On the turntable this Sunday...Face The Music

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. 

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.

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.  New member Kelly Groucutt sang lead vocals on "Poker" and "Down Home Town" (while Jeff Lynne sang harmony) as well as one of the verses in "Nightrider." (Usually, Lynne sang all lead vocals for ELO.)

"Fire on High" contains a backwards message in the beginning. When the song is played backwards, the message voiced by drummer Bev Bevan can be heard stating, "The music is reversible, but time is not. Turn back. Turn back. Turn back. Turn back." — ostensibly Jeff Lynne's shot at backmasking hysteria, after false satanic allegations were made against their song "Eldorado" by Fundamentalist Christianity members. "Down Home Town" also starts with some backmasking: the refrain from "Waterfall" ("Face the mighty waterfall, face the mighty waterfall"). A portion of the string crescendo from "Nightrider" was used backwards on "Evil Woman."

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 second 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.

Martin Scorsese Has Plans to Direct a Ramones Film (UCR)

Martin Scorsese has his eye on a Ramones biopic. Billboard reports that the the famed director hopes to release a dramatized film about the punk legends in 2016 (both Scorsese and the band came of out of Queens, NY). 

Please follow the link to read full article at jambands.com

Cassette Store Day to Return with Releases from Foxygen, Julian Casablancas, Cloud Nothings and More

Cassette Store Day will return for another installment this year on September 27. Among the releases include Julian Casablancas’ new record with his new project, The Voidz as well as Foxygen’s ...And Star Power, Cloud Nothings’ Here and Nowhere Else, Best Coast’s Fade Away EP and many more. 

Read full article at jambands.com

Top 10 Rock Soundtracks (Ultimate Classic Rock)

The films featured in this list of the Top 10 Rock Soundtracks aren’t just movies with great music. They are great movies because of how well that great music is employed within them. The movies below were made by filmmakers who might not have been musicians, but had an understanding of how a rock song can heighten a scene – transform it into something utterly terrifying or enhance the most sublime moment. As such, these flicks are not really “rock movies.” 

Read More at Ultimate Classic Rock: Top 10 Rock Soundtracks 

Genesis Announce New 'R-Kive' Box Set (UCR)

When Genesis teased fans with the promise of “exciting news” to be announced on Aug. 22, speculation ran wild; given that former members recently participated in an upcoming retrospective documentary, some hoped that the dormant band would be springing back to life for new music or a reunion tour. As it turns out, the announcement had nothing to do with either of those things — and some fans are unhappy as a result.  

Read More at Ultimate Classic Rock: Genesis Announce New 'R-Kive' Box Set 

Two Long Out-of-Print Jimi Hendrix Albums to Be Reissued (UCR)

Two long out-of-print Jimi Hendrix albums — ‘Cry of Love’ and ‘Rainbow Bridge’ — will be reissued next month. The classic LPs, which were originally released after Hendrix’s death in 1970, were culled from sessions that the guitar legend had worked on in 1969 and 1970. 

Read More at Ultimate Classic Rock: Two Long Out-of-Print Jimi Hendrix Albums to Be Reissued 

Special Guests Join Gov’t Mule at the Georgia Theatre (jambands.com)

Gov’t Mule closed out their two-night stand at the Georgia Theatre in Athens, GA with a little help from some special guests on Friday night. Keyboardist Ike Stubblefield and trumpeter Craig Sorrells were the first to make an appearance when they joined the group for covers of Ray Charles’ “I Believe To My Soul” and Billy Cobham’s “Stratus” in the middle of the second set. 

Read more at jambands.com