SILENT CRIES AND MIGHTY ECHOES

Even though this album was in the time when progressive rock had a very unclear future, Eloy managed to make their third masterpiece in a row. Also, this would mark the last album to feature the drummer and keyboardist Jürgen Rosenthal and Detlev Schmidtchen, and what a loss. Though they made about three more masterpieces without them, they had great instrumental abilities and amazing sound. The sound quality is one of the best in the Eloy catolouge too, which, though, is quite common in Eloy albums. Filled with spacey riffs, engaging lyrics, and beautiful instrumental passages, "Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes" can hardly ever be ignored, even topping Ocean at times.

"Astral Entrance-Master of Senstation" is the section that made me fall in love with Eloy. At first, it kind of reminded me of Pink Floyd a bit, the guitar and out of this world keyboard parts make you think of some of their psychedelic songs more or so, but once it gets to the "Master of Senstation" section, things start to heat up the album. Filled with excellent lyrics, amazing basslines, beautiful keyboards, thumping drum parts, and spacey electric guitar, there is nothing wrong with this track. The vocals are interesting, it seems a bit more like talking with tone, but this song wouldn't be the same without. "The Apocolypse" is easily the best track in the album. It's very scary sound, "that summers evenings gone" is just a stunning lyric of this stunning song. It's a monster track, 15 minutes long, and is their third longest song in thier catolouge. The muisicianship on this epic is stunning, with Frank showing off his vocal talents on this album with amazing passion and stunning emotion in his vocals. This song is just the tope of the list. "Pilot to Paradise" starts with one of the best bassline that you will ever hear, and some of the best riffs that Frank has ever laid out. This song just a has a feeling of right, it makes you feel good when you listen to it, that actually goes with all of this album really. The lyrics are some of the best that I have heard, though poppier than any other Eloy track on this album, they are the best on here. "De Labore Solis" is another pretty track, the weakest on the album, but still excellent. It's a farily short song, the shortest on the album, but feels very spacey and atmospheric for such a short song. The keyboards are a keepr on this track, nothing I would change about. The bass only seems a bit weak on this track, to me at least, though the lyrics on this song are definatly par for the course. "Mighty Echoes" is another great track and an superb closer to say. The lyrics aren't the best thing ever, but they are great. The melodies are interesting and this track always sounds fresh and new sounding to me.

This album is perfect, sometimes beating Ocean in parts. The artwork is a little more interesting to me, but they both rock. This album deserves a 5 star, and it gets one.