A Balance of Light
A Balance of Light
ASIN: B0000CFV0X
Editorial Reviews
JazzImprov Magazine
"
a unique voice
a welcome and refreshing find indeed!" -Ernie Pugliese, JazzImprov Magazine
Product Description
A Balance of Light (Invisible Music, September 9, 2003) is an album with the depth and virtuosity to satisfy the most seasoned jazz aficionado, and the extraordinary beauty, warmth and melodicism that is equally inviting to the jazz newcomer. This fourth release by guitarist/composer, Mark Kleinhaut, features Jim Lyden (bass), Les Harris, Jr. (drums), and legendary alto saxophonist, Bobby Watson.
Kleinhaut composed the music on A Balance of Light especially for this collaboration with Bobby Watson. Anticipating the blending of his trio's cohesive agility with Watson's fiery individualism, Kleinhaut laid out eight unique roadmaps for the group's extemporaneous journey. From the joyful Latin vibe of the opening track "Ferdinand and Isabelle" to the yearning romanticism of "Erikita," the Monkish playfulness of "Field of Greens," scorching hard bop "Start it Up" and odd-meter country-meets-avant guard of "Summers," Kleinhaut's new compositions are each unique gems that launch the quartet into wondrous realms of exploration. Tying it all together is the empathy and virtuosity the musicians bring to these proceedings - breathing life and light into the compositions with exquisite detail, communication borne of in-the-moment interaction and heated inspiration.
A Balance of Light
A Balance of Light,Mark Kleinhaut Trio,Bobby Watson,Invisible Music,Jazz,Jazz Music,Mainstream Jazz,Pop
Average customer rating:
- Their Best
- Still One Of The Best ELO CD (Monkees886@aol.com)
- Nice addition to your ELO collection
- EL-Oh...
- great music, from a modern leader in pop and classic music
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Balance of Power
Electric Light Orchestra
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
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ASIN: B000LE0TGK
Release Date: 2007-03-20 |
Tracks:
- Heaven Only Knows
- So Serious
- Getting To The Point
- Secret Lives
- Is It Alright
- Sorrow About To Fall
- Without Someone
- Calling America
- Endless Lies
- Send It
- Opening
- Heaven Only Knows
- In For The Kill
- Secret Lives
- Sorrow About To Fall
- Caught In A Trap
- Destination Unknown
Album Details
This was the Last Studio Album from Elo (Before the Comeback Zoom), Issued in 1986. The Original 10 Track Album Includes Three Tracks that were Originally Issued as Singles, and of the Seven Bonus Tracks Five Are Previously Unreleased and the Other Two were Issued as UK Only B-sides.
Customer Reviews:
Their Best.......2007-06-15
I know I'm in the minority of ELO fans that would call this their best CD, but it is. It came toward the end of the run of their original line up, but the songwriting and catchy keyboarding was top-notch here.
Still One Of The Best ELO CD (Monkees886@aol.com).......2007-05-19
This is the Last ELO cd. Sad to say but true. But this cd has left some good tunes for everyone to enjoy. The nice thing about it, Its Remastered.
Nice addition to your ELO collection.......2007-05-14
I have always liked this album and having the new remaster just adds to the enjoyment. Sound quality is really good.
EL-Oh..........2007-05-14
Not the greatest album they did, I read others reviews of this and hoped it would be a great on, I have listened to it a few times and find it not to be on my list for the futute fave category.
great music, from a modern leader in pop and classic music.......2007-04-11
This is just another fine example of great music revisited with added tracks that add even more fun to an already great release from ELO! I can't express my pleasure it is to hear this again and again, and whish there is more to come! This kind of talent is a gift that has to be heard over and over. GOD Bless all!
Average customer rating:
- Valuable compendium
- Rareties available on CD at last!
- Heavenly
- WHO ELSE CAN SING LIKE THIS TODAY?
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- Joan Sutherland: BBC-Recitals 1958, 1960, 1961
- The Art of the Prima Donna
- La Stupenda ~ The Supreme Voice of Joan Sutherland
- Serate Musicali
- The Voice of the Century
ASIN: B000654OUQ
Release Date: 2005-03-15 |
Customer Reviews:
Valuable compendium.......2007-01-24
This set is extremely valuable, not only as an overview of Dame Joans career but because it contains three complete LP sets that have been very hard to find. The sets are the 2 LP French opera (operetta) set, the Mozart album and the Wagner album. Although some of these do not show her to her best advantage (the Wagner set) they all have some very beautiful things and the French items are superb. The annotations and photos are interesting as well and there are some piano songs with Bonynge that are released here for the first time along with a scene from a live Covent Garden Norma.
Rareties available on CD at last!.......2006-03-29
While Joan Sutherland has recorded a number of impressive aria collections throughout the many years of her recording career, they tend to get lost in the shuffle of the countless reissues Decca/London has endlessly repackaged. While some of the original collections have appeared intact on CD--"The Art of the Prima Donna," "The Age of Bel Canto," "Love Live Forever" (her operetta collection that was originally titled "The Golden Age of Operetta"), to name a few--others are currently represented in the CD catalogue by only a few selections on discs that also include excerpts from complete opera recordings or duplicates of selections from other original collections. As a result, it has been impossible to assemble a CD collection of her recordings without a LOT of duplication, and some of the most interesting collections are still unavailable (e.g. "Command Performance" and "Serate Musicale").
While this newest set does include a lot of bits of this and that, ranging from her very first LPs to excerpts from complete recordings most Sutherland fans already have and a few "live" performances, what is perhaps most significant about it is that it features the complete contents of the "Sutherland Sings Wagner" LP--a real repertoire departure for her--and the double-LP album called "French Opera Gala" (in the U.S.--the British title was "Romantic French Arias"), neither of which, to the best of my knowledge, has been available on CD before. "Opera News" magazine once ran an article in which they asked various stars to name the one album that they felt best represented their artistry for future generations, and Dame Joan selected the "French Opera Gala," so for Sutherland fans, this is a long-awaited treat.
I'm not going to waste space saying how miraculous I consider Dame Joan's artistry. If you are familiar with her work already, you know whether you adore her or not; and if you aren't, this massive set is probably not the best place to start (that would be "The Art of the Prima Donna" album that introduced her to most listeners decades ago)--especially since this newest set doesn't contain the lyrics, a must for newcomers. Let's hope Decca/London gets around to releasing the rest of her recordings intact instead of endlessly scrambling and repackaging the same selections over and over.
Heavenly.......2006-01-31
I first heard of Dame Sutherland while on the internet while listening to a internet radio station. I was instantly a fan, her control, technique, and tone is perfectly executed and rivals the equally fantastic Maria Callas. She has a powerful voice and presence that will evoke every emotion from her listeners. Highly recommended to all Opera Diva fans.
WHO ELSE CAN SING LIKE THIS TODAY?.......2005-04-10
This is Decca's second multi disc evaluation of this fantastic singer's long career and many recordings. True that a lot on the first set is duplicated here, but there are a few exceptions here and there that make it a worthy addition. Of particular interest are the very early items of Handel and Italian baroque arias, some forgotten song recordings and a live performance of the duet from Norma. It can't be said too many times - who can sing like this today? For sheer vocalism it's hard to find anyone on the same wavelength. This set will give very young opera goers an idea of what they missed.
Average customer rating:
- Great way for ELO to say goodbye
- swansong....til 2001
- Judge this album on its own merits or lament the band's departure from its trademark soundscape: the choice is yours
- Out of the Box
- Don't knock it Just Because it was the 80's
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Balance of Power
Electric Light Orchestra , and ELO
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
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ASIN: B00000264E
Release Date: 1990-10-25 |
Tracks:
- Heaven Only Knows
- So Serious
- Getting To The Point
- Secret Lives
- Is It Alright
- Sorrow About To Fall
- Without Someone
- Calling America
- Endless Lies
- Send It
Customer Reviews:
Great way for ELO to say goodbye.......2007-02-27
it was 1986 and Jeff Lynne had enough of ELO plus the band's fortunes were going down the drain, the Orchestra was gone replaced with synthesizers and eletronic drums. People need to understand what Jeff was going through at the time his marriage was falling apart and so was his band. ELO were no longer the big band they were in the 70's the band had fallen off thier pedestal so Jeff decided after one more album he would bring ELO to an end for good. anyways BOP is a great way for a a great band to say goodbye. We miss ELO. 1970-1986.
swansong....til 2001.......2006-09-18
Critics and fans alike seem to regard Balance of Power, ELO's final studio LP from 1986, as little more than a footnote to the band's illustrious hit-making career. Yet the album is a superbly crafted and consistently appealing pop record (there's not a single clinker in this ten-track bunch, a rare accomplishment indeed for a singles-oriented band) and is of historic importance when viewed as Jeff Lynne's opening bid for artistic credibility in a post-Xanadu age, which ultimately proved so successful that he realized his life's dream, that is, to work with the, um, Beatles.
Lynne abandons the excesses of his previous few outings here, stripping the short, simply structured songs to their melodic and harmonic core, with synths playing a far more subtle role than previously. Even the cover graphic indicates a retreat of sorts, replacing ornate adolescent silliness with a simple visual pun.
"Getting to the Point," the first and finest of the record's three ballads, explores with a new-found maturity the dying embers of a relationship, with the first-ever appearance of solo sax on an ELO record. "Without Someone" is similarly restrained in tone, also calmly reflecting on a lost love. Finally, the initially off-putting "Endless Lies," with its operatic chorus, finally clicks when one realizes the song is a tribute to future-Lynne collaborator Roy Orbison.
The remaining seven brief pop-rockers are uniformly excellent. "Sorrow About to Fall" makes an inspired swipe of FOREIGNER's "Urgent," with sax again stepping into the spotlight, while "Is it Alright" (sic), a simple letter checking up on a friend who felt the need to move on, deftly weaves together several joyously Beatle-esque, octave-leaping melodies with a latter-day Steve Winwood synth pattern and a mildly sinister bass chug. "Calling America," a minor stateside hit, is a similar exploration of a friend who has left town, which bemoans high technology's inability to connect the two across the Atlantic; a far cry from the excessive technofascism of 1981's Time LP.
The final track, "Send It," inclusively ends the string of album-closing "rock and roll" numbers begun with Discovery's "Don't Bring Me Down," and continuing through Time's "Hold on Tight" and Secret Messages' "Rock 'N' Roll is King." The song succeeds especially when set in low relief to the previous album-closers' synth-based clutter, which betrayed their hollow insincerity. Here, the melody and the steady beat carry the song along handsomely, and the album arrives at the terminal in tip-top condition.
Within the year Lynne was already collaborating with George Harrison on a number of projects, and his production career began in earnest, offering his now-stripped-and-clean sound to the likes of Del Shannon, and fellow Traveling Wilburys Roy Orbison and Tom Petty (Bob Dylan approached Daniel Lanois for his first post-Wilburys project, to the likely disappointment of Lynne).
After his work with Ringo Starr on the excellent Time Takes Time record, the pieces were in place for Lynne to make his final move. Since his teen days with the Idle Race, singing of John and Paul and Ringo and George's "lovely tunes," Jeff Lynne, a good-natured working-class lad from a northern industrial city, imagined a better life. In 1995, reality caught up with imagination, and "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love" are the glorious if sadly incomplete results.
Judge this album on its own merits or lament the band's departure from its trademark soundscape: the choice is yours.......2006-09-12
I've been enjoying ELO's music since I heard "Don't Bring Me Down" for the first time in the late 70's. I own the entire ELO catalog on CD (including some of the reissues with bonus tracks) as well as the Afterglow and Flashback boxsets and Jeff Lynn's solo LP. The bottom line for this album is simple: If you like "Armchair Theater" and Jeff's work with the Travelling Wilburys, you will enjoy listening to "Balance of Power". It certainly is not as well crafted as some of the band's earlier LPs, so less serious fans can do without this album. "Calling America" is supposedly the lone "hit" song on this album, but I can't remember ever hearing this song on the radio. The song I like best is track 10, "Send It". It is as good as almost anything I've ever heard by ELO. It may not sound like older ELO tunes (it has some brief segments that remind me of Thomas Dolby's "Flying North") but at least "Balance of Power" shows that Jeff wasn't trying to milk the ELO "formula" ad nauseum. ELO devotees will certainly hear segments throughout "Balance of Power" that are reminiscent of the earlier LP's, but Jeff and company make an effort with this album to cover new ground by adding saxophone accompaniment into the mix. In my case, I saw no compelling reason to purchase this album and only recently acquired it. However, as a completist, I would always wonder what I would have been missing if I never purchased "Balance of Power". If initially you find "Balance of Power" a difficult listen, try loading the disc into a 10 disc changer along with the earlier ELO CDs. Set the playback mode to shuffle, and then you may find yourself growing oddly appreciative of the 10 songs found here.
Out of the Box.......2006-09-11
This is the last ELO album, for all intents and purposes. And it's missing several things:
It's missing, most notably, the strings. Every reviewer can and will comment on the lack of even a Time-style synthesized orchestra.
Also missing is Kelly Groucutt, which people will tell you because they want to feel intelligent.
But the major draw for me, and others, i imagine, is the pervasive sadness that is felt, from one song to the next. Not the tired feeling of someone who doesn't care anymore, but the depressing end to a fifteen-year career with largely the same group of people. Jeff sounds completely down throughout the album, trying to put his best face forward. It's sad, it's beautiful, and, with the ambiently blue songs throughout, it's nice to have a bit of the perky, pseudo-campy ELO back at the end with 'Send It' -- a fitting way to say goodbye.
Don't knock it Just Because it was the 80's.......2006-06-09
The tendency is for people to knock albums just because it was the 80's. It's very trendy and politically correct to knock the 80's just because it was the 80's..
This album has superbly crafted pop/rock songs. The single, "calling america", was actually one of the weaker songs in my opinion, and with it being the single I believe it damaged some the chances of the album being a "hit".
Interesting title though. Jeff Lynne definitely is a control freak. I think it's best when he writes and has other musicians help fill things out. On the last album "zoom", he played almost everything and it felt a little stale.
With "balance of power", it doesn't feel stale. It feels like ELO.
Average customer rating:
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A Balance of Light
Mark Kleinhaut Trio , and Bobby Watson
Manufacturer: Invisible Music
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
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ASIN: B0000CFV0X
Release Date: 2003-09-09 |
Tracks:
- Ferdinand and Isabelle
- Long Look Back
- Four Lane Clover
- South of Mason
- Field of Greens
- Start it Up
- Erikita
- Summers
Album Description
A Balance of Light (Invisible Music, September 9, 2003) is an album with the depth and virtuosity to satisfy the most seasoned jazz aficionado, and the extraordinary beauty, warmth and melodicism that is equally inviting to the jazz newcomer. This fourth release by guitarist/composer, Mark Kleinhaut, features Jim Lyden (bass), Les Harris, Jr. (drums), and legendary alto saxophonist, Bobby Watson.
Kleinhaut composed the music on A Balance of Light especially for this collaboration with Bobby Watson. Anticipating the blending of his trio's cohesive agility with Watson's fiery individualism, Kleinhaut laid out eight unique roadmaps for the group's extemporaneous journey. From the joyful Latin vibe of the opening track "Ferdinand and Isabelle" to the yearning romanticism of "Erikita," the Monkish playfulness of "Field of Greens," scorching hard bop "Start it Up" and odd-meter country-meets-avant guard of "Summers," Kleinhaut's new compositions are each unique gems that launch the quartet into wondrous realms of exploration. Tying it all together is the empathy and virtuosity the musicians bring to these proceedings - breathing life and light into the compositions with exquisite detail, communication borne of in-the-moment interaction and heated inspiration.
Customer Reviews:
He da MAN!!.......2004-01-28
Proving beyond argumentation that he's the absolute alto god of his generation, and certainly one of the five greatest alto sax players ever, Bobby Watson here finds himself in the presence of the very congenial Mark Kleinhaut Jazz Trio.
It's almost as if this music was created specially for Bobby to perform.
In fact, it was. Kleinhaut asked Mr. Watson to come play at a local jazz festival, he agreed, Kleinhaut composed a bunch of originals, they went into the studio, and presto! out comes this glorious disc.
In the liner notes, Kleinhaut decribes how he listened to the Watson discography until his ears practically fell off, sweating to compose vehicles worthy of the great alto master. And, amazingly, he succeeded. Not only do these compositions uncannily resonate with the Watson corpus, they stand on their own as splendid jazz songs.
It's hard to pick a favorite among so many great sounding tunes, but I'm particularly drawn to "Ferdinand and Isobella," the gently-swinging Latin number that opens the disc, "Start It Up," a scorching post-bop tune with some very tricky and attractive guitar/sax unison lines, "South of Mason," a languid, smoothly swaying Southern blooze soaked in magnolia and Spanish moss, the drop-dead gorgeous ballad, "Erikita," with its mournful, tango-ish vibe, and the mid-tempo, English folk-songish "Summers," graced with a beautiful melody, some very attractive guitar/sax harmonizing, and a nifty out passage that sounds like an estival storm.
A note on the recording. I don't know if Bobby Watson's ever been recorded so brilliantly. The engineer has captured an extremely warm, burnished sound, with tremendous depth and poignancy, issuing from Watson's horn.
Almost on a par with the great Love Remains, this is among the finest discs Bobby Watson's ever played on.
Absolute highest recommendation.
Average customer rating:
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Balance of Power
Electric Light Orchestra
Manufacturer: Sony Japan
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
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- Discovery
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ASIN: B000M7XSH8
Release Date: 2007-03-05 |
Tracks:
- Heaven Only Knows
- So Serious
- Getting to the Point
- Secret Lives
- Is It Alright
- Sorrow About to Fall
- Without Someone
- Calling America
- Endless Lies
- Send It
- Opening [*]
- Heaven Only Knows [Alternate Version][*]
- In for the Kill [*]
- Secret Lives [Alternate Take][*]
- Sorrow About to Fall [Alternate Take][*]
- Caught in a Trap [U.K. B-Side][*]
- Destination Unknown [U.K. B-Side][*]
Album Details
Japanese Limited Edition Issue of the Album Classic in a Deluxe, Miniaturized LP Sleeve Replica of the Original Vinyl Album Artwork.
Customer Reviews:
The end of ELO.......2007-05-04
This album marks the end of the ELO loved by many around the world. This is a trio performed by Jeff Lynne (Vocals, Electric and Acoustic guitars, Bass guitar, Keyboards, Percussion), Bev Bevan (Drums, Percussion) and Richard Tandy (Keyboards, Sequence Programming). There are some saxophone pieces played by Christian Shnieder. The rest of the band members are missing.
Without Kelly Groucutt's vocals, Jeff Lynne sings both main and backing vocals, leaving the vocals section sounding overdubbed and thin. With violinist Mik Kaminski absent, keyboards are now used to play simulated violin sounds. And to further thin the ELO sound, conductor Louis Clark is absent meaning there are no orchestra sections anywhere in the sound.
With many of the band members missing, and this being the last real ELO album, it is fitting that this album has a doom and gloom theme to it. We have a song about pending doom called "Sorrow About to Fall". We have songs about relationship problem such as "Getting to the Point", "So Serious", "Without Someone", and "Endless Lies". Then we have "Send It", a song about lost dreams. If that is not enough doom and gloom, we have the bonus material to give us even more doom and gloom! We have "In For The Kill", a song about people who just care about money and that's it. Then we have "Caught In A Trap", a song about being in a dead end situation. And finally we have "Destination Unknown", a song about being fed up with life and leaving town. Talk about doom and gloom! This is indeed the darkest and most depressing ELO album ever made.
The two finest moments on this album are "Without Someone", which is a very beautiful piece of work, and "Calling America" which is the only real uplifting song on this album.
Regardless of the doom and gloom theme, and the absence of the full ELO sound we've all grown to love, some of theses songs are quite nice. If you are an avid ELO fan, I highly recommend this particular version of the album over all other versions released. With this version you get the original LP artwork on an LP style paper case, a CD sleeve insert that mimics the old LP version, as well as extra songs, extra notes about the band, and excellent sound quality. This album marks to end of a great band and belongs in everyone's ELO collection. This is a must have for all ELO fans!
Average customer rating:
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Balance of power [Japan Import]
Electric light orchestra , and ELO
Manufacturer: CBS/Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000K21G9C |
Product Description
Out of print original 1986 CD issue from Japan on the CBS/Sony label. Stock photo is being used: the original first pressing offered here did not show the small black logo you see on the bottom right hand corner of the image. Catalog number: 32DP-407.
Average customer rating:
- A New Voice Worth Listening To
- Record Companies Wake Up - This is GREAT MUSIC!
- Brilliant!!
- Great CD
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The Subtle Art Of Distraction
Greg Dean
Manufacturer: stickerdog music
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
General
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
Pop Rock
| Pop
| Styles
| Music
General
| Alternative Rock
| Indie Music
| Stores
| Music
Rock
| Alternative Rock
| Indie Music
| Stores
| Music
ASIN: B0000AOKOT
Release Date: 2002-10-31 |
Tracks:
- Sense of Courage
- Fascination Game
- Giving It All Away
- Tangled In Rain
- I See the Sun
- When Ya Gonna Come Ta Me?
- The Morning
- The Prey
- Five and Dime
- It's Chemical
- There's Life(in my cemetary)
Album Description
Independent release from one of the Bay Area's coffee house and club favorites. Recording in a airy California garage Greg Dean blends deeply personal lyrics, oddly-tuned acoustic guitars, and beats to create a post-modern literate space pop. Fans of Neil Finn, Jeff Buckley, Nick Drake, or David Gray should give a listen!
Customer Reviews:
A New Voice Worth Listening To.......2003-10-18
In The Subtle Art of Distraction, Greg Dean has compiled a variety of sounds all tied together with his haunting vocals. The comparisons to Cold Play are great but I hear something deeper: influences from the Cure, and even Led Zeppelin, Paul McCartney and Simon and Garfunkel. The best part of the album is that it is just good to listen to. The music stays with you and you find yourself thinking about his lyrics. I recommend buying this album and look forward to future releases from Dean.
Record Companies Wake Up - This is GREAT MUSIC!.......2003-10-16
Greg Dean's great voice combined with his mature compositions and introspective lyrics provide an album that is both fun to listen to and think about. The audio quality is robust - great for an indie album. I've seen Dean live in the San Francisco Bay Area twice and he puts on a rocking live show. It's hard to believe with how much poor music makes it on to the radio - quality musicians like Dean remain unsigned. Buy this album - hopefully you'll be able to say "I had his CD before he was big"
Brilliant!!.......2003-08-11
I just heard this guy perform at a music fest in Toronto. His lyrics are so meaningful and poetic. His voice is obviously well trained. I hope he has other CD's avialble. I can not believe he has not signed with a major label. If you like Cold Play you will like Greg Dean
Great CD.......2003-08-08
This album is a real gem. It is both soothing and intense at the same time. Greg finds a way to melt clearly pop melodies into an almost endless ovation of interesting guitar and bass parts, all of it coming out of your speakers in a placid, effortless, symphony. This is one of the best indy records ever. Reminds me of Coldplay or should I say Coldplay reminds me of Greg.
STEED - MUSICIAN, SAN FRANCISCO
Average customer rating:
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DREAMSTREET
DREAMSTREET
Manufacturer: Artful Balance Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
Smooth Jazz
| Jazz
| Styles
| Music
ASIN: B000AQL4MW |
Product Description
Light Jazz from Dreamstreet on this 1986 release. Musicians: Vinnie Coliauta, Neil Stubenhaus, 'Rev' Dave Boruff, Michael Fisher, Michael Landau, Randy Waldman, Mike O'Neill, Barnaby Finch. 8 songs: 1) St. Rev; -- 2) One More Miracle; -- 3) The Dreamer; -- 4) Midnite Moves; -- 5) Pop Melangee; -- 6) Pocket Dance; -- 7) Mary Go Around Me Again; -- 8) Children Of Fantasy.
Customer Reviews:
An unexpected surprise.......2007-04-23
When I was 17, my girlfiend and I had purchased some music from the local record shop (remember those?!?!). This was the album she had purchased, although it was on cassette. I was never a very big "jazz" music fan (despite being born and raised in New Orleans) but this album surprised me. The melodies are warm, endearing, sad, uplifting and even downright sexy. I made a copy of her cassette for myself and listened to it for many years afterwards until I was able to purchase it on CD. The music is timeless and will always remind me of those days my girlfriend and I spent together way back when. If you like emotionally evocative music without lyrics, you will not be disappointed with this one.
Average customer rating:
- Great way for ELO to say goodbye
- swansong....til 2001
- Judge this album on its own merits or lament the band's departure from its trademark soundscape: the choice is yours
- Out of the Box
- Don't knock it Just Because it was the 80's
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Balance of Power
Electric Light Orchestra
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
Britain
| British Isles
| Europe
| International
| Styles
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General
| Pop
| Styles
| Music
Pop Rock
| Pop
| Styles
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General
| Rock
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Progressive Rock
| Progressive
| Rock
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Album-Oriented Rock (AOR)
| Classic Rock
| Styles
| Music
General
| Classic Rock
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Classic Rock
| Imports
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Rock
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Similar Items:
- Secret Messages
- On the Third Day
- Time
- Face the Music
- Discovery
ASIN: B000026H8C
Release Date: 2007-01-16 |
Tracks:
- Heaven Only Knows
- So Serious
- Getting to the Point
- Secret Lives
- Is It Alright
- Sorrow About to Fall
- Without Someone
- Calling America
- Endless Lies
- Send It
Customer Reviews:
Great way for ELO to say goodbye.......2007-02-27
it was 1986 and Jeff Lynne had enough of ELO plus the band's fortunes were going down the drain, the Orchestra was gone replaced with synthesizers and eletronic drums. People need to understand what Jeff was going through at the time his marriage was falling apart and so was his band. ELO were no longer the big band they were in the 70's the band had fallen off thier pedestal so Jeff decided after one more album he would bring ELO to an end for good. anyways BOP is a great way for a a great band to say goodbye. We miss ELO. 1970-1986.
swansong....til 2001.......2006-09-18
Critics and fans alike seem to regard Balance of Power, ELO's final studio LP from 1986, as little more than a footnote to the band's illustrious hit-making career. Yet the album is a superbly crafted and consistently appealing pop record (there's not a single clinker in this ten-track bunch, a rare accomplishment indeed for a singles-oriented band) and is of historic importance when viewed as Jeff Lynne's opening bid for artistic credibility in a post-Xanadu age, which ultimately proved so successful that he realized his life's dream, that is, to work with the, um, Beatles.
Lynne abandons the excesses of his previous few outings here, stripping the short, simply structured songs to their melodic and harmonic core, with synths playing a far more subtle role than previously. Even the cover graphic indicates a retreat of sorts, replacing ornate adolescent silliness with a simple visual pun.
"Getting to the Point," the first and finest of the record's three ballads, explores with a new-found maturity the dying embers of a relationship, with the first-ever appearance of solo sax on an ELO record. "Without Someone" is similarly restrained in tone, also calmly reflecting on a lost love. Finally, the initially off-putting "Endless Lies," with its operatic chorus, finally clicks when one realizes the song is a tribute to future-Lynne collaborator Roy Orbison.
The remaining seven brief pop-rockers are uniformly excellent. "Sorrow About to Fall" makes an inspired swipe of FOREIGNER's "Urgent," with sax again stepping into the spotlight, while "Is it Alright" (sic), a simple letter checking up on a friend who felt the need to move on, deftly weaves together several joyously Beatle-esque, octave-leaping melodies with a latter-day Steve Winwood synth pattern and a mildly sinister bass chug. "Calling America," a minor stateside hit, is a similar exploration of a friend who has left town, which bemoans high technology's inability to connect the two across the Atlantic; a far cry from the excessive technofascism of 1981's Time LP.
The final track, "Send It," inclusively ends the string of album-closing "rock and roll" numbers begun with Discovery's "Don't Bring Me Down," and continuing through Time's "Hold on Tight" and Secret Messages' "Rock 'N' Roll is King." The song succeeds especially when set in low relief to the previous album-closers' synth-based clutter, which betrayed their hollow insincerity. Here, the melody and the steady beat carry the song along handsomely, and the album arrives at the terminal in tip-top condition.
Within the year Lynne was already collaborating with George Harrison on a number of projects, and his production career began in earnest, offering his now-stripped-and-clean sound to the likes of Del Shannon, and fellow Traveling Wilburys Roy Orbison and Tom Petty (Bob Dylan approached Daniel Lanois for his first post-Wilburys project, to the likely disappointment of Lynne).
After his work with Ringo Starr on the excellent Time Takes Time record, the pieces were in place for Lynne to make his final move. Since his teen days with the Idle Race, singing of John and Paul and Ringo and George's "lovely tunes," Jeff Lynne, a good-natured working-class lad from a northern industrial city, imagined a better life. In 1995, reality caught up with imagination, and "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love" are the glorious if sadly incomplete results.
Judge this album on its own merits or lament the band's departure from its trademark soundscape: the choice is yours.......2006-09-12
I've been enjoying ELO's music since I heard "Don't Bring Me Down" for the first time in the late 70's. I own the entire ELO catalog on CD (including some of the reissues with bonus tracks) as well as the Afterglow and Flashback boxsets and Jeff Lynn's solo LP. The bottom line for this album is simple: If you like "Armchair Theater" and Jeff's work with the Travelling Wilburys, you will enjoy listening to "Balance of Power". It certainly is not as well crafted as some of the band's earlier LPs, so less serious fans can do without this album. "Calling America" is supposedly the lone "hit" song on this album, but I can't remember ever hearing this song on the radio. The song I like best is track 10, "Send It". It is as good as almost anything I've ever heard by ELO. It may not sound like older ELO tunes (it has some brief segments that remind me of Thomas Dolby's "Flying North") but at least "Balance of Power" shows that Jeff wasn't trying to milk the ELO "formula" ad nauseum. ELO devotees will certainly hear segments throughout "Balance of Power" that are reminiscent of the earlier LP's, but Jeff and company make an effort with this album to cover new ground by adding saxophone accompaniment into the mix. In my case, I saw no compelling reason to purchase this album and only recently acquired it. However, as a completist, I would always wonder what I would have been missing if I never purchased "Balance of Power". If initially you find "Balance of Power" a difficult listen, try loading the disc into a 10 disc changer along with the earlier ELO CDs. Set the playback mode to shuffle, and then you may find yourself growing oddly appreciative of the 10 songs found here.
Out of the Box.......2006-09-11
This is the last ELO album, for all intents and purposes. And it's missing several things:
It's missing, most notably, the strings. Every reviewer can and will comment on the lack of even a Time-style synthesized orchestra.
Also missing is Kelly Groucutt, which people will tell you because they want to feel intelligent.
But the major draw for me, and others, i imagine, is the pervasive sadness that is felt, from one song to the next. Not the tired feeling of someone who doesn't care anymore, but the depressing end to a fifteen-year career with largely the same group of people. Jeff sounds completely down throughout the album, trying to put his best face forward. It's sad, it's beautiful, and, with the ambiently blue songs throughout, it's nice to have a bit of the perky, pseudo-campy ELO back at the end with 'Send It' -- a fitting way to say goodbye.
Don't knock it Just Because it was the 80's.......2006-06-09
The tendency is for people to knock albums just because it was the 80's. It's very trendy and politically correct to knock the 80's just because it was the 80's..
This album has superbly crafted pop/rock songs. The single, "calling america", was actually one of the weaker songs in my opinion, and with it being the single I believe it damaged some the chances of the album being a "hit".
Interesting title though. Jeff Lynne definitely is a control freak. I think it's best when he writes and has other musicians help fill things out. On the last album "zoom", he played almost everything and it felt a little stale.
With "balance of power", it doesn't feel stale. It feels like ELO.
Product Description
Part of the 1990 Sony records Japan ELO reissues. Catalog: CSCS 6030. Out of print.
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