ELOY

"Voyager of the Future Race" is the progiest of the songs, and a great favorite of mine. I do not like the drumming too much on this one, but the music overall is very good. I love the intro, atmospheric how the ladies sing. The guitar, once it really gets into it, is very good, nice soloing by Frank throughout. The keyboard playing is alright on this track, though not my favorite track for keyboards. The vocals and lyrics are excellent, some of the best I have ever heard Frank sing. "Sensations" I don't like too much, returning back to that poppy early 80s sound that they had before, and the drumming is annoying. The vocals are pretty good throughout, and the keyboards are really nice. Atmsopheric sound the way the guitar sounds, distorted. "Dreams" is a spacier track, nice guitar intro by the way. It's acoustic, I'm pretty sure. It's a really atmospheric sound in the beginning. It does get pretty heavy, with great basslines and some better drumming. The vocals are not my favorite, but I really like the lyrics and how they make me think alot. "Invasion of a Megaforce" is a great song, with a heavy one-noted keyboard intro. It does build up into a much more thoughtful song, with better keyboards and atomspheric drumming. The drumming is fairly good on this track, and so is the bass and guitar, the bassline particularly being really nice in the rhythm section. "Rainbow" is very spacey sounding to me, and holds to be another one of my favorites. The synthesizer and guitar work on this song blows my mind, really. I'm not too fond of the lyrics, but the vocals are nice and are very emotional. The harmonies are fairly good, going with the song very well vocally. The guitar throughout is really soft. "Hero" is an okay, but a little too poppy, closer. Nice beats and everything, but it's too poppy, but I can understand that because of the time period that they were in. The guitar solo in the intro is excellent. The lyrics are only subpar for the course, but not too bad for being the worst of the album.

Though not the best Eloy album ever, it's one of my favorites. It shows what will happen in the future, and by the way, great things will happen in the future for Eloy. I have to give this album a 4 star because the musicianship on it is very good, and it's much more progressive sounding than some other of the albums in the 80s.

"Escape to the Heights" has some really bad vocals, and some really bad everything. This is, personally, the only time that I think that really Frank sings bad. I really enjoy his charming voice, but on this on, it sounds terrible. There is a cool guitar solo in the middle of the song, and the bassline is good, but that's really about it. The drums are stiff, the keyboards are cold an uninteresting and the lyrics are not very good for an Eloy song. "Seeds of Creation" is another 1980's song, but with better music than the first track. The keyboards are still very cold and dry, though well played, they never add interest. The bassline is good, and the vocals are great on this track. The drums are still stiff and so standard sounding, it kind of annoys me to the point I want to turn off the music. The lyrics are alright for 1980's Eloy track. "All Life is One" is one of my favorites, great intro, to say the least. The keyboards actually make you interested in this one. After the intro, it turns into more or so a ballad kind of sound, with inspirational keyboards, and all the stiff and slow drumming that you can get. The bassline is fairly slow and melodic on this one. The vocals are really wierd, it's like harmonies, but in an odd tone and very high, a special effect definatly. "The Stranger" is another 1980's track, same old same old. The riff is okay on this one though, I definatly do not mind. The keyboards are really odd sounding to me though, not very enjoyable. The vocals are very good on this track, really good singing. The lyrics are kind of pointless though. "Follow the Light" is a great extended suite with a really nice intro. It's one of the few good tracks on this album, and it's worth the wait. The vocals are powerful and emotional, the keyboards are interesting and so intense on this track. I love the few minutes of intro. The rest of the song is powerful and engaging, especially the ending with it's very sweet and soft sounding synthesizer sounds, this is a beautiful track. "Nightriders" is back to the same, great riffs, but all that 1980's production and sound. The bassline stands out on this one, holding down the rhythm better than the drums at times. The keyboards are alright, not adding anything. The vocals are not great on this one, but I do like the lyrics for some reason. "Metromania" is a masterpiece, honestly, one of the best 1980's tracks ever. The keyboard intro is great, and the drums finally sound a little more natural for some reason. I really like the guitar on this one too, and the whole thing works well. Vocals and lyrics are fine.

Though there are some really bad songs on this one, there are a few tracks that standout. I can't give it anymore than a 2 stars, I love Eloy, but not their finest hour.

"In Disguise" has some wierd lyrics, but I do find the music alright. The synthesizers are fairly representative of the time, but they don't come up and jump me in the face and say im hear, they are just a little bit in the background, normally I wouldn't complaing about that, but this time I will. The basslines and guitars are very good, as with the vocals. Very stiff drumming throughout this song. "Shadows and Light" is a little too poppy for my taste, from those heavy metal licks to that annoying keyboard sound, I really can't listen. The drumming is much better on this track, but that dosen't redeem it well. The vocals make it barely listenable. Lyrics don't interest me in the least. "Mirador" is too short, but it's pretty good. The drums sound a little too electronic, but they are okay. The bassline is excellent, Klaus is really playing his bass very well, and the keyboards are very nice on this track. Interesting chords on the synthesizers, a little odd harmonies going on with it. "Surrender" has some really nice piano with it, along with great synthesizers and basslines. It's a nice guitar type of song here too, and the drums seem to be standard for the course. "Heartbeat" starts with a nice chord from the bass, and the keyboards seem to slowly enter the music. They are very spacey on thist track, and are among my favorite of the album. The drums still don't interest me, and the guitar isn't as strong, but I still really like this track. Vocals and lyrics are acceptable. "Fools" is the poppiest and most accesible of the songs, and it's the most annoying. The keyboards just annoy me the way they try to work with the basslines, but the vocals are the saving grace. The lyrics are okay, but I think that they singing is very good. "A Broken Frame" is a mini epic, starts with some nice keyboards, and is my favorite track. This track honestly boosts up the grade of the overall album because of how good of a closer it is. The guitar is very, as with the vocals being soft in the beginning and quite enjoyable for the most part.

I do think this is an good album and you should have it in your prog collection....for a few of the songs on this album. I'm giving it a 3.6 and rounding it to a 4 stars...it's got it's flawes, but it's definatly a good album and worth having because it's one of Eloy's best 1980's albums, though not the absolute best.

However, in my opinion, we should judge an artist ,primarily, from their content (that is to say the lyrics) and what they want to express with their music, if we want to fully understand their music. So, I have 2 points to state here:

1. Eloy, their name, is taken from H.G.Wells' book, Time Machine. But how many people really know what it means? In that book, a man travels into time and reaches the distant future (about 800.000 AD). Then, society is divided into 2 classes: Eloy and Morlocks. Eloy are the upper class, who lives in the surface of the earth under perfect conditions, without working, only enjoying the fruits of life. Morlocks are the lower class, who lives underground and work all day, for the world to advance, but every night they come up into the surface, through holes, grab some Eloys and eat them. So, in the band's opinion, their name selection means an attempt to have a better world, without Morlocks. This idea is periodically shown in the album's songs (for example: Eloy, Isle of Sun) and in all Eloy's albums.

2. The first lineup included singer Erich Schriever, who was involved in politics, in the anti-war movement (a reference of this is Song of a Paranoid Soldier), in the liberal movement, etc. He intended to transform the band into a musical commune [collectiva], in the styles of Amon Duul. In the other members' disagreement, he left the band after this album. As Frank Bornemann later said: "Erich Schriever was a politician with a guitar. I was a singer with political ideas." That's the difference between them and that was present in Eloy's history.

*You can find Fr.Bornemann's interviews in Eloy's site. You can also read the aforementioned book oh Wells for more information about the story (It's an interesting science-fiction story!).

"Through a Somber Galaxy" is a personal favorite of mine, and an excellent opener. It's has one of the better solo's played by Frank on this one. The bassline is really neat to me for some reason, I just really like it. Keyabords, again, sound extremely modern on this track, for most of the time. "Behind the Walls of Imagination" really does get you thinking. The lyrics are majestic in their own way and beautiful. Musically, it's a much better track than the opener, but it lacks a bit of spark. The keyboards are a little modern and sometimes cold, but they do help add texture to the song. The vocals are very nice, and so are the guitar harmonics at the very beginning. The synthesizers at the middle or so of the song, when everything picks up, sounds a bit like Rush to me for some reason. "Time to Turn" is the shortest and most accesible song. The drumbeat at the beginning is very nice and is extremely dominating in the mix on this track. The keyboards add some of the best atmosphere ever, making it feel so futuristic, painting a picture that is beautifully created, you don't want to look away. So much texture is packed into four minutes of music. "Magic Mirrors" is probably my least favorite because it lacks a bit of soul and sounds much too cold for me. It just dosen't really fit in with the rest of the songs, from my point of view. The bassline is nice, imaginitve lyrics from Frank, and the vocals are nice. It dosen't seem as futuristic as the rest of the album though. "End of an Odyssey" is one of the best mini-epics you will ever hear. It reminds me a lot like the 1979 release from Eloy, Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes, and a little bit of the 1980 release Colours. It's very spacey, but the keyboards give a modern touch. This is simply the best track on the album, and there is no denying it. It contains some of the most beautiful arranged noises that will ever grace your ears. It's farily upbeat in the transition to where it's actually getting started, with a very happy sounding keyboard riff to it. It does seem to be dominated completely by the keyboards at times, but, actually, I really like that feel with this song. "The Flash" is another track which is very good, though not as good as the track before. Very nice guitar work by Frank on this one in the beginning. The vocals are alright on this track, nothing as specail as Planets or some of the other parts on this album. Bassline is very nice on this one though, and the keyboards are very futuristic, and are more or so moved to the background for this one. "Say, is it Really True?" is a more acoustic type of song, and one of the few Eloy songs with an acoustic guitar on it. It's a nice an clever closing, at least to me. The acoustic gives it a feeling that takes you to another world. It's beautiful. With the mellow keyboards in the background, it's the perfect closer.

Though there are moments in Time to Turn that I like more than Planets, I overall like Planets a little more. They are both excellent albums are essential in you Progressive Rock or Space Rock album collection. They have some of the last of Eloy's best music, but they will release more albums. I have to give it a 5 star, but thats probably one of the last times I will with an Eloy album.

"Introduction" is a lush textural keyboard piece, no other instruments. It's pretty interesting and leads into the next awesome song. "On the Verge of Darkening Lights" is another great song, but better because the whole band is playing. I'm not too fond of the drums on this track, but the vocals by Frank are superb and the basslines from Klaus are beautifully thoughtout on this one. I love the lush dense wall of music sound you can get from this song, if you listen really loudly, of course. The guitar harmonics are very nice on this track. "Point of No Return" is very keyboard heavy, but still spacey. The vocals are pretty catchy on this track, and are excellent, some of Frank's best. Frank actually sings very well on this record, some of his best. I think that it's a little too slow for me because it's a mid- slow paced song. It's still very good, much better drumming on this track. "Mysterious Monalith" is easily the best and longest song on thist track. It has alot of their spacey elements from previous albums but has the modern sounding keyboards. The soft guitar throughout the song is excellent and gives the song atmosphere and dangerous sound. The lyrics are very good on this one to me, and the drumming very good on this track. "Queen of the Night" is a good song, not my favorite, but it's not bad. The piano and ballad like fell are very nice on this song, and Frank shows emotion in his singing that gives you the chills at times. The lyrics work very well on this one. "At the Gates of Dawn" is another spacey track, with the piano going from the last song, and a new guitar riff seeping in you know it's just waitng to be good. There aren't too much drums, but you can somewhat faintly some percussion instruments in the background. This one of the more intense sounding instruments I have heard. "Sphinx" is another fairly good track, very nice keyboards and guitar. The rhythm section on this song is very nice, working well with all of the other instruments. Frank sings very well on this track. "Carried by Cosmic Winds" is a nice closer, and it kind of keeps you wondering, what will be on the next album? It has a nice keyboard intro, it's very catching to the ear. The lyrics are very nice on this one, and so are the vocals on this track.

Overall, there are only a few blemish's with this recording, but it's near perfection to me. The songs are very well put together for their time, and it's the second to last album in the 1980's model of Eloy to actually have a good, well-thoughout concept in mind, and it's one of the last masterpieces in the Eloy catalouge (I shouldn't say that, there are few more that are still on par with this one). Still, I have to give this album a 5 star because it's needed in your collection, so is the next album

"Today" has a floating intro, then gets into the rocking part. The guitar is fairly good, and the drumming is superb. The lyrics are terrible because I don't find politics in my rock very good for my listening. The vocals are great on this track, with some harmonies with Frank on this track as you can hear in the background on the "na na na" part. "Somthing Yellow" is the longest track, and is fairly soft and boring. Not much to say about this song other than it has some decent parts, but most of it is unlistenable. "Song of a Paranoid Soldier" has some terrible lyrics, but the music overall is pretty good. The riff is very nice. "Voice of a revolution" is all about movement, but I don't find it an interesting track. Sounds a lot like the Beatles stuff to me, but with a German vocalist. The music is okay, but I don't find it rewarding in the end overall. The rest of the album is the same, subpar with good music and terrible lyrics, but "Isle of the Sun" is the only song that stands out in any way possible.

Worst in the Eloy catalouge, because of it's terrible lyrics and par music, I have to give it a one star for effort, at least. The next albums are much better.

"Horizons" is the only track to feature female vocalists, and it's excellent. They sing really well, and I love the lyrics for this song. The bassline and the keyboards are definatly appreciated as well, I really like them. "Illuminations" is a classic Eloy track. It starts with harmonizing guitar, then the keyboards enter and give atmosphere to the track. As soon as you start to hear Frank singing, you know that this is Eloy. This is definatly Frank's best vocal showpiece on the album, and he sings perfectly on pitch. This is such a colourful song, filled with riffs and beautiful basslines to share. The keyboard solo is excellent though slightly slow, fits the song very well with the atmosphere. Perfect lyrics, very nice. "Giants" a good track, though a little boring compared to the first two tracks. The guitar is a little sloppy, but the overall music is very nice and has some good keyboards, as do most of the tracks on this album. The bassline is great of course though, but I don't think that the structure of the song is anything to get excited about, though the lyrics are superb. "Impressions" is a great short track. Nice harmonics with the guitars and everything, very interesting and slower track for the band. The lyrics are excellent for this song, as with most of the album having great and thought-provoking lyrics throughout. "Child Migration" is the longest song, almost a mini-epic sized song, but not quite there yet. The music is great and very fresh sounding for this track. The lyrics are very good and spacey, though not the best for the album. The keyboard intro is definatly appreciated, as well as the overall music. "Gallery" is a very upbeat track with good guitar and good keyboard parts, but its just a bit too short. It would have done good in the United States if Frank wasn't such a German speaker, then I'm sure it would have charted. That is in NO WAY an insult to his talents. This song is great for a short pop track, colourful. "Silhouette" is a great track, slower with some great keyboards and really nice piano for this track. This is a really soothing track and is nice for when you need to relax. "Sunset" is my least favorite because it's the shortest track by one second, though the acoustic guitar in the intro is very nice. Actually the real intro is a heavy buildup to the acoustic guitar, but either way, it's an intro. It's a very nice ending to an amazing album.

You need to own this album if your a fan of Space Rock. It's one of Eloy's more accesible albums, but it still has a very progressive pop feeling to it, and you need to have this album in your collection. I can't stress that enough. That is why this album gets a 5 stars all over the place.