In this song Jeff Lynne shares vocals with bassist, Kelly Groucutt. They trade back and forth during the lyrics. It is a little tough distinguishing between the two, but if you listen closely, you can hear a difference. If you watch the official video, you will see them trading back and forth. I attended their Time concert in Denver on September 27, 1981. They opened with "Prologue" immediately followed by "Twilight" and got the crowd into it right from the start. It was a fantastic concert with a lot of early ELO hits and a tribute to John Lennon. I will never forget it.
Kelly's voice is a little sharper, but you're right, if you didn't know they shared vocals you'd think it was just Jeff. Poor old Kelly, got treated quite badly IMHO. And yes,I do see the irony in replying to a four year old post about an album that deals with time travel!!🫨😆
I guess it would have been dammed if you do. If Jeff stuck to the lush strings like on previous albums, he would be criticised for not moving on. Lucky for us he did though.
Hi, Craig here, thanks for the reaction! This is admittedly not an obvious choice, but that's partly why I chose it - I feel this song/album is greatly underrated, so wanted to shine some light on it. Jeff Lynne's 80's production can be an acquired taste, but it gets better with each listen. If you want to do a full album review, a good place to start might be Out of The Blue. Thanks again
_Time_ is, in my opinion, one of the best and most polished albums ever produced. It's just a fantastic listen. The soundscape packed in there is crazy awesome.
The first song “Prologue” is a short beginning to this song. It sets you up for the story to follow that begins with Twilight. Such an excellent album!! You should hear Prologue and this whole album sometime!
I first heard this song when I was 17 and stopped my pickup on the side of the road to savor the moment and blasted the speakers as loud as I could. This is my favorite song by my favorite band.
I think I said it somewhere else before. This song could have been a hit on its own. This album is stunning as a whole too. It is so close to perfect imho. Top quality
I was 10 in 1981 and this with Prologue blew my mind. I had never heard anything like it and looking back, I still haven't heard anything that hit me like this very song. Staggering how one song can follow you through your entire life like this. Opened my eyes, my ears and my heart to a band that simply never stops surprising you in every song they play. I will still listen to Time at least once a week and have done so ever since I wore out two tapes, and god knows how many CDS. Thank heavens for MP3 players becaus I can finally give my collection of Time a rest.. as for my ears, hell no, this album is everything to me!
What a DEEP cut! Never a single as I recall. Time is one of my favorite albums, but best listened to as a whole the first time...no pun intended! Jeff Lynne is my absolute favorite musician. Sheer genius!!!
Was definitely released as a single in '81 - it didn't get VERY high on the charts....peaking at something like #38, I think. I also think this album was released after there'd been major changes in the group. Catchy as it is, ELO's best stuff was far behind at this point. Go back and look at Out of the Blue, A New World Record, and earlier for some really choice ELO!
@@Pixelologist ... I personally like all of ELO's and Jeff's albums, except for the first two. They are too proggy for me, although I know that they are a lot of other people's favorites.
You really have to listen to this with the "Prologue" intro to get the full impact of the song. I was up early when it first came out, and heard it on the radio during one of the most memorable sunrises of my life.
The album "Time" is a concept album telling the story of a man sent into the future (it's not clear how or even if his experience is real) but the man misses the simpler time he came from and tries to get back.
I was lucky enough to see Jeff Lynne's ELO live in concert 3x within the last couple of years. To hear this in a packed stadium with full light show is just a wonderment...Check out his recent DVD Wembley Or Bust and turn up the volume on a big screen TV It's superb :)
You're making me feel old now, I remember listening to this song when it first came out. Most times it played they played the prologue along with it, with the electronic voice like a Cylon church going there. I'd recommend the last track the Time album as well, "Hold on Tight to Your Dream" it has a 50's kind of sound to it with 80's style pace and rhythm.
This was used as the backing music to Daicon IV, an anime short that was created as a sort of proof of concept reel/calling card for what, would eventually become the animation studio Gainax, who produced a number of anime including Neon Genesis Evangelion. Worth seeking out.
I want to say the bigger hit off of this album is - Hold on tight To your dreams you may know that song. Here is the news is another standout but the whole album is excellent!
Came looking for something from Time, love this track. This is a concept album so it makes much more sense to hear the songs in order, but I enjoyed your take on the song as a stand alone. Thanks!
This album was the first album my dad ever played for me when i was like 3 or 4. i remember dancing all over the living room. He had it on vinyl and had a huge speaker system from the 80's the size of the entire wall lmao. Jeff Lynne's falsetto here reminds me a lot of Steven Wilson's from Porcupine Tree :3
If you want to try more ELO songs try any of the following: Shangri La, One Summers Dream, Tightrope, Big Wheels, Midnight Blue to start with. Brilliant band with high production values. Go and give them a try.
Good reaction guys! My favorite tracks off of this album are "Ticket to the Moon" and the hit "Hold on Tight" and I had this LP when it was new and so was I at 19 years old.
My favorite ELO album, top to bottom! I use the intro to "Here Is The News" as my iPhone ringtone ... drives my wife batty every time it goes off! My son likes to prank me by bringing up the video on RU-vid, gets me running to the phone thinking it's a call. Hilarious.
I think this album was ahead of its time. Very futuristic and super ultra modern. This song woulda been a massive hit on its own. But then again this astonishing band or group was ahead of itself surely.
Time was the first album I ever bought with my own allowance money. I was 11. Never heard of ELO. I bought it cuz it looked cool. I was hooked after 5 minutes. I was a BSG fan at the time, and I loved the Cylon voice.
Someone probably already recommended the Daicon animation set to this already, but you should check that out. You'll have fun picking out your favorite comic and animated heroes in that one.
Sumner and lightning, .......calling America... Julie dont live here anymore. Rock and roll is king . The lights go down ,..... Rain is falling. . Confusion.... All amazing
Twilight is one of my favourite ELO tracks, and that means a lot coming from me because I like a lot of ELO! I am also quite a discerning listener! This track is notable for it’s harmonies, it’s hooks and it’s chord changes. You have to look at Chopin to see similar chord sequences! Also note that the album was a massive no.1 in the UK!
Love it when you react to my two favorite musical artists! Jeff Lynne, and Bruce! Btw, i see you up there on top of the album cover pyramid, with the much loved Clarence! (Watching on my phone, i only see the bottom third of the Born to Run cover. Don't know if it's a fuller ratio on a laptop) Love your appreciation for both my guys! Thanks for the video! Jeff is simply in a class by himself when it comes to music that simply makes you feel amazing! 💕
Thanks Michael really appreciate the support and kind words! We actually shoot in a different location now BUT I have Darkness on The Edge of Town behind us :)
All the ELO were classically trained musicians , all the instruments on the recording were played by the band . Jeff Lynn was a genius and wrote and produced virtually everything the group did . The next track you want to react to is ELO 's " Mr. Blue sky "
Everybody says that ELO sounds like what would happen if The Beatles didn’t break up and kept releasing music in the vein of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and you can really hear it here. Especially Jeff Lynne’s voice and arrangements. With that said on the other hand ELO has their own identity and no other band sounds like them. Jeff Lynne is a master composer, imho and is one of my favorites. Time is such an underrated album, it received mixed reviews due to it’s more prominent use of electronics and synthesizer, but I personally love it and the concept is so interesting especially thinking about it now.
Also, The Rain Is Falling, also on Time. I got this for my birthday in 1981, but only this summer I heard the hidden lyrics. "It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring" and "Rain rain go away, come again another day." And if you haven't done Out of the Blue - Concerto for a Rainy Day which is comprised of 4 songs.
This song kinda has a doppleganger. In the late 80s there was a low budget horror movie called Paganini Horror, about a struggling rock/pop band that pisses off the ghost of Nicolo Paganini when they use a unpublished sheet music that he died before finishing up to write some new songs. One of the songs in the movie, called Winds of Time (sensing a theme here 😂) is the same music but with different lyrics and a chick singing. The movie plagiarizes You Give Love a Bad Name too with a song called Stay The Night. Good review of a classic ELO song.
Unlike most E.L.O. hits, this isn’t really a single, it’s definitely a part of an album. Time is a concept album that’s best played in order and in it’s entirety.
Groovy song from a really groovy band...Jeff Lynne is one of the most under-rated figures in music in my view, given his insanely illustrious production career coupled with his earlier work with ELO - obviously, 'Mr Blue Sky' is the ultimate go-to ELO track par excellence, but I think you might have already covered that in a livestream or something a while back, yes? Otherwise, I'd recommend any or all of the following for future reactions/reviews: a) 'Don't Bring Me Down', 'Do Ya?', 'Wild West Hero', 'All Over the World', 'Hold on Tight', 'Rock and Roll is King', 'I'm Alive' and/or 'Xanadu' (songs) b) 'Out of the Blue' (album) - plus his work with Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, George Harrison, etc., etc...not to mention the Wilburys, of course!!! I'd also highly recommend trying to get hold of the 'Live in Hyde Park' concert on DVD, which not only features Jeff Lynne's first live performance with ELO for 30 years back in 2014 - you can see that even Jeff himself was surprised at the sheer joyousness of the reception he got! - but also includes a fascinating BBC documentary about his life and music called (what else?) ''Mr Blue Sky: The Story of Jeff Lynne and ELO'. (You can get it on DVD here at www.amazon.co.uk/Live-Hyde-Park-DVD-NTSC/dp/B01088HF2O/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=jeff+lynnes+elo+hyde+park+dvd&qid=1586662669&sr=8-1 or if you prefer, the whole concert - but not the documentary - can be found on RU-vid at ru-vid.com/group/PLfUSkYDo0f2clNTmofA-5lYWvN3l1mgOJ - either way, enjoy, yes?).
Olivia Newton John & ELO teamed up for the tune 'Xanadu". It was a song from the soundtrack to the 1980 film 'Xanadu'. The song would be a monster worldwide hit in 1980 & 1981. ELO did their own toned down version in 2000 w/ Lynne on vocals for their boxset & greatest hits releases. Try one their more underrated songs 'Last Train To London'. ELO was definitely not your run of the mill band. Good one guys - ciao.
I watched the 'Xanadu' movie for the first time a few months ago...suffice to say that it's a lot more fun than its reputation suggests, yes? (Especially the ELO bits...plus, I could have sworn that I detected a slight passing facial resemblance between its male lead, Michael Beck of 'Warriors' fame, and our man Shawn...but I could easily be wrong, yes...?!)
They are still around but with a different group setup ' Jeff Lynne's ELO' but sound just as good.checkout the 'Wembley Or Bust' video dvd it also has the audio version of the complete concert in the 2 disc pack.....
With "Twilight" on the album the track prior and the track after kinda go together with it because the sounds bleed from one track to the other. I was also 10 years old in 1981 but I had already been listening to ELO back in 1975 if you can believe it LOL "Livin Thing" got me hooked on ELO and have loved them ever since. One of my favorite ELO songs is "Shangri La" on the New World Record album in 1976.
Guys, you should have played thr Prologue, it sets up the song. Absolutely fabulous record, definitely one of my top ELO tracks and I've been a fan since the beginning of the group.... I was 5 years old!!!
ELO did great songs for Xanadu and this album and out of the blue are my favorites. Dont walk away is a great ballad they did too with a great animated video from Don Bluth. Cheers.
Hi guys... Try 'Secret Messages' it's a great underrated album. Other classics are 'Elderado', 'A New World Record', 'Out Of The Blue', 'Discovery' and 'Time' (which Twilight is from). You might also want to check out the 2 excellent Traveling Wilburies albums if you haven't already, they consist of Gerorge Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Roy Orbison (Orbison was on the 1st album only as he passed away between the two).
I never heard this before but I like it. I think it is a pretty good song. I agree with what you said Trey and I agree what you said Shawn. It has a spacey sound and a fast tempo and angelic sound at the end of the song. Also the harmonies are good. And the lyrics are interesting. You guys gave the song a solid 7.5. I would rate it a nice 7.0.
Geff Lynns musical journey starting with the move in the sixties and transition into ELO.the split with Roy wood who went on to release one of the all time Xmas hits it's been a never ending ride a huge musical career with ELO still going strong today. john Lennon allegedly said of ELO some thing like, these guys are gonna be the new beatles, he went on to produce for the Beatles and Roy Orbison and others, helped form the travelling Willburys along with George Harrison, tom petty, Roy Orbison Bob Dillon his musical legacy is phenomenal
Wow, Craig chose another surprising one. This is not in any way shape or form ELO at their peak. I mean, synths on an ELO track? Weird. Their seventies stuff is so much better. And yeah, the Beatles connection is huge - and that's before Jeff Lynne teamed up with any of the Beatles themselves. Strip away the orchestras and the progressive flashes and you have in Lynne a songwriter who very much comes from the same school as Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison. New World Record, Eldorado, and Out of the Blue are the albums to beat. Also, their Wembley and Bust live concert from 2017 is awesome. The tracklist is basically a greatest hits with some oddities thrown in and the performance is weirdly perfect, considering how intricate the original songs are and the age of Lynne and the rest. You can find some clips on RU-vid pretty easily.
Hey Ilan, it's Craig. You're right, I do sometimes prefer to choose less conventional ones! But I actually think this whole album is great, over time it proved to be one of the most consistent ELO albums for me,. . Agree with eveyrthing else you said though.
@@craig9911 Ha! That you certainly do! Hmmm, maybe I should give it another shot. I actually liked the live version of Twilight a LOT more than the studio version. '80s production and ELO don't exactly make for the best of bedfellows.
As a long time Anime fan my introduction to this song (and album) was through the student animated opening film done for the Japanese SF convention Daikon IV convention in 1983. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-brUwfQncCvI.html&ab_channel=GamingClips Though unofficial I have always wondered how many extra albums this sold for ELO.
Wow, I'm first!! I always thought that if the Beatles had stayed together, their music would be somewhere in between ELO and Pink Floyd. I thought their early stuff was the best. They (he?) got a little too disco-esque for my taste so I lost interest. They were always well produced and bigger than the sum of their parts (if that makes any sense). My favorite album of theirs is Eldorado. Their most interesting song is their interpretation of Roll Over Beethoven.
Try listening to my 2 favourite tracks from ELO. Both non single album tracks. Dreaming of 4000 from 1973s On the Third Day and Tightrope, opening track from 1976s A New World Record. Dreaming of 4000 was a B side to a single I can’t place it to. I’m sure you will both love Dreaming of 4000, being earlier ELO and a bit heavier, with a deep meaning.
Excellent tune from ELO, but not typical of their “signature sound”. In 1981, they dropped most of the orchestration in favor of synths for a more updated, new decade sound. This album has been influential to bands like Daft Punk. You should review their classic staple hits. There are at least a dozen with Mr. Blue Sky, Turn To Stone, Telephone Line, Livin’ Thing and Don’t Bring Me down as just a start.
We will at some point, keep in mind this is for one of our Patrons so that is why it was chosen. We have an album review for New World Record dropping next week. Thanks David
There was an early period of ELO that i liked quite a bit - not so much this. didn't much care for Jeff's production of the Threetles but really liked his work on Brainwashed and The Wilbury's.
Well, it is open to interpretation, but I think it is generally understood as a time travel story. Although the songs easily can stand alone, the whole album Time is a concept album, and as such should really be listened to beginning to end (where the several B-sides that didn't make it to the album fit in the narrative is debatable, and some songs are not very tightly connected to the narrative.) This is the first song on the album after the prologue (which really should be included when listening to Twilight.) It features the protagonist going to sleep, and in the twilight state, he either dreams or experiences ("It's either real or it's a dream, there's nothing that is inbetween") being taken (not necessarily abducted) or even voluntarily going ("I only meant to stay a while") to the far future, it could be 2095, as the song Yours Truly 2095 possibly hints at. Over the course of the album, he variously has a strong longing to go back, missing his girlfriend (Julie don't Live Here Anymore, From the End of the World), feeling awed but also annoyed by futuristic technology and lifestyle (21st Century Man, Ticket to the Moon, Yours Truly 2095...) In the end he seems to have accepted his fate of being stranded in the future, but - possibly - the people of the future send him back (21st Century Man), and he wakes up, possibly wondering if it was all just a dream, possibly being happy back home. (Bouncer.) I don't think Jeff Lynne has ever elaborated on the story, and I think it is great that he leaves it open. The sometimes blurry distinction between dream/fantasy and reality is a theme JL has used several times (Eldorado is a great example), all the way back through his career to the time of Idle Race. (Which, btw, may or may not have been named after the Eloi race of humans from the future, described as an "idle race", in H.G. Wells' story "The Time Machine".) Time was my first encounter with ELO music (in 1981) and though I don't have any favorites among their albums (love them all!) it does have a special place in my heart. Maybe because I quite frequently wish I was back in 1981 when things were so uncomplicated...
Not one of their best song,having been spoilt on their early music this rates very low on my ELO list. For me Eldorado was the water mark of their career one of the great albums of that period.One of their Albums that got me hooked was, The night the lights went on in Long Beach, it was a live album and it really demonstrated what was to come out of ELO later.I bought the Album because the cover looked interesting having never heard of the band before.
