I am writing this post as I am lying in bed. These cold days and nights are somewhat weakening, making the nighttime a place to unwind and get into a different element than you were during the day. I have spent most of the night just hanging around, but as I usually do, I went on Spotify to listen to some relaxing instrumental music. Some include Disney/Disney-Pixar scores, Alan Silvestri, etc... But since I have been listening to the same songs for a few days now, I looked elsewhere to find nighttime comfort. The biggest go-to for me is Electric Light Orchestra. Jeff Lynne's chilling yet soothing vocal effects, his use of orchestral accompaniments, and transitions between tracks, are all perfect for submitting your mind into a different thought zone, allowing for the dismissal of problems and situations of typical every day life.
Despite these feelings of content and satisfaction, I am never one to listen to an album straight through. I get distracted and will end up pausing and skipping to the tracks I love the most. But my tiredness got the best of me tonight, and I did what my dad has been telling me to do for a month: I am listening to ELO's Eldorado from beginning to end with no interruptions.
It's an album I've known my entire life, but knowing each song individually is different from knowing them all as one piece. The opening track "Eldorado Overture" flows unnoticeably into the second, "Can't Get It out of My Head." So unnoticeably, as a matter of fact, that when you are listening to the vinyl, you would think it is one long track. So unnoticeably, that when you are listening, your heart and time somewhat stop ticking. But unlike some other heart-stopping music, your heart doesn't begin again at all until the album is over, and it's only because of the realization that it's over, and life doesn't actually flow that way.
The whole album has one main theme, and the songs are connected somehow, whether it be by the overture or the song before, it almost feels as though you are reading a book. I have noticed a lot how several albums don't have something tying all of the songs together. Either the songs are too different in sound or meaning, or they could even all sound too similar, blending all of the pieces together so no songs stick out. A common occurrence with ELO is balance between differentiation and similarity between tracks. While "Boy Blue" and "Nobody's Child" sound different within, what connects them is their similar intros (they're also several tracks away from each other).
The album comes to a faded end, with the second to last track being "Eldorado," which is much slower than some of its predecessors. But once again it transitions flawlessly into the final track, "Eldorado Finale," which is symmetrical to the overture; the beginning of the overture is the end of the finale, and the end of the overture is the beginning of the finale. Lay down, close your eyes, and listen to this album (with headphones, not earbuds) from beginning to end with no interruptions. It will almost feel as though you are watching an opera, each song presenting a different scene with different emotions being presented and provoked. Even though there are different emotions, the whole opera makes sense because of one ongoing theme and message. And if Jeff Lynne and the rest of ELO did not do a phenomenal job of this, then maybe music isn't the field for me.
Despite these feelings of content and satisfaction, I am never one to listen to an album straight through. I get distracted and will end up pausing and skipping to the tracks I love the most. But my tiredness got the best of me tonight, and I did what my dad has been telling me to do for a month: I am listening to ELO's Eldorado from beginning to end with no interruptions.
[Photo: Electric Light Orchestra]
The whole album has one main theme, and the songs are connected somehow, whether it be by the overture or the song before, it almost feels as though you are reading a book. I have noticed a lot how several albums don't have something tying all of the songs together. Either the songs are too different in sound or meaning, or they could even all sound too similar, blending all of the pieces together so no songs stick out. A common occurrence with ELO is balance between differentiation and similarity between tracks. While "Boy Blue" and "Nobody's Child" sound different within, what connects them is their similar intros (they're also several tracks away from each other).
The album comes to a faded end, with the second to last track being "Eldorado," which is much slower than some of its predecessors. But once again it transitions flawlessly into the final track, "Eldorado Finale," which is symmetrical to the overture; the beginning of the overture is the end of the finale, and the end of the overture is the beginning of the finale. Lay down, close your eyes, and listen to this album (with headphones, not earbuds) from beginning to end with no interruptions. It will almost feel as though you are watching an opera, each song presenting a different scene with different emotions being presented and provoked. Even though there are different emotions, the whole opera makes sense because of one ongoing theme and message. And if Jeff Lynne and the rest of ELO did not do a phenomenal job of this, then maybe music isn't the field for me.