Concept is great. Too bad those dudes don’t get ELO on single bit.

Mostly production fluff and not much information stuff. Could been a gem of a podcast. Not terrible, but not good. The “daughter” thing is worthless.

Way better than I expected!

This pleasant Siskel/Ebert-style podcast is hosted by amiable fellows both named Eric. Face The Music: an Electric Light Orchestra Song-by-Song Podcast, has messieurs Eric Paul Johnson & Eric Wincentsen sharing their insights on the ELO. You may initially find it confusing as to which Eric is saying what. Fortunately, the Erics don’t sound alike, as they give interesting and occasionally entertaining information on each and every song the ELO group put out. Considering ELO put out about 190 songs, that’s a formidable task! As with the first 3 albums ELO did, which the Erics were equally critical of, the FTM Podcast also took some time to find their way with their podcast. By their 5th album review – “Eldorado”, which they both loved – the podcast was coming together. EPJ is a bit more of a garden-variety all-in ELO fan, while EW is a bit more erudite and critical of “Progressive Rock”, the genre that ELO was pronounced to be working in. This is by design, and the occasional conflicts do make for a more interesting show. For example, EW is not a big fan of much of the highly popular Out of the Blue double-album, while EPJ is. Each show starts with a bit of the music from the song they will be reviewing, and they do a nice job of summarizing much of the song with seamless cuts that bring its essence together succinctly. (Even better is the “Bonus Tracks” show, in which they review the entire album at the end, with listener feedback. Here, they summarize the entire album, each song, quite nicely in about 10 to 15 seconds.) Then, EPJ announces in a bit of a jingle, “What’s That Song All About?”, which is a bit of a misnomer, since what proceeds is just facts about the song, like when & where it was recorded, who covered it, etc. Then the Erics come in and give facts about the song and say what they like or dislike about it. Their insights are generally interesting, though, to be fair, they could use a bit better editing. EPJ has an annoying habit of almost always giving us the exact date of when he first heard an ELO song (“I’ve always loved this song, ever since I first heard it after purchasing it in November 1984”). EW is a bit more measured in his statements, but sometimes they both over-indulge or go off track, and usually will admit as much and get back on track. One example of some severely-needed editing was info about ELO songs used – doubtlessly without permission and illegally – in a 1970’s porn film. While both Erics agreed this was groanworthy, they still talked quite a bit about it, thankfully not with any graphic details, but really just a sentence or two acknowledging this odd fact would have been plenty. A woman’s voice is heard giving some more rather boring info about the song in another regular feature. Her voice is pleasant enough, but, while I understand people may want to know who covered an ELO song, how it did on the charts in Canada or England, or other things, these parts really drag the show down for me. There’s nothing here where you are going to say, “Oh! How intereresting!” The “Great Moments in ELO History” is announced with a hearty old Robin Hood accent, and is usually a highlight. With a quote from Jeff Lynne – who wrote all the music, the lyrics as well as produced the albums – or perhaps a clip of old “America’s Top 40” host Casey Kassem talking about how “Evil Woman” shot up in the charts or was written. The clips, whether from interviews done in the 70s, or of part of the song their talking about – audio demonstrations are key when all you have to go by are your ears and perhaps a wandering mind – are much appreciated. While I had heard it before, it was enjoyable to hear the Erics talk about the ‘back-ward masking’, i.e., the music and singing played backwards on a song, such as in the instrumental, “Fire On High”. While a deep, scary voice cries out something like “izzy emith” or “madness”, they play the backwards words so you can hear what is being said: “the music is reversable, but time is not. Turn back, turn back, turn back” in fade-out. A feature introduced in the 7th album onward is especially fun: it is called “great lines from this week’s ELO song”. A voice actor apparently donated his efforts to share these with the podcast, and the extra voice is also welcome. He usually acts out some line from the song, with sound effects, that can put a new spin on the song. For instance, the popular “Mr. Blue Sky” has this bubble-gum lyric: “Hey you with the pretty face / Welcome to the human race!” The Great Line actor said these lines to a cooing baby, which brought a smile to my face.

I started listening to this podcast during the El Dorado album and was hooked right away. I’m a big ELO fan that started my adoration with “sweet talking woman“ & the out of the blue album. Then as a fan I got everything from that point on the minute it came out and then worked my way back and really enjoy everything they did from El Dorado on. For the podcast, I listened to every episode from the El Dorado album until the final episode and it’s a lot of fun, informative, and even though I don’t agree with the opinions sometimes, I enjoy hearing the Eric‘s talk about each song. I also don’t need to agree with them to enjoy the show. BTW – it really is a show that grew as time went by with a cast of characters & new production elements. I also have to say that the number of times I laughed at Madeline‘s review was in double figures and I really appreciated the other opinions from the other contributors as well. In addition, Eric Johnson’s production work is really enjoyable to me. I was in radio in college and loved putting together shows and he’s living a dream of mine! He does it very well! ALOT of funny edits, examples of elements from the song that he’s talking about, comparisons to other artists, etc. . He makes the podcast fun & it is clearly a labor of love for him! Eric Wincentsen has a great chemistry with Eric J & has great musical knowledge that is evident throughout the podcasts. In all honesty I’ve actually learned some new things about something I already know a lot about from the Eric’s which is pretty cool! Now that I have made it through the end of the show until the next ELO album, I’m going back and listening to some episodes of some of my favorite songs and enjoying their commentary all over again. Great job!

I’ve been listening to the podcast at 1.5 speed. If I ever meet the Eric’s, they’ll be speaking in slow motion. Great show at any tempo!

Eric and Eric do a fantastic job in breaking down the details, nitty-gritty and nuances of each song. They seek fan input and feedback in addition to completing research before each episode. As a fan of Jeff Lynne and Electric Light Orchestra for nearly 45 years, this is an entertaining way to look beyond a song itself and learn a few things along the way that I didn’t know or can’t remember. Highly recommended for die-hard fans as well as newer fans.

Very slick production and great depth of information in each episode. Bonus episodes have popular content front loaded so you can stop listening when you get bored and not miss any good stuff.

I am listening to the new episodes as they come out while I try to catch up on the previous ones in between. I am really looking forward to the episodes about "Time" which is my favorite ELO record. I appreciate the insights and trivia about the various songs. I first heard ELO on the radio not knowing who they were in the late 70s. My first real exposure to them was when a friend played me "Time" that he had recorded on his reel to reel tape player. I purchased the LP soon after and my love of ELO new and old was initiated. I have attended the Jeff Lynne ELO shows in 2018 in Houston and 2019 in Nashville. Keep up the good work!

If you like Jeff Lynne (and if you don't, why are you reading this?) then you will love this podcast. Just like listening to a jeff lynne production, the two erics not only review each song, but add so much more production work with, as jeff would say, lots of naughty bits thrown in to make it an extremely enjoyable listen. Best podcast since SERIAL.

Two guys who clearly know very little about music tell us little more than “I like” and “I don’t like” about every song in ELO’s discography. I was hoping for some real in depth analysis: chords, production techniques, musical structure, etc. Nope.

Just like ELO, this podcast makes me smile. Great information about the band, Jeff Lynne, and his music.

Sorry to hear that YOUR cult has brainwashed you into thinking abortion is a good thing. This show was great, too bad you had to ruin it with politics. True fans don't try to alienate other fans. You could have just had a passing laugh and said "man I never would have thought that!" and moved on, instead of harping on it for several minutes and labeling everyone who doesn't share your views as extremist whack jobs. I'll still give you 4 stars because the show was otherwise good

Hardcore fan here catching up before attending one of the 2019 concert dates. Fantastic podcast!

Like The Electric Light Orchestra, this podcast is over-produced and thin on substance.

Great podcast by the Erick's. Like what your doing and where the show is going, a true love of the band but from an honest point of view and if you like it or not you will put it out there. Please do keep it up!!! Cheers

Eric and Eric do a great job of reviewing every ELO recording, with interesting personal insights and humor. You probably won’t always agree with them, but you can’t deny they’re entertaining!

Thank you for the great idea for a podcast! Looking forward to listening to them all, song by song. ELO perfectly melds Rock with classical strings that makes their sound unique, with a hard edge that is smoothed by the wonderful orchestral sound. Love them. All time favorite band and this podcast covers all the aspects of what makes their story great!

I’ve been a fan of Electric Light Orchestra since 1974 and I am learning things about these songs that I never knew (and I’ve read up on ELO history anywhere I can find it). Well worth the short time needed to listen to each episode. Production values are also very good. Five stars!!!

The Podcast I've been waiting for! Informative, witty, and short.