SILENT CRIES AND MIGHTY ECHOES

Succeeding the release of Ocean (1977), the band Eloy was reveling in the success of the creative work. Knowing this, they raced to release their follow-up album. Thus, another space-rock album was born: Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes was released in the year of 1979, two years after the release of Ocean. Fan response was true and hearty, but critical reception was much more dulled than on the release of the previous album. "The album is good," People would say. "but it borrows too many elements from Pink Floyd, especially the 1975 smash hit Wish You Were Here." Is this really true? I mean, I've already reviewed Ocean and told my thoughts on it. My main point that I made in the review was how they, even though taking elements from the Floyd, were able to develop their own sound and ideas, and make gold in the aftermath. I am regretful to say that isn't on this release. Sure, I can tell they tried hard to make a great release in the wake of both Dawn (1976) and Ocean, but it didn't live nearly up to those two album's standards. You may even call it a face-plant in the step to making this a good release. Although I wouldn't go as far as to say such a thing, this album is indeed not as good as it's successors.

Right off the bat, 'Astral Entrance / Master of Sensation' reminds me of a little ditty called 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond'. Though I'm not a fan of the song, doubtless you (the reader) have heard it. Even with the harmonious synth opening and all, this song uses a LOT of material from WYWH. The song's synth header fades into a funky-jazz beat which extremely reminds me of something you'd hear off of PF's Meddle (1971). Enough of comparing it to Floyd, what has Eloy done correctly to make it their own? Well I suppose that Bornemann's usual heavy accent gives the song it's personal flare, as well as having some very cool synthesizer effects throughout. I can give the song credit (and the album) to be a good casual listen. 'The Apocalypse' is actually a nice comeback from the opener, with some awesome choral effects and some nice drumming from Matziol. There is some very soul-like singing that sounds good in the overall affect, and I might go so far as to say that this song beats 'The Great Gig in the Sky' from Dark Side of the Moon. The song ends on a really cool wavering guitar flow. Pretty nice. 'Mighty Echoes' is probably my last real pick on the album with some nice crashing synthesizer and some jazzy bass lines. Very reminiscent of Animals. As you might have seen, I keep comparing these songs to Pink Floyd material. And that brings me to my big problem with this album. It borrows way too much from them, especially their mainstream hit albums. I wouldn't mind as much if I hadn't already listened to PF's entire discography. I don't really want to hear them all over again except not being them.

Therefore, my final judging for this album is a 3.5, because I cannot deny that this album has talented musicians playing greatly. But I don't think this album is really essential to Eloy fans in general, or even space-rock fans. if you're looking for some good space rock material by Eloy, check out Ocean or Dawn. This release is something you can probably miss.

Go give it a listen.