FLOATING

There are progressive rock bands that are host to some of rock's greatest musicians, bands such as Yes, Genesis, and Rush. Then there are bands who don't boast musicians of virtuosic calibre but whose musicians are capable of conceiving of and composing legendary music and songs. From this first purchase of mine of Eloy I have to conclude that the German band are not of the former ilk and were only just beginning to reach for the great heights of the latter. That they started out as a run-of-the-mill hard rock outfit is no surprise when listening to this album. However, it is clear that they had grander visions for the future of their music.

I had been considering buying an Eloy album for several months without having any idea of the band's history. After discovering an Eloy appreciation forum here on PA and learning more about them (I was surprised that they were from the 70's), I carefully checked out what I could on Amazon of their catalogue and after much deliberation, I chose to order "Floating". It was to my relief after reading some of the reviews that this album was often recommended as a good starting point to get into the band. Many thanks to the reviewers who affirmed my belief in this album.

The album has been played in my car and in my ear buds and I enjoy most of it. The hard rock element is still there which makes it an easy album for me to enjoy. Three of the five songs are over seven minutes long and "The Light from Deep Darkness" runs 14:40. There is room for experimentation and experiment they do, though nothing too unorthodox crops up here. This is a space rock album with extended instrumental sections that show little technical pizzazz and lends itself more to a variety of simple rock themes played on organ, guitar, and bass and innovatively stitched together to create longer songs. "Castles in the Air" also features a drum solo that sounds pretty cool but is not likely to blow anyone out of the water.

A word about the vocals: Frank Bornemann is a very standard rock singer with a German accent, most obvious when he sings "word" (sounds like "verd"). He sometimes makes his voice rough for effect and other times sings more softly. He is a competent vocalist, though no Robert Plant or Jon Anderson.

This being Eloy's third album, the rough edges are forgivable. I think they were on the right track. I have ordered "Dawn" and "Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes" and I will be looking into their 70's catalogue more later on. "Ocean" is said to be the must-have album but Amazon's song samples run only about 20-30 seconds and so it is difficult to gauge the 14-minute songs from such short sample times.

For anyone not yet into the band, I agree with many others that "Floating" is a fair starting point. I love the cover art and the music is quite good, though we are not talking about any Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, or Uriah Heep here. The closest band they remind me of is Golden Earring but with more determination to compose complex extended songs and some strong organ playing. A very solid 3 stars from me since 3.5 isn't possible. I look forward to hearing my upcoming purchases of "Dawn" and "Silent Cries"