album whose title references the resurrection story, but is neither a resurrection nor a revelation. It treads water from the previous LP. The progressive rock emphasis is certainly in evidence in the structure of the songs and their presentation musically. The artwork echoes the prog feel of E.L.O.2, having Jeff Lynne isolated in space staring at a glowing planet earth, the second of several album covers with an outer space theme. Overall, though, the album is a mixed bag of accessible 'pop' - what one might term 'prog-pop' and more inventive but less marketable songs.
The album kicks off with the grating overture of Ocean Break Up segueing neatly into King of the Universe. As before the lyrical content is obscure. Throughout the first side, Lynne uses the metaphor of lost love to represent a dying planet [earth] and a vague eco-theme takes shape. Bluebird Is Dead seems to confirm this, while Oh No Not Susan hints more at the romantic implications of the metaphor. All the six tracks are interlinked and pass by in a rapid fire fifteen-and-a-half minutes. The grungy brusqueness of Ocean Break Up and its Reprise are offset by the ethereal treatment given to the other melodies. Flavours of Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells can be heard seeping into the rhythms.
American versions of the LP, and subsequent reissues, have included Showdown on the first side. This bolsters the run time. Showdown was a hit in the US, where ELO were still being distributed by Harvest Records. Although Showdown reached a respectable No.12 in the UK, it could not be included on the LP at the time of release [December 1973] as Harvest, part of Warner Bros, would not allow its inclusion on an United Artists album. No such problem in the US where Warners also released the LP. Showdown is a great track which blends well into the overall ambience of the first side, although it feels a little Eagles-lite. One considers Lynne’s songwriting during this period was still hawking other artists and composers for ideas. It is open to debate if he ever shook off the accusation.
Side two kicks off in fine style with Daybreak, an instrumental that feels attached thematically to the previous side. It displays the full talents of the ELO line up which was the same as the previous album minus Colin Walker’s cello and Wilf Gibson’s violin and plus Mik Kaminski’s violin. Gibson, however, does feature on side two because it was recorded simultaneously with E.L.O.2. Marc Bolan guested as a dual lead guitarist on two tracks from this half, including the next single, the raunchy Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, also a minor hit.
No surprise then that despite those four-minutes of rockin’ n’ rollin’ the full ‘electric orchestra’ sound features more prominently on side two, just as it did on the previous album. Grieg’s In the Hall of the Mountain King is given a decent riff and re-evaluation, but the experience is a tired one; energy seems lacking which isn’t the case with Daybreak. Overall, side two doesn’t have a consistent musical thrust to it, feeling a bits and pieces enterprise, while the first side, despite a low key nature and perhaps not sounding so commercial, feels more coherent.
On The Third Day is best listened to as a whole, not in parts, although occasionally those individual parts give rise to much excitement. Its critical reception was middling and the album failed to chart in the UK.
ON THE THIRD DAY
Side One
Ocean Break Up – King of the Universe – Bluebird Is Dead – Oh No Not Susan – New World Rising – Ocean Break Up Reprise – Showdown
Side Two
Daybreak – Ma-Ma-Ma Belle – Dreaming of 4000 – In the Hall of the Mountain King
Back with a bang Part One.
Back with a bang Part Two.
Hipsway - The Honeythief
Eyes Without A Face - Billy Idol
Some friends got me into the band Ghost recently. I can't stop cranking this up:
The Jets - Private Number
EL DORADO: A SYMPHONY (1974)
Electric Light Orchestra
Considered by some observers as a one of the best prog rock albums of the early seventies, El Dorado misses the mark for me.
I used to play this endlessly as a mid-teen, until I finally heard the lyrics and realised Jeff Lynne was – as usual – spouting utter rubbish about fantasy stories dreamed up by a bloke who hates his desk job. The songs don’t feel substantial enough for progressive rock. There is an actual orchestra featured on this one, so the sound is quite exceptional. The problem is the uneven nature of the songs themselves, which start off and climax weirdly ethereal and rather frightening, while in between morphing back and forth between expansive ballads and rock-pop three minute wonders. Can’t Get It Out Of My Head is the best thing on it. The album passes in a blur without much else standing out. The cover is one of the band's poorest, a mock up of a scene from The Wizard of Oz, repeated on the back, no gatefold, no lyric sheet.
Like the previous album, El Dorado did not chart.
EL DORADO: A SYMPHONY
Side One
El Dorado Overture – Can’t Get It Out Of My Head – Boy Blue – Laredo Tornado – Poor Boy (The Greenwood)
Side Two
Mister Kingdom – Nobody’s Child – Illusions in G Major – El Dorado – El Dorado Finale
Gosh, it’s been decades since I listened to this album, I loved it, and like you, listened to it many times. You’ve inspired me to play it again, I hope it remains as I remember it and the magic hasn’t been diluted.
Heard this on the Radio yesterday…forgot just how brilliant this song and band were/are…
Slade - How Does It Feel
Well, I enjoyed it immensely. It does dip a little in the second third, but the first and last thirds are superb.
Slade - my favourite band. How Does It Feel is arguably their best ever song.
No argument from me - it IS their best song 👍🏻
How Does It Feel was only a top 20 hit in 1975 - I mean, how? Seriously, all those stompers get to number one, but great as they are IMO Slade's finest stuff was done in 1974-5 when melody finally penetrated their music. Massively under rated, massively brilliant.
Peaked at No.15 in the UK…did it suffer because the title was spelt correctly? 🤭🤣
Good to see Slade getting some love 😃
Yes, seconded, thirded, and so forever 🍻
Robbie Williams - Britpop Live 6/6/2025
I bit the bullet twenty years too late and went to see Robbie Williams at the Emirates last night. £85.50 for a seat in the gods. It was over a ton to go on the pitch and 200+ for stageside, so I consider I got a decent price out of it. I only bought the ticket Weds morning - they were cheaper on Tuesday but I didn't realsie dynamic pricing was in force so missed the 'pit' for £77.
It's a bit tricky getting into the stadium. My Ticketmaster ticket was entirely operated thru my mobile phone, so if you don't own a smartphone, I have no idea what you do. The barcode has a remote optical 'slider' on it that constantly operates so it is impossible to screensave the ticket and get in - you must have online access. No idea what a 'wallet' is, and no idea how to access it, so I had to rely on my network access and of course it died up close to the stadium due to the amount of people attempting to access the event all going online like I was. Eventually got a signal and got into the Ticketmaster app, got scanned and was in. After that, you only need to show the email with your seat number. The Emirates has plenty of facilities and it is properly organised out for this kind of event. Very clean. Oodles of marshalls. People are dumb though. By the stairs queues were massive for the refreshments, walk around fifty metres or so and there was no queue at all. Beer was £8.50 !!!! 🙈
My seat was, as I say, up in the gods, but a decent view of the stadium and the stage. I am used to those stick figures. U2 at Wembley on The Joshua Tree tour without the video screens springs to mind. [At least I think it was that tour...] Anyhow, Rag n Bone Man set a good early standard but the place was half empty - another trouble with stadium gigs - as everyone met up, drank beer, ate snacks, got lost, found a seat, etc etc.
The self-styled King of Entertainment himself appeared at 8.15pm to a rumble of applause and cheers, but much of the audience hadn't realised the show was starting and missed the first couple of numbers. The stage was fairly barren, augmented by a kaleidescope of big screens and a pair of angel's wings emblazoned with the moniker RW. Mr Williams wore trackies all night. Hmm. Anyway, I've been a long term admirer of Robbie Williams, as I associate very closely with his personal confession style of lyricism. He is astute, observational, confessional, ironic and leveled with doses of humour and pithy politics. The melodies, especially the early Guy Chambers compositions have genuine emotional depth and power. These two wrote songs fast and furious, like a latter day Taupin & John, one seeming to tap into the other's emotional and musical journey with consummate ease. This BRITPOP tour is designed to promote his latest album / CD / download but he didn't play a single track from it [Britpop is not released yet] so instead it was a gracious and much loved compilation of hits and more hits and a few unexpecteds. Turns from 5ive and Lulu added to the fun and sense of occasion. Occasionaly pyrotechnics and stage craft enlivened a few of the numbers, the skimpily clad dancers were nimble, energetic and acrobatic. The band on point. Mr Williams dawdled a little spending too many minutes between songs explaining how dreadful his life has been and how he has found peace and redemption and satisfaction with his wife and family - makes you nauscious, happy and envious all at once. Thankfully the songs came with a blast and a cheerful smile and a shimmy. When he sang, there was real power, heart and soul and a few surprises. I loved what he did when he did it, but too often he left it up to the audience to sing-a-long-a-robbie or deviated from the lyrics. Luckily he didn't do this with a quintet of probably his best, defining songs: Let Me Entertain You, Old Before I Die, Love My Life, Feel and Angels.
Overall, despite the long comedic biographical stretches BLOODY BRILLIANT - I mean come on, the man even sang the theme tune from MINDER and you don't get that a Beyonce concert [she was performing down the road at White Hart Lane].
Love Robbie Williams, one of Britains best pop stars - if not the best - of the last twenty or so years.
SET LIST
Rocket
Let Me Entertain You
[Excerpts] All My Life / Song 2 / Seven Nation Army /Rim Tim Tagi Dim / Minnie the Moocher / Livin on a Prayer
Monsoon
Old Before I Die
[Excerpt] Theme from Minder 'I Could Be So Good For You'
Rock DJ
Love My Life
Keep on Movin [with 5ive]
Strong
The Road to Mandalay
[Acoustic, with Thom Rylance, excerpts] Supreme / Let Love Be Your Energy / Sexed Up / Candy
Relight My Fire [with Lulu]
Something Beautiful
Millenium
Theme From New York New York
Come Undone
Kids
She's the One
My Way
[Encore]
Feel
Angels
[closing riff]
Robbie gets a lot of stick…he was certainly a ‘victim’ of the “build ‘em up, then tear them ‘em down” practice…although he WAS fairly culpable with this…👀
When he’s on it - he IS brilliant…although I’m not a fan of his “sing-a-long-a-Robbie” either…I've paid for a ticket to watch & listen YOU sing it 🙄
£8.50 for a beer at a London gig? Count your blessings…in Manchester it can be as much as £9.80! 😳
When he’s on it - he IS brilliant…although I’m not a fan of his “sing-a-long-a-Robbie” either…I've paid for a ticket to watch & listen YOU sing it 🙄
Yes, I agree - I experienced similar misgivings watching Rod Stewart back in 1990/91 where he barely sang a word to tracks like Sailing and I Don't Wanna Talk About It. You are right @Sir Miles I didn't pay to entertain myself - as it were. I have seen the Rolling Stone six times and Jagger never ever stops singing - he understands what the audience expect from the band and delivers it. Thanks for reading and I have now corrected the grammatical errors.
I don’t mind a sing-a-long…but I expect the turn to sing the song too 🤨
Phil Collins - Take Me Home
From the Season 2 premiere of Miami Vice, 'Prodigal Son' first broadcast on Sept 29, 1985 on NBC.
I’m currently listening to The Beatles Channel on Sirius XM….24/7 Beatles and Beatle related tracks…this has been played a bit recently…and I genuinely forgot just what a great track it is…
Seriously…it’s brilliant 🤩
For me, their best album is FACE THE MUSIC. Not a duff song on the album...the hits are fantastic and the album cuts are all, at a minimum, 'good'.
I had a good friend in the 90s, a real metalhead, who was obsessed with ELO. He was the one who got me into them and got me to explore their catalog of music beyond just the hits. If you want to learn songwriting and production, you really should dive into these albums. Great stuff.
Information Society - What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)
Thank You @HarryCanyon - and just for you - next up....
FACE THE MUSIC (1975)
Electric Light Orchestra
Jeff Lynne made a conscious decision while touring the El Dorado LP to stop faffing about with prog-rock storytelling and start writing and producing four-minute commercial masterpieces. The result is Face the Music, ELO’s most immediately accessible album and certainly the first collection that works as a cohesive whole, not as a series of individual disjointed pieces.
The band saw another reshuffle as established members Mike De Albuquerque and Mike Edwards departed and Kelly Grouchet and Melvyn Gale were recruited to bolster the bass and string departments. Lynne and Musicland engineer ‘Mack’ also chose to continue using a full orchestra on some tracks, as had occurred on the previous LP. The result was eight lush, listenable and exciting pop songs. I guess Lynne might dislike the term ‘pop’ but I do see it as something of a stretch to define ELO as rock n roll. Like all great commercial bands, they dig into many genres, rock n roll being one, but – as here – the expansive pallet Lynne brings to his writing allows classical, folk, choral, the troubadour ballad as well as good old rock n roll.
Fire On High is an instrumental inspired by The Exorcist and criticism of El Dorado being the spawn of the devil [some fool decided to play it backwards and discovered ‘hidden messages’ – what a dolt]. So, the only words spoken – other than a mocking Hallelujah! are spoken backwards: ‘The music is reversible but time is not, turn back, turn back, turn back, turn back.’ Fire On High is an excellent opening to the album, a brave choice to commence with an instrumental, but the way the song develops, moving through a ticking timepiece to a dramatic false beginning and a seemingly chaotic series of claps, choirs and strings. The tension builds until 90-seconds in Bev Bevan’s drums, cymbals and the orchestra kicks in with a dramatic clap of thunder. The track works as an opener because it draws us into what follows, the sweep of the romantic strings, the heavy strumming for the blues, the ethereal choirs, the rolling drums. We really feel that a god is being knocked out of the sky by the thunder, lightening and rain and brought sinking to earth by the voices of angels.
Waterfall slows the pace dramatically, before springing to an uplifting chorus. The mid-section instrumental bridge again displays the bands affinity with orchestration, while the Moog synthesiser adds a hint of unexpected otherworldliness. The song acts as a subtle intro to the next track Evil Woman, a disco influenced straight up Beatles-inspired song that became a perennial favourite. It was released as a single and made the top ten. You might think that’d be a catapult to success, but the second single Strange Magic did only fair business while Night Rider – despite the best efforts of the BBC, who featured it twice on Top of the Pops – didn’t even chart. Evil Woman remains a classic slice of seventies pop music. It is probably the track which most obviously points the way forward for Jeff Lynne and ELO.
Side one climaxes with Night Rider, which like the opener builds from a slow start into something more substantial and musically harmonious. The duo-melodies are particularly strong. Again the swirling strings are highly representative of future ELO projects. The galloping nature of the tune and another danceable refrain propel us through the story of a lost love affair, of a woman who ‘never reaches the end, who must travel on’. The music matches the lyrical content better than it ever did on El Dorado.
Poker thrashes us into side two, a song that is not about card games but gambling with love. A good, tight, rapid rocker, this one fairly pounds us along to those dirty dingy hotels and the groupies crawling along the passageways, the chances a band might want to take as ‘the joker closes in’.
Strange Magic calms us down beautifully. Lovely chorus, a whiff of delicate strings. A piano makes a welcome. Very good. Not quite a ballad, more a chant, a love song to whoever or whatever you want, the sun, the meadows, the sailing ships, they all get a look in, mostly though it is just musical magic all round.
Down Home Town is a naughty little ditty about life on the road and wanting to move on to the cheerful ‘Land of Dixie’. This folk – rock – troubadour song is both cheerful and scathing about the rock industry. The third verse boasts of ELO’s well-received US concerts ‘You see them winning every show – the best damn band around’. The hint of Dixieland seems to mock Elvis’s American Trilogy – ‘Look away’ sings the choir – as if rock n roll and the ballad singer’s travelling choral show has finally moved on.
The album draws to a close with One Summer Dream, whose soft, calming orchestral intro belies the heavy deep rich tempo and wistful swirl of the verses and chorus. The song builds to a super straddling climatic fading thrum. It is the longest track on the album, probably one of ELO’s best album tracks, and is longer than anything on the previous ‘prog rock triumph’ El Dorado.
Face the Music, unbelievably, failed to chart in the UK until it was repackaged in the Three Light Years boxset. That is some oversight by the record buying public. However, sales internationally made it the band’s first million seller [it was a top ten hit in the USA]. The cover was designed by Fred Valentine, a mock up of an electric chair, while the back photo showed the band pressed up against a glass window, presumably watching the execution. Their eyes are tinted a demonic red, which is a spectral touch perhaps not needed, for the album doesn’t really head down that devilish route.
I love Face the Music. It is a great forty minutes of pure pop. Every song is a winner, memorable and hummable. If I was ever asked to pick out an ELO album to serve as an introduction to the band, this would be it. Short, sharp and superbly crafted.
FACE THE MUSIC
Side One
Fire On High – Waterfall – Evil Woman – Night Rider
Side Two
Poker – Strange Magic – Down Home Town – One Summer Dream