By 1981, ELO was considered a major figure in the landscape. They regularly charted well, and were reasonably well regarded, sitting uneasily as they did between disco and rock, although their credibility was severely damaged by their involvement in the soundtrack to the Olivia Newton John vehicle Xanadu . And then there was Time . Futuristic space travel imagery had been associated with ELO for many years, with the spaceship on the cover of Out of the blue being recreated as a stage set. With Time , this was taken a step further.
Time is a science fiction story.
Well, maybe not a story. More of a meditation on the implications of the future. Like the best science fiction, it sharply contrasts technological change and scientific advancement against human ideas and beliefs, placing a character we recognise in the midst of a world that we don't. A man is transported unexpectedly from 1981 to 2095, perhaps in a dream. He misses his lover, he misses green grass and fresh air.