Time (Electric Light Orchestra album)

Time
Studio album by Electric Light Orchestra
Released July 1981 (UK)
August 1981 (US)
Recorded Early 1981 at Musicland Studios
Munich, Germany
Genre New wave, synthrock, art rock, progressive rock, pop rock
Length 43:57
Label Jet
Producer Jeff Lynne
Electric Light Orchestra chronology

Four Light Years
(1980)		 Time
(1981)		 Secret Messages
(1983)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Rolling Stone [2]
Popmatters (Positive)[3]

Time is a concept album by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) released in 1981 through Jet Records. The album tells the story, through its songs and lyrics, of a man from the 1980s finding himself in the year 2095 and trying to come to terms with being unable to return and adjusting to his new surroundings.

In 2001, the album was remastered and reissued on CD with three additional bonus tracks, two of which ("Julie Don't Live Here" and "When Time Stood Still") had already been released as B-sides of singles ("Twilight" and "Hold On Tight" respectively) from the original album, while the other ("The Bouncer") was originally released as the UK B-side of the 1983 single "Four Little Diamonds" from the follow-up album Secret Messages.

Musical style

While the two preceding ELO albums, Discovery and Xanadu, were heavily influenced by pop and disco, Time is much closer to ELO's roots of progressive rock music. Songs like "Ticket to the Moon", "The Way Life's Meant to Be", "Rain Is Falling", and "21st Century Man" are reminiscent of material from the A New World Record through Out of the Blue era of ELO, while other tracks explore new influences such as new wave ("Twilight", "Yours Truly, 2095", "Another Heart Breaks", "From the End of the World", and "Here Is the News"), reggae ("The Lights Go Down"), and rockabilly ("Hold On Tight") with the core ELO sound. The album reached number 1 in the UK Albums Chart.[4] The hit single "Hold On Tight" proved to be the band's last top-ten single in both the US and UK, and the album itself achieved Platinum and Gold status in the UK and US respectively.

Rainer Pietsch took over conducting the strings, although Louis Clark did appear (for the first time) playing keyboards in the live line-up on the subsequent Time tour.

Subsequent musical influences

The album's sound influenced the band Brave Saint Saturn to create the astro-rock music genre. The musical style and theme of Time were echoed in later albums such as The Sophtware Slump by Grandaddy, who cited the album as a great influence; and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots by The Flaming Lips. In an early 1980s Rolling Stone magazine interview, Steve Winwood said that ELO's Time had influenced him. Ladyhawke has stated that ELO's Time is one of her five favourite albums.[5] In 1998, Cher sampled a synth sound from "Prologue" and "Epilogue" at the beginning of her number 1 hit single "Believe".[6] In 2012, on his mixtape "Nehru Jackets," the rapper Himanshu Suri aka Heems sampled the chorus of "Yours Truly, 2095" in his track "Computers," which deals with themes similar to the original song. The song "Hold On Tight" was featured prominently in a Coffee Achievers ad campaign.[7]

Track listing

All songs written by Jeff Lynne. Strings conducted by Rainer Pietsch.

Side one
  1. "Prologue" – 1:15
  2. "Twilight" – 3:35
  3. "Yours Truly, 2095" – 3:15
  4. "Ticket to the Moon" – 4:06
  5. "The Way Life's Meant to Be" – 4:36
  6. "Another Heart Breaks" – 3:46
Side two
  1. "Rain Is Falling" – 3:54
  2. "From the End of the World" – 3:16
  3. "The Lights Go Down" – 3:31
  4. "Here Is the News" – 3:49
  5. "21st Century Man" – 4:00
  6. "Hold On Tight" – 3:05
  7. "Epilogue" – 1:30
Bonus tracks on the 2001 edition
  1. "The Bouncer" – 3:14
  2. "When Time Stood Still" – 3:33
    • B-side to "Hold On Tight"
  3. "Julie Don't Live Here" – 3:42
    • B-side to "Twilight"

Personnel

Additional personnel

Tour line-up

Charts

Chart positions

Chart (1981) Peak
position
Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart[8] 3
Austrian Albums Chart[9] 2
Canadian RPM Albums Chart[10] 7
Dutch Mega Albums Chart[11] 2
French SNEP Albums Chart[12] 28
Italian Albums Chart[13] 19
Japanese Oricon LP Chart[14] 36
New Zealand Albums Chart[15] 10
Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart[16] 2
Swedish Albums Chart[17] 1
UK Albums Chart[18] 1
US Billboard 200[19] 16
US (CashBox) 9
West German Media Control Albums Chart[20] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (1981) Position
Australian Albums Chart[8] 18
Austrian Albums Chart[21] 16
Canadian Albums Chart[22] 32
Italian Albums Chart[13] 66
UK Albums Chart[23] 21

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia 130,000[24]
Germany (BVMI)[25] Gold 250,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[26] Platinum 300,000^
United States (RIAA)[27] Gold 500,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ Chrispell, James. Time (Electric Light Orchestra album) at AllMusic. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  2. ↑ Frost, Deborah (10 December 1981). "Electric Light Orchestra: Time: Music Review". Archived from the original on 17 April 2008.
  3. ↑ "Electric Light Orchestra – Time < PopMatters". Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  4. ↑ "Electric Light Orchestra". Offfical Charts Company. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  5. ↑ http://www.repeatfanzine.co.uk/Reviews/lady%20hawke.htm
  6. ↑ http://www.whosampled.com/Prologue-Epilogue/Electric-Light-Orchestra/
  7. ↑ http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/looking-back-coffee-achievers-18507
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  9. ↑ "austriancharts.at Electric Light Orchestra – Time" (ASP). Hung Medien (in German). Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  10. ↑ Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 24 February 2012
  11. ↑ "dutchcharts.nl Electric Light Orchestra – Time" (ASP). dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  12. ↑ "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste > Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste : Electric Light Orchestra". infodisc.fr. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Hit Parade Italia – Gli album più venduti del 1981" (in Italian). hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  14. ↑ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  15. ↑ "charts.org.nz Electric Light Orchestra – Time" (ASP). Hung Medien. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  16. ↑ "norwegiancharts.com Electric Light Orchestra – Time" (ASP). Hung Medien. VG-lista. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  17. ↑ "swedishcharts.com Electric Light Orchestra – Time" (ASP). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  18. ↑ "Chart Stats – Electric Light Orchestra – Time" (PHP). UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  19. ↑ "allmusic ((( Time > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". allmusic.com. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  20. ↑ "Album Search: Electric Light Orchestra – Discovery" (ASP) (in German). Media Control. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  21. ↑ "Austriancharts.st – Jahreshitparade 1981" (ASP) (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  22. ↑ "RPM Top 100 Albums of 1981". RPM. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  23. ↑ "Complete UK Year-End Album Charts". Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  24. ↑ "Billboard Vol. 94, No. 23– Majors Flight Economics with Quirky Rock Originals". Billboard. 6 December 1982. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  25. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Electric Light Orchestra; 'Time')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  26. ↑ "British album certifications – Electric Light Orchestra – Time". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 24 February 2012. Enter Time in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
  27. ↑ "American album certifications – Electric Light Orchestra – Time". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 24 February 2012. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
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