The new lineup released Colours in , which saw them start to abandon their spacy elements to pursue a harder rock sound. Planets and Time to Turn were two parts of a science fiction concept album that found the group's sound increasingly dominated by keyboards. The band released Performance and Metromania in and then split due to musical differences after a series of farewell concerts in England.
Eloy returned in , this time as a duo featuring Bornemann and multi-instrumentalist Michael Gerlach. The first Eloy record with this lineup was Ra, which saw a return to the sound of Colours. It was followed by Destination Both records did quite well on the German charts.
Several members of Eloy re-formed in to re-record older tracks for Chronicles I, followed by Chronicles II the next year. The conceptual Ocean 2: The Answer, with new drummer Bodo Schopf, was released in , but it would be many years before the band would return to the studio again.
In , after numerous compilations, reissues, and box sets, Eloy reconvened for a new studio album. The resulting Visionary featured a lineup that included Frank Bornemann on lead vocals and guitar, Klaus-Peter Matziol on bass, Michael Gerlach on keyboards, and Bodo Schopf on drums and percussion.
The Vision, the Sword and the Pyre, Pt. Rock - Released by Vertigo Berlin on Jan 10, Rock - Released by Harvest on Jan 1, With Floating, Eloy hit their first artistic peak.
The German group's brand of hard rock meets prog rock gelled beautifully for this set of five songs With more weaknesses than strengths, it contains all the element Rock - Released by Vertigo Berlin on Oct 26, As good as Dawn was, the weight of the orchestra prevented it from being truly compelling, while its story seemed a bit thin.
Eloy fixed both flaws fo Rock - Released by Vertigo Berlin on Oct 4, Before recording this album, Eloy's fifth, Frank Bornemann had to rebuild his group. The only thing not wrong on Metromania is Rodney Matthews' beautiful cover artwork. Available in Bit CD Quality Unlimited Streaming Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps Start my trial period and start listening to this album.
Enjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription Subscribe. Enjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription Listen on Qobuz. Download not available. Your browser does not support the audio element. Ocean Remastered Eloy. Copy the following link to share it Copy. You are currently listening to samples. Poseidon's Creation. Incarnation Of Logos. Decay Of Logos. Atlantis' Agony At June 5th, , 13 p. See More. Nevermind Nirvana. Planets Vinyl Lp. Colours Remaster. Colours Vinyl Lp. Silent Cries And Mighty Echoes.
Live Lp2. Live Lp1. Live Remastered. Ocean Vinyl Lp. Ocean Remaster. Dawn Vinyl Lp. Dawn Remaster. Power And The Passion.
Floating Vinyl Lp. That pretty much lost the album a star right there. Now, I've made more complaints for OCEAN than warranted, so let me conclude by saying that ''Poseidon's Creation'' and ''Incarnation of the Logos'' are top quality progressive rock tracks. Not bad space prog that can really appeal to the symphonic progsters out there.
Well now that we got that out of the way let's talk about Ocean! The album opens with the amazing Poseidon's Creation which is truly a magnificent composition and is performed flawlessly by all the musicians involved. I would like to give a special shout out to the drummer who blew me away with the polyrhythmic drumming and bass sounds! Where does the album lead us after such an impressive introduction?
Well to tell you the truth I felt quite underwhelmed by the other three track the first few time I heard them. Eventually I got used to them more and more but still they never reach the intensity of the first composition. Although the rest of the album is below the level of the great first track Eloy still manages to keep the album afloat.
Most of the compositions don't overstay their welcome which can be a big problem when dealing with space rock, although the last composition could have been shortened down just a bit, but now I'm just being picky. Overall Ocean is a perfect introduction for anyone interested in German space rock! The music itself might not be that original but the jam-moments definitely make up for those flaws in my book.
First, I need to make it clear that I have absolutely no problem with Eloy. I think a lot of their work is really quite good. But if you would ask me what I thought was the band's very best album, Ocean wouldn't be anywhere close. Which is odd, because so many people do seem to think this is Eloy's magnum opus.
Upon first hearing it a few years ago, the reasoning behind this opinion eluded me. Now, as I listen to it today, I'm still stumped. But why is it such a disappointment to me? Well, for one thing, I know these guys can do better. Secondly, so much of the music featured here is a clear and blatant rip-off of Pink Floyd.
I realize Eloy IS somewhat of a Floyd clone anyway, but typically they can avoid sounding like shameless plagiarizers. In this case, however, the more intense musical breakdowns or much too close for my own comfort. You may feel differently, but to me, there is much more originality to be found on virtually every other Eloy release besides this one. Aside from the moments where they attempt to mimic their idols, the rest of the record is lacking in musicality of any sort. Again, this isn't true of all Eloy music, but this album in particular always struck me as much too slow-paced with very little going on for the length that it is.
It is no secret that Frank Bornemann, in the early days of the band, was virtually incapable of actually speaking English, and as much as I wish that didn't matter, his thick accent is at its most annoying and grating on Ocean. If he got a few words wrong here and there, that wouldn't bother me after all, Mikael Akerfeldt's diction isn't always spot-on, and he is one of my favorite metal vocalists ever , but it's more than just a few hiccups.
This man pronounces nearly every syllable with incredible strain and effort, and unfortunately, it causes me to strain as well as I listen, because lyrics are very important to me, and I'd like to be able to understand what the hell he's talking about.
I honestly didn't realize he was even singing English lyrics when I first heard it. That's how hard to understand he is. In situations like that, I personally think it would have done the music itself a favor if Bornemann had simply sung in German. I'd much rather he speak correctly in his own language than confuse the daylights out of me in mine. I'm honestly not trying to linger on this aspect, nor do I want to seem unnecessarily cruel; I just think it's important for a vocalist to properly convey what he's trying to say without feeling like it's somehow required of him to sing in a language that is not natively his own.
For a lot of foreign singers, they are able to pull it off, and Bornemann is a hit-and-miss kind of singer in this regard. However, on Ocean , he misses big. Turns out in this particular case, the words themselves aren't even worth paying attention to, because the 'epic tale' of Ocean is juvenile, cliched and uninteresting.
Atlantis sounds like a really neat lyrical concept on its face, but it seems they weren't able to present it in a very poetic or interesting way. It feels very cheesy and uninspired. Please don't think me rash; I understand why some people enjoy this stuff, but I just can't see why so many people find this album to be the masterpiece they claim it to be. So much better stuff is out there from this great band and they ARE great in a lot of ways!
If you are already an Eloy fan, and for some reason haven't listened to this one yet, you'll most likely really enjoy it, but if you want to get into this band and have heard all the hype surrounding Ocean , I truly think you could choose a much better album as an introduction to them. So, in my view, Eloy's Ocean is a pass as far as newcomers are concerned.
Intermediate fans of the band have a such better chance of getting into it, and of course the die-hards are already in love with it.
However, I cannot recommend it as being among the top Eloy records, or even the average Eloy records. I really do think it's one of their weaker efforts, and may even be my personal least favorite. Ultimately you'll have to decide for yourself, as always, but please take notice of the three-star and two- star reviews that exist for this album-- they may just save you from making a rash purchase decision.
The style tends to have a perfect balance between hard rock and spacey moods, like you will never find. The record is a fantastic concept album written by drummer Rosenthal, who is also very creative when playing that concerns Greek Mythology and the mythic city Atlantis.
It is in my opinion the best song of the album, with an outstanding and heavy riff mixed with floating moods. Brilliant, one of the best space rock songs ever. So spacy and at the same time mysterious, it seems almost like you are really floating in sapce, above the mighty ocean.
Not crazy about the rest of the song, but it's still really good. It also has a pretty catchy riff, with good vocals and general surrounding. After the intro, a mood very similar to "Wish You Were Here" kicks in, even though it's a bit more mysterious than the PF masterpiece. Also the final part is majestic, with many memorable moments that will surely be remembered in many years from now. Five stars, an essential masterpiece for prog rock fans. That's all what I got to say.
The album contains only 4 long tracks and should be a concept one, even if I never investigated it. Long instrumental parts, keyboards, guitar riffs I don't know why he didn't sing in German instead of English.
It was probably for 'commercial' reasons, but German would have been best fitting with Bornemann's voice. Regardless this fact, that's common in all the Eloy's discography, this is an excellent song with several sections. The keyboards part after the singing has something of Genesis and of Wakeman at the same time, followed by a very good guitar piece that even giving me a sensation of "already-known" can't be related to any specific prog dynosaur.
The coda is quite psychedelic thanks to the repetitiveness of the guitar's part. Poseidon in the first track and Atlantis in the last identify our story in The song is slow and keyboard-based.
Did Porcupine Tree know this song when they have written Radioactive Toy? The instrumental part in the middle of the song is one of the best ever created by this band. Bass opens "Decay of the Logos". There's just a bit of krautrock flavour because of the repetitive bass line almost performed by keyboards of the initial part.
This is a complex song in the sung parts with uptime tempo and odd signatures. It's about a decay, so it introduces the fall of Atlantis which is going to come at June 5th - , 13 p.
Gregorian Earthtime. Deadly bells, background screams, winds and a narrator for the storm to start. It goes on dark and slowly for the first half of the track, until the bass enters. Now Bornemann sings. If I have to think to an example of "a progressive song" this is a good one.
There's something theathrical in the nubers cried by Bornemann at the end of the singing part. Now the bass is hypnotic while the keyboards make an excellent work. This can be defined an epic, maybe the first real epic in the Eloy's discography. Probably a bit dated in the sounds, but good music never dies, isn't it so?
It's at minute 13 that the catastrophe of the title happens. This song is about the Atlantis Agony, not its death, so don't expect explosions or similar. The coda sounds like deadly bells again. Unfortunately it fades out, a production choice that I never like and it seems to be completely unneeded at this point. Even with some defects this is probably the fundamental album of this band and I don't want to decrease its overall rating so I will round up to 5 the 4.
The story of Atlantis first appeared in Plato's 'Critias' and 'Timaeus' dialogues, although a volcanic eruption circa B. In spite of the possibility that Plato's story is based on historical events, his dialogues were largely allegorical and attempted to reconcile the idea of the supernatural with scientific explanations of the natural.
The spoken-word parts toward the end may seem to stop the album dead in its tracks but they are essential for the development of the story and in general the concept sticks closely to the original story. We are betrayed! A mind power makes the rocks sink. Some years ago I gazed out at the ocean that might shelter the legendary city when I stood at 'the edge of the world' in west Portugal, and I would willingly do time on those waters if I had this album for company. Atlantis might or might not lie hidden beneath the depths of Poseidon's domain but Eloy's 'Ocean' soars to the extreme heights of Space Rock.
The band are at their best when they take off into full blown keyboard and guitar solos and there are plenty on offer here. This album relies heavily on atmospherics and symphonic soundscapes and is wonderful headphone music. There are only 4 songs but they all feature incredible musicianship and a heavy concept that has something to do with the lost city of Atlantis and Poseidon's power with the divine Logos.
The story focuses on the rise and fall of the great mythical city of Atlantis, depicting its creation and its destruction. It throws in the dawn of civilisation, and how it became corrupted by greed, power and lust and finally after the gods had taken all they could take, they proceed to destroy the city to rubble on June 5th at 13 pm.
After a gentle intro the Hammond blasts in and a rhythm builds in to the main riff. Bornemann's guitar soloing is stellar and it is layered over with another solo blending together perfectly.
The bassline is fabulous from Klaus-Peter Matziol and the keyboard skills of Detlev Schmidtchen are superb. The track really gets going at about 8 minutes when the band go into full flight in an instrumental of musical genius.
This is an excellent uplifting start to this album. Transcendental forces penetrate The planet we call Earth, and all spheres of the universe All the elements burst! There are loads of spoken dialogue scattered on here but Bornemann sounds pleasant on vocals. The mellotron soaked background music builds eventually into some dynamic metrics, especially the bassline. At about the rhythmic pulse quickens and it becomes majestic and I particularly like the melody line.
This one grew on me over time and became another of my favourites. The next vocal section is a mediocre point of the album but the synth laden melody saves it. The main melody is well executed and again grows on me with every listen. Indeed side 2 of the album is even better than the first side which is excellent in its own right.
Gregorian Earthtime' begins with a lengthy passage of 'tron and voice over and then a tolling bell that builds into a stormy spacescape. The band are at their most inventive here, and do not hold back on the atmospherics and effects. The synth dominates in the opening passage, until about 8 minutes when drums and Bornemann's vocals chime in.
He sounds great here and the rhythm is steady with some inventive drumming patterns and pulsing bass. There is a divine twin keyboard solo that takes things to another level.
The section at 13 minutes is fantastic music, with a spacey nuance and swathes of mellotron. Overall this album is a magnificent slice of space rock featuring an awesome display of musicianship. I can see how the overbearing narrations and concept may not appeal to all, but for this one stands out well above the rest. It is definitely well worth checking out as an example of one of the best and proggiest from the amazing extensive discography of Eloy.
Even with the obvious Pink Floydian plagiarisms the album remains a classic of its kind, for better or worse. The soaring synthetic strings; the heavy electric guitar chords; the vigorous rhythm section displayed to great advantage in the first notes of the album opener "Poseidon's Creation" all back-date it in the best possible way. And if you ignore the trite fantasy concept, the clumsy lyrics, and Frank Bornemann's barely adequate English-language singing, what's left might have been a timeless Progressive Rock masterpiece.
But the album is simply too bogged down in its own pseudo-mythic narrative, expressed in dime-store poetry dragged forcibly through a German-English dictionary. Here's my advice, for what it's worth.
Listen to the album again, while mentally erasing everything except the music itself. You should notice a dramatic improvement, especially in the lack of hokey declamation cluttering the long, awkwardly-titled climax of "Atlantis' Agony at June 15th - , 13 p.
Gregorian Earthtime", an awesome mood piece when the imaginary gag is in place. On a speculative side note, maybe the reason Atlantis self-destructed was because their clocks and calendars were so out of whack. I'm being a smart-aleck, of course. The album itself is a Lost Continent of sorts, submerged beneath that deep sea of musical legend known as the s.
Hartley, "they do things differently there. More ambitious than their former opuses, this album shows refinements on many points. The few hard-rock influences have vanished, the style and personality of the band is now defined: "fantasy space-rock". The melodies are more noticeable and Frank Bornemann has improved his guitar playing. Compositions become longer again, reaching 15 minutes for the last one. This means that ELOY has completely finished its mutation started in to a progressive band.
The success of "Ocean" is even more surprising as it was released in , during the explosion of punk rock. The sung part is pleasant while a bit long, and the ending section features an excellent solo from Bornemann. This track will become a classic in ELOY's discography. Starting with an ambient intro, it finishes with a nice melancholic melody. Although the shortest song 8 minutes , it has a good progression, various ambiances and a noticeable melody.
The record finishes with the evanescent "Atlantis' Agony". This epic is the spaciest track of the album, as it alternates atmospheric passages and dreamy soundscapes. The ending is also very catchy. Only a few lengthy moments prevents this album from reaching the maximal note. Although not very innovative at the time, the band proves they can compete with their other British progressive brothers.
I just revisited my 10 years old negative review of the compilation "Timeless Passages" here on Progarchives, and found it a sort of contravening to my recent, generally affirmative, individual albums reviews. Perhaps I have developed a soft spot for ELOY finally, or I have become dumber and more lenient in judgements with growing old. Or I have developed a more sympathetic attitude towards Frank Bornemann's singing. Or it is maybe just a question of different perspective.
Floyd ripoffs? Maybe, but who cares? It sounds nice and relaxing, even demanding to some extent. And how not to love this iconic cover artwork depicting the Hellenic deity Poseidon holding a skull-staff while his head is decomposing into a galactic formation? A concept album again? Yes, why not? Naive and childlike? Yes, just like the behaviour of nowadays politicians and world leaders
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