After mining the
Beatles gold mine for all those catchy hooks, by the time that
Balance of Power was released,
Jeff Lynne and company had pretty much found that once-rich vein going dry. This album did contain yet another Top 40 hit with "Calling America," but by the mid-'80s,
ELO were finding their audience and their inspiration on the wane. Not truly memorable, but passable. [In 2007 Epic/Legacy reissued
Balance of Power with seven bonus cuts, including alternate takes of "Heaven Only Knows," "Secret Lives" and "Sorrow About to Fall," U.K. b-sides "Caught in a Trap" and "Destination Unknown" and the previously unreleased "In for the Kill" and "Opening."] ~ James Chrispell