Balance of Power (album)

Infobox Album | Name = Balance of Power
Type = Album
Artist = Electric Light Orchestra


Released = 1 March 1986, mid/late Jan. 1986 Germany March 2007 reissue
Recorded = 1985-1986 Compass Point,Nassau, Bahamas and Hartmann Digital Untertrubach
Genre = Pop rock Electronica
Length = 34:18 55:33 Reissue
Label = Epic/Jet Records (UK) CBS Associated (U.S.) Epic/Legacy (reissue)
Producer = Jeff Lynne
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|2|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=Ajq6atr79kl5x link]
*Music Box Rating|2.5|5 [http://www.musicbox-online.com/reviews-2007/elo-balanceofpower.html link]
Last album = "Secret Messages" (1983)
This album = "Balance of Power" (1986)
Next album = "Live at Winterland '76" (1998) |

"Balance of Power" is an album by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) released in 1986.

Overview

"Balance of Power" was the last studio album by the Electric Light Orchestra for a period of over 15 years (until "Zoom" was released in 2001). By this time Kelly Groucutt had departed and the group was pared down to a trio, with Jeff Lynne handling bass (in addition to his usual guitar work) and more dabbling with electronic percussion and synthesisers. ELO played some live concerts in the UK and Europe (their last for fifteen years), and in one UK show George Harrison performed as guest guitarist.

The video for the single "Calling America" was shot in Paris, and contains shots of the band playing in front of Centre Georges Pompidou. A video was also made for the single "So Serious." The track "Endless Lies" was intended as an homage to Roy Orbison, and was originally recorded for the pared-down double LP "Secret Messages"; it reappeared on this album in a slightly reworked and more compact form. A number of "ELO firsts" can be attributed to this album: it was the first ELO album not to feature any strings whatsoever; the first to feature a saxophone solo; and the band's first compact disc issued. The album, in its original form, is also the shortest album in the ELO catalogue.

The singles' B-sides "Caught in a Trap", "A Matter Of Fact" (alternative lyrics), and "ELO Megamix" are among the band's more collectible single tracks; "Destination Unknown" and the standard version of "A Matter Of Fact" were released on the 1990 compilation "Afterglow". The remastered version of the album was released on 26 February (UK) and 20 March (US), 2007 as part of the Sony/BMG Music Epic/Legacy series. It includes an extra 21 minutes of music, considerably lengthening what had been the shortest ELO album.

Very first vinyl pressings and tape recordings were labeled with the familiar JET Records label in Europe, some CBS advertisements announced even the CD release on the JET Records label, but until today there is no original CD item known to be existing with the JET Records label.Europe's CD releases were on CDEPC26467 (Epic) in March 1986. The US and Japan releases were on CBS Associated.

Chart Positions, Chart Runs

* US: #49 Billboard 200, 15 weeks
* UK: #9 UK Albums Chart, 12 weeks
* AUS: #49 ARIA Albums Chart, 11 weeks
* CAN: #40 RPM Albums Chart, 18 weeks

Singles

* "Calling America"/"Caught In A Trap"/"Destination Unknown".:* released in January 1986 in the UK.:* charted 1 February 1986 for 15 weeks in the U.S. and reached #18.:* charted 17 March 1986 for 11 weeks in Australia and reached #47.
* "So Serious"/"A Matter Of Fact"/"A Matter Of Fact" (alternate lyrics).
* "Getting To The Point"/"ELO Megamix" ("Don't Bring Me Down"/"Sweet Talkin' Woman"/"Livin' Thing"/"Calling America"/"So Serious"/"Shine A Little Love"/"Twilight"/"Turn To Stone"/"Hold On Tight")/"Secret Lives".

Track listing

All words and music by Jeff Lynne.

Side One
# "Heaven Only Knows" – 2:52
# "So Serious" – 2:38
# "Getting to the Point" – 4:28
# "Secret Lives" – 3:26
# "Is It Alright" – 3:25

Side Two
# "Sorrow About To Fall" – 3:59
# "Without Someone" – 3:48
# "Calling America" – 3:26
# "Endless Lies" – 2:55
# "Send It" – 3:04

2007 Bonus Tracks

# "Opening" - 0:24
# "Heaven Only Knows (Alternate Version)" - 2:32
# "In For The Kill" - 3:13
# "Secret Lives (Alternate Mix)" - 3:24
# "Sorrow About To Fall (Alternate Mix)" - 3:48
# "Caught In A Trap (UK B-side) - 3:44
# "Destination Unknown (UK B-side) - 4:10

Personnel

*Jeff Lynne - Vocals, Electric and Acoustic guitars, Bass guitar, Keyboards, Percussion
*Bev Bevan - Drums, Percussion
*Richard Tandy - Keyboards, Sequence Programming
*Christian Shneider - Saxophone

Tour line-up

*Jeff Lynne - Lead vocal, electric guitar
*Bev Bevan - Drums
*Richard Tandy - Keyboards
*Mik Kaminski - Violin, synthesizer
*Louis Clark - String synthesizer
*Dave Morgan - Backing vocals, acoustic guitar, vocoder
*Martin Smith - Backing vocals, bass guitar

External links

* [http://www.ftmusic.com/latitude/bop.html 2007 remaster]
* [http://starling.rinet.ru/music/elo.htm#Power Album review]
* [http://www.epinions.com/content_3270746244 Single chart positions]
* [http://members.iinet.com.au/~althomp/austelo/elo/chartelo.htm Australian charts]
* [http://www.rockaria.com/charts.html UK and U.S. chart info]