Review Summary: On its fifth studio release, ELO sheds its progressive rock pretensions to bridge the gap between album rock and Top 40 radio with this collection of strong A- and B-sides.
At some point during the making of ELO's fourth album
Eldorado, guitarist/vocalist/producer/songwriter/creative monopolist Jeff Lynne must have experienced a career-changing epiphany: He would be better off if he largely stuck to the basics, focusing on the nuts and bolts of writing hooks while leaving the complexities of his band's arrangements specifically and progressive rock generally to other people. With his rock "symphony" now behind him,
Face the Music would test whether Lynne could apply this less-is-more philosophy to a more conventional record. And in some ways, he managed to outdo himself.
For the first time, the Electric Light Orchestra had an album that yielded two hit singles. The more successful of the pair was the distinctive piano-driven "Evil Woman," an up-tempo three-chord-wonder with a guitar riff that would signal the beginning of Jeff Lynne's long and ultimately aggravating love affair with disco. On the
Discovery album, Lynne would go off the deep end and become the arsonist in his own disco inferno, but on this record, the disco influence works well enough in small doses.
The runner-up in this edition of the ELO hit parade was "Strange Magic." This one is decidedly more sedate than "Evil Woman," but more catchy than anything from the pre-
Eldorado period.
There was also some magic to be found in the deeper tracks. Continuing with the ethereal vibe of "Strange Magic" is the even better "One Summer Dream," which captures Lynne at his most emotional as the song transports you across a sea of phased guitar and strings. "Fire On High" begins as a tongue-in-cheek abbreviated take on the Beatles' "Revolution 9" with a wink in the direction of the Christian fundamentalist backward-masking hysterics of that time, then leads into a guitar-strumming instrumental that gives ELO co-founder and drummer Bev Bevan a rare chance to do something a bit more interesting with his kit. (Bevan would get fewer of those opportunities as time went on. Yes, you can blame disco for that, too.)
The most noteworthy song on this record is "Nightrider," which distills the very best elements of this period of ELO. Building upon a wistful McCartney-influenced keyboard progression, Lynne trades vocals with new bassist Kelly Groucutt, whose distinctive tenor works quite well here as the song builds toward what had by now become one of ELO's signature string crescendos. One of the finest B-sides of Jeff Lynne's career.
However,
Face the Music also exposes some of Jeff Lynne's limitations as a songwriter. "Down Home Town" is to country music what Spam is to meat -- one listens to it in the hopes that it is meant to be some sort of parody, only to realize that Lynne actually means it. The ostensibly gritty "Poker" is an unconvincing homily against the perils of gambling addiction that starts out well enough, but it's clear by its end that neither hard rock nor social commentary are Lynne's bailiwick. (Shouldn't he have already learned this from
ELO 2 ?)
Jeff Lynne is at his best when he borrows heavily from Paul McCartney and more lightly from John Lennon, for Lynne possesses an uncanny ability to channel the melodic intelligence of the Beatles while adding his own personal touch. (Take that, Oasis.) But the ELO bandleader gets in over his head when he looks too far beyond the Fab Four for his influences, as he seems unable to avoid homogenizing whatever else he tries. This inflexibility as a composer would catch up to him soon enough, but Lynne and ELO fans would not yet have to face that music on the next album,
A New World Record.
Recommended tracks: "Nightrider", "One Summer Dream", "Fire On High", "Evil Woman", "Strange Magic"
Author's note/ shameless plug: This is one part of my ongoing series of reviews of most of ELO's original studio releases, with albums reviewed in chronological order. If you found this commentary to be somewhat informative, interesting, intriguing, intelligent, indefensible, insufferable, infuriating, incoherent, inane, incomprehensible or insulting, or if you just want to take pity on a guy who is masochistic enough to write these things, then please take a look at the other reviews and add your own thoughts. Thanks.
