*** 1970's Album Draft - Commentary Thread ***

[senorsheep]

I am some of those things.

Some of ELO's radio hits from the '70s were awesome. I never bothered to investigate full albums, because of the grandiose classical experiments that flopped.

Lynne shares a distinction with Roger Waters; he came to dominate a popular '70s band for which he was not the original creative force (Syd Barrett : Roy Wood).

OK, you're a fan of Genesis' Duke, so here's a comp for you. 70's Genesis fans, cover your ears.

As the power structure in Genesis changed, and they morphed from a pretentious 70's art band into a crappy 80's pop band, they actually hit a sweet spot right in the middle of that transformation where they achieved the perfect balance of art and pop, resulting in a couple of excellent records - Duke and Abacab - that appealed to people who were not fans of their earlier and later work.

Same deal for ELO. As they morphed from a pretentious 70's art band into a crappy 80's pop band, they actually hit a sweet spot right in the middle of that transformation where they achieved the perfect balance of art and pop, resulting in a couple of excellent records - Out Of The Blue and the album directly preceding it - that appealed to people who were not fans of their earlier and later work.

Aside from those records, yeah, you can stick with the singles and not miss much.

[revo]

I am a big ELO fan, and this one was certainly on the list. It's amazing how many hits that band had, how often they're played on the radio, and how few will say they actually like the band.

[BuckyBuckner]

I was just looking at some ELO database for details of that flying saucer concert, and it turns out that Thin Lizzy opened up for them that night. I have entirely zero recollection of seeing Thin Lizzy ever, so I have to assume that we got high and missed the opening act, a not-to-uncommon occurance with my friends and I.

Tsk tsk tsk.

[Erik]

OK, you're a fan of Genesis' Duke, so here's a comp for you. 70's Genesis fans, cover your ears.

As the power structure in Genesis changed, and they morphed from a pretentious 70's art band into a crappy 80's pop band, they actually hit a sweet spot right in the middle of that transformation where they achieved the perfect balance of art and pop, resulting in a couple of excellent records - Duke and Abacab - that appealed to people who were not fans of their earlier and later work.

Same deal for ELO. As they morphed from a pretentious 70's art band into a crappy 80's pop band, they actually hit a sweet spot right in the middle of that transformation where they achieved the perfect balance of art and pop, resulting in a couple of excellent records - Out Of The Blue and the album directly preceding it - that appealed to people who were not fans of their earlier and later work.

Aside from those records, yeah, you can stick with the singles and not miss much.

Gotcha. In my case, I like Genesis' pre-Duke work. They weren't straight-up ripping off classical composers in a hamfisted way like ELO and ELP were.

[senorsheep]

I am a big ELO fan, and this one was certainly on the list. It's amazing how many hits that band had, how often they're played on the radio, and how few will say they actually like the band.

For years, it's been trendy in critical circles to bury Jeff Lynne. I'm not sure what he ever did to deserve all the vitriol.

If you want to focus exclusively on the excesses and failures of his weakest music, sure, you can have a field day ripping his worst stuff apart. But if you ignore the best of what he did, you're really selling him short. And missing out on a lot of good music.

[Erik]

For years, it's been trendy in critical circles to bury Jeff Lynne. I'm not sure what he ever did to deserve all the vitriol.

Part of it was the same critical hive-mind that dumped on the members of Yes, Genesis, ELP, etc. Then a new wave of hatred emerged in the late 80s/early 90s when he a) became a member of a band as an equal to Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty and Roy Orbison and b) started producing everyone and everything, and producing them in the same way; I think some thought both were unearned and presumptuous.

[senorsheep]

Gotcha. In my case, I like Genesis' pre-Duke work. They weren't straight-up ripping off classical composers in a hamfisted way like ELO and ELP were.

I always viewed his concept as celebrating and playing off of classical composers, not ripping them off. I get that some people don't care for the concept, but I don't think he was ever dishonest about what he was doing.

[chancellor]

Ended up driving for longer than thought today - let me get caught up and I'll make my pick

[senorsheep]

Part of it was the same critical hive-mind that dumped on the members of Yes, Genesis, ELP, etc. Then a new wave of hatred emerged in the late 80s/early 90s when he became a member of a band as an equal to Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty and Roy Orbison

At that point in time, all of those gents save Petty had been lying forgotten in the gutter for fifteen years or more, and Petty was also at his creative nadir, so balls to the haters on that front. I'd argue that he rescued that entire crew from obscurity. But, yeah, he definitely allowed his production style to become too overplayed in too short a period of time.

[Erik]

I'm not saying I agree with it, but that's what it was.

I did get burned out on the Lynne production style pretty quickly, though. You could tell it from the opening notes.

I feel the same way about the Ric Ocasek production style.

[Erik]

At that point in time, all of those gents save Petty had been lying forgotten in the gutter for fifteen years or more, and Petty was also at his creative nadir, so balls to the haters on that front.

It was more like "HOW DARE YOU CONTAMINATE THESE TITANS OF ROCK HISTORY WITH YOUR PRESENCE?"

[Erik]

Johnny, you should have overkill's next pick, please post it.

[chancellor]

About to be on a plane for a few hours, going to PM my next 2 picks to Johnny

Johnny - overkill is up

[johnnya24]

I have Overkill's comeback pick also

[johnnya24]

That Zep record was one of the Live records I couldn't bring myself to pick ... it's just OK when put alongside the source material. I went through a bunch of live records by big name artists, and it's hard to find one's that really improve on the source material enough to be my one and only live record.

I didn't wanna pick a live record purely based on the bands name and the setlist.

... then again, it was my only realistic shot at a LZ album.