I am very curious knowing all the possible details that surround the 'Time' project. I know it was originally conceived as a double LP. Any info from the ELO experts here on the forum is welcome.
I have the strangest feeling of deja vu. I've heard that ShardEnder is the expert on this topic. I'm sure that he will be generous with the details!
Time is such a gem, it captivates you from start to finish and, to me, does not have a song that drags on and slows the album down at all. Even the bonus tracks have substance that help further along the story. Of course now, it has been revealed that there is a reason for that. Time was supposed a double album that was to feature 18 tracks (similar to Secret Messages) but was nevertheless cutdown for reasons currently unknown. Very little information is out there on the 2LP but thankfully acetates of this configuration have survived and have been preserved. The current understanding of the track list is as follows: SIDE A A1. Prologue A2. Twilight A3. Yours Truly, 2095 A4. Ticket to the Moon A5. The Way Life's Meant to Be SIDE B B1. When Time Stood Still B2. Julie Don't Live Here B3. (Title unknown) B4. Another Heart Breaks SIDE C C1. Rain is Falling C2. From the End of the World C3. The Lights Go Down C4. Here is the News SIDE D D1. 21st Century Man D2. The Bouncer D3. (Title unknown) D4. Hold on Tight D5. Epilogue Upon closer inspection and following this configuration as currently available, the story flows well and feels a little less ambiguous than the single album. Now together, as collective ELO fans, we can only wonder about the potential missing pieces of this album - interludes, potential alternate takes and of course the two unknown tracks. Let's start with the lost tracks. It should be mentioned that there was once an entry on the Jeff Lynne Song Database about a Time outtake titled "Sad Affair" with even some lyrics recalled supposedly by an engineer from those sessions. The lyrics that were remembered are taken directly from that particular entry: I realize that you've been seeing other guys... (more lyrics in verse, can't remember) Chorus: Does it (doesn't?) mean that much to you To say that we are through Cuz it always breaks your heart True love is a sad affair (guitar riff) and so on... Assuming those lyrics are accurate, it makes total sense for these to follow "Julie Don't Live Here" making this track a fair contender to be track B3. That entry has since been removed and one can only wonder why. However, recently a YouTube channel called ELO Rare Tracks uploaded a video called Sad Affair clocking at 4:21(I think so?) but containing no audio - claimed to be due to an audio codec issue. Such a duration would pad out Side B to where it is roughly the same as the others but no correction on the claimed issue makes you wonder if it was an elaborate hoax or there's other reasons that the song did not go up. If it's true though, "Sad Affair" is likely a slower ballad, as such a name has been used as placeholder title on other ELO slower tunes in their early stages. Track D3 is also a mystery but one has to wonder if the bit at the end of Flashback's "Getting to the Point" that serves as an intro to "Hold on Tight" is a vintage interlude or piece from the cut double album. For one, it has a heavy synthesized sound along with bells that resemble a clock chime. So it may be a fair assumption that that piece is either part of this lost track or a connecting interlude. According to an old interview with Bev Bevan, he claimed that 17 tracks were made for the Time album - so why are there two unreleased songs rounding the final number to 18? Maybe one of the lost tracks is instrumental or at least very brief. Track B3 likely wouldn't be an instrumental due to "Another Heart Breaks" immediately following it, so D3 is the likely candidate to be an instrumental if there is one. Surely we all remember the Secret Messages acetates right (I think there was a thread about it somewhere)? Those acetates contained the now-dubbed "Soundcastle Mix" of the title track that featured an alternate vocal take that can now be found on YouTube. So is there a chance that the Time double album contains alternate mixes as well? Sure makes you think doesn't it and what a fun thought that is. On top of that, the single LP of Time had most of the tracks connected to some degree of interludes or segues. Side B of the double was mostly cut from the final single LP with "Another Heart Breaks" being the only track not connected to any other piece, so is it possible that there are unreleased crossfades connecting the Side B tracks? While the Secret Messages songs had clues of last-minute changes (like how the "plant a tree" intro to "Danger Ahead" has a bit of "Buildings Have Eyes"'s final fade on there), I haven't been able to find clues to interludes existing on "When Time Stood Still" or "Julie Don't Live Here." On "The Bouncer" however, there is a synthesized brass-esque note on the final fade. That note is a C which the same note as the clock chime on the Flashback intro to "Hold on Tight." Maybe it means something but at the same time, maybe it doesn't. Finally, on the single LP of "Here is the News," there's a very brief boom or explosion sound at the end of the reversed string interlude just before the cutoff. The artwork for "The Way Life's Meant to Be" single depicts the ELO spaceship breaking out of a metallic satellite - obviously a nod to the "somebody has broken out of Satellite 2." Knowing these two things plus the fact that the track was suppose to close Side C, is it possible that the double album features some sort of climatic rocket ending? Or was this subtle boom added in for the single LP? So many questions and who knows?... but I would love to know your thoughts regardless.
hopefully this thread can stay in the correct area this time, instead of the past one getting put in a completely wrong area...
Secret Messages has absolutely dominated my life for the last five years and taken me to some great places (along with a few I'd rather not be reminded of in a hurry), but I'm more than happy to pass the baton over. Clay, I know you've got this...
Does anyone know if acetates for the 2 lp set were ever auctioned and hoarded as was the case for Secret Messages?
I don't think they were auctioned, but they're certainly being hoarded (though samples have apparently found their way out, sourced from a very high resolution transfer). Unlike the Secret Messages acetates, I've seen images of the 5-20-81 double album test pressing for Time, and it appears to be in great condition* overall. *I'm not blaming the current owner for any damage - who drops a needle onto what they think are the most valuable parts of such delicate items then puts them in their garden to be posed for shots?
https://twitter.com/TrekkiELO/status/1263468182263693314 Now I really want a 2 LP Time to be released more than ever for sentimental reasons, Dad who bought its original audio cassette as my very first ELO album after I'd heard "Hold on Tight" from Casey's Kasem's American Top 40 around August of 1981, sadly passed away 4/7/2020.
https://twitter.com/TrekkiELO/status/1194716166654242823 https://twitter.com/CaigerRob/status/1194722353269354496
https://twitter.com/TrekkiELO/status/1194729006911885313 https://twitter.com/CaigerRob/status/1194913057207726080 @4:27 "TIME" doble acetato
https://twitter.com/CaigerRob/status/1194729219705704448 https://twitter.com/TrekkiELO/status/1194731729195540482 Jeff Lynne Song Database - 1980s Songs
Yes.. that is a much more fitting title anyway. I do not know if it's actually true but there is speculation that "The Bouncer" was only ever a placeholder title anyway, possibly after its bouncing rhythm. Nevertheless a great song and a shame it was not on the single album.
Not only discuss it, but I can't wait to get my Electric Light Orchestra holy grail, Time as an originally intended 2 LP from 5/20/81, hopefully for its 40th Anniversary and ELO's 50th by or before July 2021! PS-Please see reply #13 above.
Hi Claytonm4500, So many questions & who knows (The Genius Lyrical Mind of Jeff Lynne)? My ELO Forum Name is mikelo3012. And I have Always been A Mega ELO Fan Right Back from The Days of The Idle Race & The Move. Please may I Share with You & The Other ELO Fans on This Site Some of my Thoughts about The ELO Time (Double) Album, & Especially about Julie (Don't Live Here Anymore)! I Fully Agree with your Chain of Thought Concerning The Missing Outtake Track "Sad Affair" (Cuz It Always Breaks Your Heart). I am Also Sure that It Could be The Missing Track on Side B (2). After All It Would Perfectly Fit in Lyrically With Jeff Lynne's Concept of His 21st Century Man Trying to Get Back Home:- Back to The Good Olde 1980's After Being Stranded in The Year 2095. I Also Want to Suggest (Include) Another Song from ELO Secret Messages Into The Mix! "Letter From Spain" I Personally Think That Jeff Lynne Could Have Written It Differently & Called It "Letter From Space" It Could Have Been The Missing Letter That our 21st Century Man Had Posted To His Girl Julie (But She Doesn't Live There Anymore!) So Here Is my Hypothetical Story So Far. Hi Julie, I Wrote to You, But I Guess That You Didn't Get My Letter & You Have Moved On, Perhaps You Are Seeing Another Guy ----- I (Now) Realize That You Have Been Seeing Other Guys, & It Doesn't Mean That Much To You; To Say That We Are Through, Cuz It Always Breaks Your Heart, (Another Heart Breaks) & True Love Is A Sad Affair! Perhaps The 21st Century Man in Jeff Lynne's Concept Has Lost His Way & Is Broken Hearted! And All He Wants To Do Is To Get Back Home (The Bouncer) To The Good Olde 1980's. So Side B of ELO Time (DBL Album) Could be Like This:- 1) When Time Stood Still. 2) Julie Don't Live Here Anymore. 3) Sad Affair. (Cuz It Always Breaks Your Heart) 4) Another Heart Breaks. Also Clayton & Other ELO Fans, Have You Ever Considered The Long Space Aged Distanced Connection Between The ELO Albums "A New World Record" & "Time". Has we do Kind of Know That Jeff Lynne Does Like To Look Back on His Extensive Portfolio of Brilliant Songs & Sometimes Even Rework Them. And So Perhaps Jeff Lynne Did So Here When He Was Writing Down All These Brilliant Songs For Time. Perhaps He Drifted Back In Time To 1976 & A New World Record. Why? You Might be Asking Well Here Is my Chain of Thought & It Concerns Jeff Lynne's Song "Mission" (Of The Sacred Heart). Please Refresh Your Mind of The Lyrics. Perhaps The Whole Premise of Jeff Lynne's 21st Century Man Starts Out (Off) Here! And His Mission Is To The Sacred (Broken) Heart Of The Earth! (See Jeff's Lyrics) He Is Time Transported To The Year 2095 & His Mission Orders Are Again Found In The Lyrics of Mission:--- My Orders Are To Sit Here & Watch The World Go By! From The Mission Of The Sacred Heart. Finally Clayton & Fellow ELO Fans, Have You Heard of or Got The Brilliant Book By Randy Blazak Entitled:--- The Mission Of The Sacred Heart (A Rock Novel). (Reference ELO Beatles Forever) I Believe that you can Still Buy This Brilliant Book from Amazon. I Have Read it a Few Times & Even Though It Is Based Upon The ELO Album "A New World Record" You Can Clearly See or Sense The Simalarities With The ELO Time Album. Has I Read It My Imagination Still Transports Me Away To The Year 2095. In my Humble Opinion I Really Think That Randy Blazak's Novel Could Be The Secret Lost Diaries of Jeff Lynne's 21st Century Man. Once Again May More Options & Questions To Explore. Many Thanks for Bearing with me. I would like to Hear your Thoughts if you want to Comment. From mikelo3012.
