35. Electric Light Orchestra--Face the Music

 #35: Electric Light Orchestra--Face the Music (1975)

Top-Notch Tracks: "Strange Magic," "One Summer Dream," "Evil Woman," "Poker," "Nightrider"

Album Depth: "Waterfall," "Down Home Town," "Fire On High"

Weak Links: Not really.

Stand-Out Lyrics: "You made a fool of me. But them broken dreams have got to end."--"Evil Woman"

"You're sailing softly through the sun in a broken stone age dawn. You fly, so high."--"Strange Magic"

"The ace that's hiding up your sleeve will cause the world to grieve."--"Poker"

"I still see that vision of delight while cruising on the black of night. But she keeps a step ahead."--"Nightrider"

"There's a hole in my head where the rain comes in. You took my body and played to win."--"Evil Woman"

"Blue mountains high, and valley low; I don't know which way I should go."--"One Summer Dream"

"I know, you know, they know, we all know."--"Poker"

"So now it's getting late for those who hesitate, got no one."--"Waterfall"

"It's so good that you're feeling pain. Yes, you better get your face on board the very next train."--"Evil Woman"

"This town's respectable and clean. Just look around, you'll see what I mean."--"Down Home Town"

"Ha, ha, very nice to know that you ain't got no place well left to go."--"Evil Woman"


Electric Light Orchestra--Face the Music

 
Face the Music--back cover

Album Cover: 8 out of 10. I like the clever double meaning of the album's title--dealing with the consequences of your crimes in the electric chair, and also facing literal music. The pressed-against-the-glass back cover really brings it home, in an expertly silly way.

Comments: This is the album where ELO really made the transition from "artistic, experimental band," to "pop music phenomenon." (You see those quotation marks? Ignore them. Nobody actually said those things. At least, not that I know of.)

"Evil Woman" was the group's first really big hit. I like it a lot, but it's never been one of my favorite ELO songs. I'm not sure why. Maybe because it's so well-known? Listening to it again, I'm impressed by the groove and the lyrics. (That woman really was evil, wasn't she?)

"Strange Magic" was a hit, too. It's a wonderful song, but it lacks the lyrical punch to make it an all-time great. (It's mostly just the words "Strange Magic" over and over again.) (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

"One Summer Dream" is one of those dreamy, floating songs that I like so much. "Waterfall" is a nice little ballad. 

"Poker" is a cool rocker with some nifty guitar work. After all these years of listening to it, I learned just this week that Kelly Groucutt sings the lead on this song instead of Jeff Lynne. I had no idea! Jeff and Kelly also switch off vocals on the verses of "Nightrider."

The other two songs are borderline problematic. "Down Home Town" has that little interlude where they break in with a bit of "Dixie." As you know, "Dixie" is now a bad word. Dixie College in St. George is changing its name to Utah Polytech University at St. George (UPUST) just to avoid it. That said, I don't think singing along to "Down Home Town" makes me a racist any more than watching Bo and Luke Duke does. (At least not any more than laughing at Roscoe P. Coltrane makes me a dipstick or pausing the DVR on Daisy Duke makes me a pervert.) (Wait, did I say that last one out loud?)

The other problem is both "Down Home Town" and "Fire On High" start with some backward masking. The odd sound at the beginning of "Down Home Town" is a backwards rendering of a bit of the chorus from the song "Waterfall." Pretty innocent stuff. But, the backwards masking at the start of "Fire On High" sounds much more sinister. It is a backwards recording of drummer Bev Bevan saying, "The music is reversible, but time is not. Turn back. Turn back. Turn back." And while it sounds pretty creepy, the words themselves aren't really bad at all. I've got no problem with these backwards messages.

I do, however, have a little bit of a problem with the whole tone of things at the beginning of "Fire On High." Besides the scary backwards stuff, there's a generally evil feel to the whole endeavor. The title "Fire On High" implies that heaven may be burning. It's all a little off-putting. And then, the guitar kicks in. Damn, that's some good guitar work! (And Bev is really working those drums, too.) Once you get past that initial one minute and thirty seconds of creepiness, it's one helluva nice little instrumental song. In fact, back when I was a kid, it was used as the theme song for the CBS Sports Spectacular show. (Which was the CBS attempt to match ABC's Wide World of Sports.) 

Still, if I could excise the first 1:30 of "Fire On High" and the Dixie interludes from "Down Home Town," I probably would. (I've never really understood the whole worship of the Confederacy, anyway. They were traitors to this country who got their ass kicked in a war. And it happened one hundred and sixty years ago. Get over it, losers! I think it's time to finally face the music.)


 Up next: 1? Actually, I prefer it turned up to 11.

Comments

  1. darenolsonJuly 30, 2021 at 3:27 PM

    Although I have heard and sung along to "Evil Woman" and "Strange Magic" a gazillion times, I had never heard this entire album all the way through. So most of this music was new to me. A started listening to it during my morning get-ready-for-work routine in the bathroom, and my reaction to the beginning of the album was, "Damn! This is how an album should start--with over a minute of strange and confusing sounds that's got me wondering what kind of music this is and then...BAMMO! I felt an irrepressible feeling of joy when the guitars start charging through the speakers into my ear holes. I actually started dancing around the bathroom! And I didn't even have to go Number 1! (It's never a good idea to dance around if you have to go Number 2.) I thoroughly enjoyed all of the songs on this album--and it sounds like a real ALBUM with songs that are interconnected in various ways--except for "Down Home Town." It's the only one that I had the urge to skip when I listened to the entire album through a second and third time. This is simply a terrific album in pretty much every way, and now I'm thinking I want to listen to all of the ELO albums from beginning to end right now, but I'm going to wait because I have a sneaky suspicion that it won't be the last ELO album on this list.

    But damn! I love that Fire on High song! (Including the first 90 seconds.) I'm adding it to my list of workout songs--although I don't work out anymore, so I'm not sure what good adding it to that lis will do. But if I ever do get off of the couch and start jogging again, this is one of the songs that I'll blow my knees out to.

    Nardo

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