'' is a
Concept Album by
Electric Light Orchestra released in
1981 .
The album tells the story of a man, circa
1981 , who is taken away by time travelers to the late
21st Century . Once there, he marvels at the wonders that the future offers, but is also increasingly amazed to find that he longs for his own time (the past) and the woman he left behind because of his journey forward. Although he has been provided a robot woman, who obeys his every command without question, he quickly realizes that this is a poor substitute for his lost love: the robot companion can never love or be loved by him. His desire to return to the past grows stronger once he is told that he cannot be returned to his own time, and he attempts an escape using his captors' time transporter equipment. His premature escape is foiled by his captors, and he subsequently discovers that they had only been keeping him in their future to illustrate to him how it suffers from the choices that had been made during his time. The man is finally returned to his year of origin (1981), armed with the understanding necessary for him to make a positive impact on the future.
The musical style and theme were echoed in later albums such as ''
The Sophtware Slump '' by
Grandaddy , who cited ''Time'' as a great influence; and ''
Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots '' by
The Flaming Lips .
The theme of ''Time'' bears similarities to the group's earlier concept album ''
Eldorado ''. Although ''Eldorado'' features strings much more prominently, and ''Time'' features more three-minute pop songs, both albums tell the story of a man who daydreams of being whisked away to a new and better world, only to become disenchanted, homesick, and even alienated by what he finds. Songs like "
The Way Life's Meant To Be ," "
Rain Is Falling ," and "21st Century Man" are reminiscent of material from the ''
Out Of The Blue '' era of ELO, while other tracks explore new influences such as
New Wave ("Yours Truly, 2095" and "From The End Of The World") and
Reggae ("The Lights Go Down") with the core ELO sound. The album reached #1 in the
UK Albums Chart (see
List Of UK #1 Albums From The 1980s ). 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 gold status.
In
2001 , the album was
Remastered and reissued on
CD with three additional
Bonus Track s, two of which ("Julie Don't Live Here" and "When Time Stood Still") were
B-side 's 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 album ''
Secret Messages ''.
- 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.
- " Twilight " is particularly famous amongst Fans of Japanese Animation and Comics (commonly known as " Otaku "). The song was initially used (without authorization) as the theme music for the opening animation for the 1983 Daicon IV Science Fiction Convention , which has gathered a lot of acclaim in the general anime fandom. In 2005 , the music was used again for a similar animation that formed the opening for the Television Series '' Densha Otoko '', a series featuring an otaku as the main character (along with several recurring extras). The song is now considered somewhat of an anthem for otaku.
- In 1999 , Cher sampled a synth sound from "Prologue" and "Epilogue" at the beginning of her #1 hit single " Believe ."
- Many of the group's fans consider this album to be Jeff Lynne's "forgotten masterpiece," partly due to the perception that Lynne has allowed it to languish (ironically) over the course of time. Lynne has since admitted that ''Time'' and the two subsequent ELO albums (''Secret Messages'' and '' Balance Of Power '') were only recorded to satisfy contractual obligations, and while material from every other ELO album was performed during the short-lived '' Zoom '' tour in 2001, none of the material from these three albums was included (with the exception of " Rock 'n' Roll Is King " from ''Secret Messages'', although this song was omitted from the DVD release of the kick-off concert).
''Time'' is a notable departure from the musical direction the group had seemingly been persuing with their two preceding releases ('''' and ''
Face The Music ''; and ''Time'' by ''Discovery'' and ''Secret Messages''. Finally, both albums utilize a prelude and epilogue.
- All tracks written by Jeff Lynne .
# "Prologue" – 1:15
# "
Twilight "
– 3:35
# "Yours Truly" 2095"
– 3:15
# "
Ticket To The Moon "
– 4:06
# "
The Way Life's Meant To Be "
– 4:36
# "Another Heart Breaks"
– 3:46
# "
Rain Is Falling "
– 3:54
# "From The End Of The World"
– 3:16
# "The Lights Go Down"
– 3:31
# "
Here Is The News "
– 3:49
# "21st Century Man"
– 4:00
# "
Hold On Tight "
– 3:05
# "Epilogue"
– 1:30
#
"The Bouncer" 3:14 (B-side to " Four Little Diamonds ")
# "When Time Stood Still" 3:33 (B-side to "Hold on Tight")
# "Julie Don't Live Here" 3:42 (B-side to "Twilight")
- Jeff Lynne - Lead vocals, Backing vocals, Electric Guitar , Acoustic Guitar , Piano , Synthesiser
- Bev Bevan - Drums , percussion
- Richard Tandy - Piano , Electric Piano , Synthesiser , Guitar
- Kelly Groucutt - Bass Guitar , Backing vocals
