Balance Of Power - ELO

When "BOP" appeared in 1986, nearly everyone thought ELO had quietly gone their separate ways. It might have been better if they had, for this farewell album was obviously an exercise in contract fulfilment that did their reputation no good at all. Much of it is so mechanical that it might almost be Jeff Lynne and a studio full of sequencers - in fact, it probably was. Guest musician Christian Shnieder (saxophone) contributes nothing of ...
...a shadow of its real self - or was he replaced most of the time by a drum machine? The best-known track and only Top 30 single, "Calling America", showed that Jeff could still knock out a reasonable song, as did the OK "Heaven Only Knows" and "Is It Alright" (well, just!). The subsequent single "So Serious" is even better, and in fact is perhaps the album's real saving grace. An attempt at electro-reggae-funk, ... more

When "BOP" appeared in 1986, nearly everyone thought ELO had quietly gone their separate ways. It might have been better if they had, for this farewell album was obviously an exercise in contract fulfilment that did their reputation no good at all. Much of it is so mechanical that it might almost be Jeff Lynne and a studio full of sequencers - in fact, it probably was. Guest musician Christian Shnieder (saxophone) contributes nothing of significance, while drummer Bev Bevan's superb Bonhamesque is reduced to a shadow of its real self - or was he replaced most of the time by a drum machine? The best-known track and only Top 30 single, "Calling America", showed that Jeff could still knock out a reasonable song, as did the OK "Heaven Only Knows" and "Is It Alright" (well, just!). The subsequent single "So Serious" is even better, and in fact is perhaps the album's real saving grace. An attempt at electro-reggae-funk, "Send It", misfires, while there's yet another attempt to rewrite "Evil Woman" on "Sorrow About To Fall", and "Endless Lies" is a ballad that sounds like a bizarre attempt to send up Roy Orbison - ironic in view of the working association between them which was shortly to come.
The overall impression is that Jeff had a few good ideas up his sleeve, and had he got the rest of the musicians (i.e. the string players) back to add some instrumental fire to this album, the results would have marked a return to form. Instead he seemed determined to get it done in the studio as soon as possible, and it shows. As a result it's the least impressive, most uninteresting album they ever made.
 

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