Electric Light Orchestra

Balance of Power (1986)

 

  1. Heaven Only Knows
  2. So Serious
  3. Getting to the Point
  4. Secret Lives
  5. Is is Alright
  6. Sorrow About to Fall
  7. Without Someone
  8. Calling America
  9. Endless Lies
  10.Send It
  
  
  

If ever there was an album that bore the unmistakable aroma of contractual necessity, Balance of Power would be it. By 1986, Electric Light Orchestra was reduced to a trio — following the departure of bassist Kelly Groucutt, who had sued Jeff Lynne over unpaid royalties and a disputed lack of “full member” status. What remained of the once-grand ensemble produced a sleek, 30-minute offering that feels like it took little more than a long weekend to assemble.

Musically, Balance of Power is saturated with the hallmarks of mid-80s production: gated drums, synth stabs, and a gloss so polished it borders on the sterile. Not inherently a flaw — the 1980s produced its share of inventive pop — but ELO, with roots in the Beatlesque songcraft of the late '60s and the symphonic flair of the '70s, never seemed quite at home in this brave new digital world. The resulting tension is palpable: this is a band trying to fit into clothes that no longer suit them.

And yet, despite the plastic sheen, there are glimmers of something more interesting beneath the surface. Endless Lies and Heaven Only Knows are clear examples of Jeff Lynne’s songwriting instincts trying valiantly to assert themselves. Hooks appear, occasionally memorable and even affecting — but the sense is that they’re rushed to tape before being fully formed, as if the band didn’t quite believe in them either.

Remarkably, there are moments when the album briefly rises above its context. Calling America, a bright, upbeat single, manages to meld the band’s melodic past with a more contemporary sound, and stands as one of the most engaging tracks they’d produced in years. Getting to the Point, meanwhile, is classic Lynne: melancholic, tuneful, and tinged with resignation. Its lyrical despair almost certainly reflects the creative and emotional fatigue surrounding the album’s creation.

Elsewhere, the trivia is arguably more compelling than the music. Drummer Bev Bevan, still present in name, had spent the intervening years touring with none other than Black Sabbath — a juxtaposition so improbable it seems to belong to fiction rather than fact. By the time Balance of Power appeared, it was clear that Jeff Lynne’s heart was no longer in ELO. The band was quietly retired soon after, and Lynne turned his attention to producing — a field in which he would go on to achieve considerable acclaim throughout the late '80s and well into the following century.

So ended ELO’s original run — not with a flourish, but with a shrug. Balance of Power is overall a bit of an embarrasment and it is sadly not a worthy epitaph. It is the sound of a band out of time, gently lowered into silence. Lynne, to his credit, found redemption elsewhere.

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