Album of the Week: Time - Electric Light Orchestra

This weeks Album of the Week is the 1981 classic Time from Electric Light Orchestra. The album is a futuristic synth-pop rock concept album that feels like an ode to the past from the perspective of someone in the future. This album was not as successful as some of Electric light Orchestra's others such as Out of the Blue (1977) and Discovery (1979) which makes sense because it was a major shift from their earlier work, but it's my personal favourite from the group (I'm easily swayed with a bit of synth). They really leaned into the 80s retrofuturism, going heavy with synth and electronics. 

Tracklist:
1. Prologue

2. Twilight
3. Yours Truly,2095
4. Ticket to the Moon
5. The Way Life's Meant to Be
6. Another Heart Breaks
7. Rain Is Falling
8. From the End of the World
9. The Lights Go Down
10. Here Is the News
11. 21st Century Man
12. Hold On Tight
13. Epilogue

I have somewhat of an aversion to listening to albums in order, but as this is a concept album, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense jumbled up. I think the album is up to interpretation to a degree, it's obviously about time travelling but I also think some parts are a little vague, particularly towards the end. My interpretation of the story would be that the album is actually a series of messages from the future. The first track Prologue is just an alert to tell us the next 42 minutes is a series of messages that have finally made their way to 1981 from 2095. The second track Twilight describes to us how the main character was taken to the future by a time traveller, and the next 8/9 tracks are messages from him from the future detailing his loneliness in a strange place and his longing to return back home, back to his time and back to whoever he has left behind. I think the last 2/3 tracks are his acceptance of his life in the future and the hope that maybe one day he will return home.

Top 3 Tracks

These are my favourite tracks from this album completely separate the concept of the album that I just enjoy as stand alone pieces of music.

Yours Truly, 2095

This song is definitely up there with one of my favourite songs of all time. It has the perfect amount of futurism and distortion that just scratches something in my brain. The song deals with missing someone and how they can never be replaced, in the context of the album it's more missing something that you're physically can't return to but as a separate entity it can also just be seen as a metaphor for the inability to replace someone you love. My favourite part of this song is the chorus: "I love you, sincerely/ yours truly, yours truly" which has some kind of robotic distortion over it. It gives me a weird sense of nostalgia but when I tried looking it up I couldn't find it having ever been used in anything (but if anyone knows let me know). Special shout out for the lyric "maybe one day I'll feel her cold embrace and kiss her interface" which is absolute genius.

From the End of the World

From the End of the World is a more funk inspired song than the other songs on the album. The song feels almost like a descent into madness, the desperation of trying to reach someone who is unreachable. Again it can be taken out of the context of the album and interpreted as a cry for someone who is unattainable. The synths that are used in the verses give this kind of unhinged vibe (I don't know how else to describe it) that make it sound like a nightmare. 

Here Is the News

This song basically breaks down the monotony of living a life that you don't want to live. In the context of Time that being our main character living in the future and just wanting to return home. It is very repetitive in the verses. I like it mostly for the melody and the synths that are used. I also really like the use of news broadcasting sound bites that have been overlaid into the chorus as well as over each other towards the end of the song.

That about ties up my thoughts on this album, thanks for reading :)

Kat xx