Face the Music (Electric Light Orchestra album)

Face the Music
Studio album by Electric Light Orchestra
Released	September 1975 (US) 14 November 1975 (UK)
Recorded	May–June 1975 Musicland Studios, Munich, Germany
Genre	Symphonic rock, art rock
Length	36:22
Label	Jet (UK), United Artists (US)
Producer	Jeff Lynne
Electric Light Orchestra chronology
Showdown (1974) Face the Music (1975) Olé ELO (1976)
Electric Light Orchestra studio album chronology
Eldorado (1974) Face the Music (1975) A New World Record (1976)
Singles from Face the Music
"Evil Woman" Released: October 1975 "Strange Magic" Released: February 1976 "Nightrider" Released: March 1976
Back cover

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Face the Music is the fifth studio album by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), and features a new line-up following their previous studio album, Eldorado.

Overview

ELO's fifth studio LP was released in 1975 (see 1975 in music) and the first to be recorded in Musicland Studios Munich, which was introduced by Deep Purple in a tour in the United States. The band featured a new line-up with bassist Kelly Groucutt and cellist Melvyn Gale replacing Mike de Albuquerque and Mike Edwards respectively. New member Kelly Groucutt sang lead vocals on "Poker" and "Down Home Town" (while Lynne sang harmony) as well as one of the verses in "Nightrider." (Usually, Lynne sang all lead vocals.)

The back cover of the record sleeve shows the members of the band with their faces pressed against a glass panel, supposedly watching the "electrocution" depicted on the front cover. The band member who is looking away is Richard Tandy, who didn't like the idea and didn't want to participate.^[2] The back cover image was the inspiration for an advertising campaign for the 2004 horror comedy film Shaun of the Dead.^[3]

Backmasking

"Fire on High" contains a backwards message in the beginning. When the song is played backwards, drummer Bev Bevan can be heard saying, "The music is reversible, but time is not. Turn back, turn back, turn back, turn back..." This was ostensibly Jeff Lynne's response to accusations that the song "Eldorado" contained Satanic messages that could be heard when played backwards.^[4] "Down Home Town" begins with the chorus of "Waterfall" played backwards. A portion of the string crescendo from "Nightrider" was used backwards on "Evil Woman."

Release

The singles "Evil Woman" and "Strange Magic" were the most commercial songs they had recorded up to that point. "Evil Woman" was a big hit in the UK and the US, embracing disco rhythms while still embodying ELO's classic sound. The chords and melody of this song were composed in merely six minutes, making it the fastest song Lynne has ever written.

"Nightrider" became the third single from the album and despite an appearance on the UK chart television program, Top of the Pops, it failed to chart.

Notwithstanding the success of the singles, the LP failed to chart in the UK. The album was remastered and released in September 2006 with bonus tracks.

Track listing

All songs written by Jeff Lynne.

Side one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Fire on High"	5:30
2.	"Waterfall"	4:11
3.	"Evil Woman"	4:35
4.	"Nightrider"	4:26

Side two
No.	Title	Length
5.	"Poker"	3:31
6.	"Strange Magic"	4:29
7.	"Down Home Town"	3:53
8.	"One Summer Dream"	5:47

Bonus tracks (2006 remaster)

9. "Fire on High Intro" (Early alternate mix) – 3:23
10. "Evil Woman" (Stripped down mix) – 5:00
11. "Strange Magic" (US single edit) – 3:27
12. "Waterfall" (Instrumental mix) – 4:15

Personnel

• Jeff Lynne – lead vocals, guitars, producer
• Bev Bevan – drums, percussion, spoken intro (backwards), backing vocals
• Richard Tandy – piano, clavinet, Moog, guitar, Wurlitzer electric piano, tack piano
• Kelly Groucutt – vocals, bass, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Poker"
• Mik Kaminski – violin
• Hugh McDowell – cello
• Melvyn Gale – cello

Additional personnel

• Ellie Greenwich – uncredited vocals
• Susan Collins – uncredited vocals
• Nancy O'Neill – uncredited vocals
• Margaret Raymond – uncredited vocals
• Mack – engineer
• Jeff Lynne, Richard Tandy and Louis Clark – Orchestral and choral arrangements
• Orchestra conducted by Louis Clark
• Although Greenwich, Collins, O'Neill and Raymond are not credited as vocalists, the liner notes indicated 'special thanks' to them.

Chart positions, chart runs

• US: number 13 CashBox; number 8 Billboard 200;^[5] Billboard Year-End: number 11 (1976); RIAA certification: Gold
• UK: did not chart on its own when first released, but reached number 38 in 1978 as part of the 3-LP box-set, Three Light Years.
• AUS: number 30 ARIA Albums Chart
• CAN: number 31 RPM Albums Chart

References

1. Allmusic review
2. Bevan, Bev (1980). Pearce, Garth, ed. The Electric Light Orchestra Story. Mushroom Books. p. 152. ISBN 0-907394-01-9.
3. UK phone kiosk ad campaign for Shaun of the Dead
4. Big Secrets: Chapter 26, pages 200, 203, 204, 205 & 206. 0-688-04830-7
5. "Electric Light Orchestra - Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 May 2013.

External links

• Face the Music Remastered info at ftmusic