| | Hey Mike, what's up. This is Brian of Caleb fame. Anyway, this is a well-written piece and I like the comparison of ELO to Roxy Music, although would I sound like a dick if I thought maybe you (as well as other writers this week) are just thinking a little too hard about ELO? I guess that does make me sound like a dick, but I guess it just sort of springs from my feeling that ELO just aren't deserving of this sort of attention. Like you mentioned, they do sound like they existed in some sort of self-imposed vacuum, and while I like some of their music a lot, I just can't help but think that this isolation from things going on around them makes them even more undeserving of this sort of analysis. I don't know, maybe I read it wrong, but to attach any sort of historical or social relevance to ELO just seems a bit overblown, although I can't tell if you bring up something like the Cold War merely to express the times in which the band existed or to suggest that ELO is a product of those times, and therefore channeling the feelings of the time (looking to the past to avoid the present?). Shit, I don't know what I'm talking about. I just think Jeff Lynne happens to like old school Crystals-style RnB. To suggest he reverts to those sounds to escape a present he isn't comfortable with is a bit of reaching. Good writing either way, though. I've been reading you for a while and I'm just now deciding to start posting here, for whatever reason. Also, for your next hall of famer, may I suggest the Jam or the Flying Burrito Brothers? I don't know about you, but I don't ever hear anyone giving them props, especially the Jam. Sorry for the bloated post. |