The Album Review Club - Week #195 (page 1310) - A New World Record - ELO

[Coatigan]

You sound like my wife. She also finds me completely insufferable

What's Her favourite Beatles song?

 

[Coatigan]

That'll be the Chappell Roan :-)

There's been quite a lot of news coverage over here about the Age feature. Which I guess is exactly what Spotify wanted!

Is there?

 

[mrbelfry]

What's Her favourite Beatles song?

Mr Blue Sky

 

[threespires]

Is there?

It's not hold the front page stuff but there was a piece in the guardian, one on the BBC and segment on one of the news programmes along with the tabloids and the more obvious candidates like NME. Some of the BBC political correspondents were discussing their 'age' on something, think Faisal Islam was chuffed it had knocked 20 years off his age. Think irrespective of whether it's tosh or not it's done a good for them this year.

 

[mrbelfry]

What's Her favourite Beatles song?

I actually asked her and she said "you've asked me this before you obviously weren't listening" so thanks for that.

She also said the Candy Flip version of Strawberry Fields or Lady Madonna but she is not a fan

 

[threespires]

On the music evolution thread I'm about to nominate a song that begins with the line "With the money from her accident she bought herself a mobile home"; and therein lies the issue.

I'm basically miserable but in a let's love each other precisely because of our brokeness type happy way. Jeff Lynne however sounds, irrespective of subject matter, happy happy. Not happy with caveats happy. Just happy happy. In fact he seems unicorns happy in contrast to my 'this veil of tears' hopeful happy. I fear we can never be one and it's not you Jeff it is definitely me.

So what do I do? Do I acknowledge that whilst there are far too many notes, unlike Eric's, they are all the right ones in the right place? Or do I dock it 5 points for filling me with a sense of self-loathing more befitting a Danish prince with mummy issues? I'll meditate on it and get back with a score.

 

[threespires]

I actually asked her and she said "you've asked me this before you obviously weren't listening" so thanks for that.

Still a significantly better outcome than "I told you that literally 5 minutes ago". For Christmas, I'm thinking of going on etsy and getting MS a custom hand held sign with that written on it, to save her the effort of saying it. I'll make sure that's it not a hard wood like walnut though, so I can survive the cranial impact thereby allowing me to continue to provide her with many more happy hours of companionship. I think she'll be thrilled.

 

[mrbelfry]

Still a significantly better outcome than "I told you that literally 5 minutes ago". For Christmas, I'm thinking of going on etsy and getting MS a custom hand held sign with that written on it, to save her the effort of saying it. I'll make sure that's it not a hard wood like walnut though, so I can survive the cranial impact thereby allowing me to continue to provide her with many more happy hours of companionship. I think she'll be thrilled.

She's lucky to have you

 

[threespires]

She's lucky to have you

Excellent point. I think I'll ask for a t-shirt with a message to that effect; as I'll be setting up an etsy account, she can use that to order it. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[mrbelfry]

Excellent point. I think I'll ask for a t-shirt with a message to that effect; as I'll be setting up an etsy account, she can use that to order it. I'll let you know how it goes.

In my experience if things get a little heated telling your wife to calm down normally works quite well

 

[BimboBob]

In my experience if things get a little heated telling your wife to calm down normally works quite well

Including the word 'dear' helps as well.

 

[flook]

Still a significantly better outcome than "I told you that literally 5 minutes ago". For Christmas, I'm thinking of going on etsy and getting MS a custom hand held sign with that written on it, to save her the effort of saying it. I'll make sure that's it not a hard wood like walnut though, so I can survive the cranial impact thereby allowing me to continue to provide her with many more happy hours of companionship. I think she'll be thrilled.

That, my good sir, is an absolute gem of an idea, take a bow. Perhaps, rather than a wooden sign, something akin to those 'murican foam hand would be the safer option. Or balsa wood

 

[flook]

Including the word 'dear' helps as well.

I find "my sweet" very effective, she's not sure whether to blush or lamp me

 

[mrbelfry]

Wonderful review, I suspect the refusal to descend into misery is more a reaction to the first 3 albums than anything else

were they miserable albums or were they not successful?

 

[flook]

were they miserable albums or were they not successful?

They weren't miserable as such, they just weren't happy/pop rocky types of songs. It was a rather strange form of prog rock meets classical with a touch of the blues thrown in.

I've never heard the first two albums, named somewhat lazily ELO 1 and ELO 2, I think for most fans their career started with On the Third Day (highlights being Ma-Ma-Ma-Belle and In the Hall of the Mountain King (yes, that one).

They followed that with the concept album El Dorado which to my mind only really works in its entirety, and then the last of the initial trilogy, Face the Music which included fairly controversial art work of (front cover) a supposed execution by electrocution and (back cover) the bands faces pressed against the glass supposedly watching said electrocution. One of the band (I forget who) was so uncomfortable with the concept he refused to look and is portrayed looking away. Commercially this album provided the relatively successful "Evil Woman" and "Strange Magic", although I would recommend "Poker" and "Down Home Town" as substantially better songs.

This album cemented the line up which would remain stable until "Time" in the early eighties which dropped the strings and went mainstream pop, which was when my interest evaporated

 

[BimboBob]

They weren't miserable as such, they just weren't happy/pop rocky types of songs. It was a rather strange form of prog rock meets classical with a touch of the blues thrown in.

I've never heard the first two albums, named somewhat lazily ELO 1 and ELO 2, I think for most fans their career started with On the Third Day (highlights being Ma-Ma-Ma-Belle and In the Hall of the Mountain King (yes, that one).

They followed that with the concept album El Dorado which to my mind only really works in its entirety, and then the last of the initial trilogy, Face the Music which included fairly controversial art work of (front cover) a supposed execution by electrocution and (back cover) the bands faces pressed against the glass supposedly watching said electrocution. One of the band (I forget who) was so uncomfortable with the concept he refused to look and is portrayed looking away. Commercially this album provided the relatively successful "Evil Woman" and "Strange Magic", although I would recommend "Poker" and "Down Home Town" as substantially better songs.

This album cemented the line up which would remain stable until "Time" in the early eighties which dropped the strings and went mainstream pop, which was when my interest evaporated

Time is a bloody good album. Slated when it came out mind.

 

[flook]

Time is a bloody good album. Slated when it came out mind.

Not for me, synth pop which just doesn't float my boat. The album before, Discovery, was starting to lean that way and I did enjoy that because it had enough of ELO still there, but as far as I was concerned the writing was on the wall. I don't think I've heard anything after Time and never play that. Discovery gets the odd listen when I'm in the mood.

 

[BimboBob]

Not for me, synth pop which just doesn't float my boat. The album before, Discovery, was starting to lean that way and I did enjoy that because it had enough of ELO still there, but as far as I was concerned the writing was on the wall. I don't think I've heard anything after Time and never play that. Discovery gets the odd listen when I'm in the mood.

Disco very as Mr Tandy called it.

 

[flook]

Disco very as Mr Tandy called it.

haha did he? Strangely "Confusion" has popped onto spotify as I type this

 

[BimboBob]

haha did he? Strangely "Confusion" has popped onto spotify as I type this

Didn't like the direction the album went apparently.