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SILENT CRIES AND MIGHTY ECHOES

Eloy

Psychedelic/Space Rock


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Eloy Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes album cover
4.06 | 757 ratings | 52 reviews | 41% 5 stars

Excellent addition to any
prog rock music collection

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Studio Album, released in 1979

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Astral Entrance (3:03)
2. Master of Sensation (6:00)
3. The Apocalypse (14:54) :
- a) Silent Cries Divide the Night
- b) The Vision Burning
- c) Force Majeure
4. Pilot to Paradise (7:01)
5. De Labore Solis (5:12)
6. Mighty Echoes (7:16)

Total Time 43:26

Bonus tracks on 2005 EMI remaster:
7. Child Migration (4:05)
8. Let the Sun Rise in My Brain (3:29)

Line-up / Musicians

- Frank Bornemann / acoustic, effect & electric guitars, lead & backing vocals, co-producer
- Detlev Schmidtchen / grand pianos, Fender Rhodes, Hammond M3, Minimoog & ARP synths, Solina & Hohner String ensembles, RMI keyboard computer, backing vocals
- Klaus-Peter Matziol / Alembic bass, Moog Taurus pedals, backing vocals
- Jürgen Rosenthal / drums & percussion, flute

With:
- Brigitte Witt / vocals (3b)
- Wolfgang Maus / vocal arrangements (3b)

Releases information

Artwork: Winfried Reinbacher (painting)

LP EMI Electrola ‎- 1C 064-45 269 (1979, Germany)

CD EMI Electrola ‎- CDP 538-7 92021 2 (1989, Germany)
CD EMI ‎- 7243 5 63774 2 4 (2005, Germany) Remastered by Hans-Jörg Maucksch with 2 bonus tracks

Thanks to ProgLucky for the addition
and to projeKct for the last updates
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ELOY Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes ratings distribution


4.06
(757 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(41%)
41%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(44%)
44%
Good, but non-essential (13%)
13%
Collectors/fans only (2%)
2%
Poor. Only for completionists (1%)
1%

ELOY Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes reviews


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Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by loserboy
PROG REVIEWER
5 stars Next to "Ocean", "Silent Cries And Mighty Echoes" would rank as my next favorite ELOY album of all time regardless of the unfair criticism received by many as being a deliberate attempt to rip-off PINK FLOYD's "Wish You Were Here". In many ways I do hear a strong polarity towards FLOYD's "Wish You Were Here", but also is full of that classic ELOY original space sound. This is one of those "turn it up loud" type of recordings which your neighbors or co-workers will inquire about. I should probably also mention that this album was originally released on the Harvest recording label. Opening track "Astral Entrance/Mater Of Sensation" is perhaps my fav all time ELOY tracks which has simply amazing bass, guitar and keyboard work. This whole album is solid from start to finish and carries a very strong space feeling capturing ELOY at their height of their creative career. Songs have a heavy bass groove with loads of echo guitar and the most delicious atmospheric keyboard work you ears could tolerate.

Review by greenback
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars "Silent cries and mighty echoes" has a very good balance between hard rock and progressive rock. It is among the best progressive albums made in 1979, which, we must admit, were rare during this year.

On side 1, there are intense hard rock organ parts. The keyboards are modern, but they do not really sound as modern as on the "Planets" album: the omnipresent floating organ in the background creates here a vintage atmosphere. The overall atmosphere is rather cold. The electric guitar is VERY loud in the foreground, quite clean without major pedal effects, and there are MANY excellent guitar solos played. The rhythm is rather slow. Some very good male & female backing vocals retain the attention. The keyboards oriented last part of "Apocalypse" sounds like Tangerine Dream around 1980.

The side 2 is better: it is more catchy and progressive: the electric guitars sounds seem more varied and the keyboards really sound more modern. The modern Eloy has made some almost New Age relaxing songs a la Kitaro: the "De Labore Solis" song is definitely a good one. The electric guitar on "Mighty echoes" is definitely more razor, and there are also some good simple rhythmic piano notes.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Review by Proghead
PROG REVIEWER
5 stars This album really took me by surprise. I wasn't expecting much from an album in 1979, a really bad time for prog rock, but ELOY seemed to have forgotten about the changes in trends in the music scene, and proceeded to give us another great album. "Astral Entrance" sounds so much like a missing part of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" that you might think it was a "Wish You Were Here" outtake, but that's all out the window the minute you hear "Master of Sensation", and Frank Bornemann's accented vocals. "The Apocalypse" is definately the album's high point, which is a suite, it's largely an instrumental piece loaded with great Moog and string synths. "De Labore Solis" is another one of those ridiculously string synth heavy pieces that's not unlike Ocean's "Incarnation of Logos".

I could hardly believe anyone made prog rock this great in 1979. It's too bad this was ELOY's final album with Jürgen Rosenthal and Detlev Schmidtchen, because I thought ELOY made their best and most interesting albums with them.

Review by The Prognaut
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars My voyage to discover ELOY was quite exhausting yet rewarding. I happened to think that I had already went through most of the English and American prog rock and I started a journey through the Eastern Europe prog. At that time, I had already listened to GROBSCHNITT's "Solar Music", and I thought there could never be anything more fascinating and impressive than that very recording. I tried to fetch more German prog and I was recommended to get some works from AMON DÜÜL II, GURU GURU and TRIUMVIRAT, these were passed on to me through the usual prog channels and I was quite amazed by "Dance of the Flames" and "Illusions on a Double Dimple" but never as musically outraged as with ELOY.

My curiosity certainly paid off when I bumped into "Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes". Firstly, I am a helpless fan of the sound of fine keyboards, and Detlev SCHMIDTCHEN earned a spot within my favorite musicians with what he performed in "The Apocalypse"; the best extended suite I ever listened to, right after "Echoes" by PINK FLOYD of course; magnificently entwined with the psychedelic ambience and the provocative instrumentation it's got.

ELOY quickly became one of my favorite bands not only because of its impetuosity and brightness, but for its visionary trend. This German band goes far from the vertiginous musical evolutions and clearly challenges the bands to come to update and improve day by day; ELOY was absolutely one step ahead and one closer to its own era, showing quite an impeccable instrument playing and execution at the time the musical resources were obviously limited due the technological advances.

"Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes" is as essential as almost perfect. It is relentless to your ears, you will never cease of surprising your senses with it. There is no recommendation to be made in here, this album is suggestive from beginning to end. There's no need to say something else, simply wonderful.

Review by The Crow
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars Very good music here!

This german band made a great album in a space/symphonic rock way, with a very strong rythm section. The bass lines by Klaus-Peter Matziol are very catchy, like the repetitive guitar melodies very well accompanied by intrigate synthesized effects and keyboards melodies. Frank Borneman sings with a particular german accent that made the music of this band even more special...

Every song here is good, but The Apocalypse it's simply masterpiece!!! Very recommended album and band.

Review by Zitro
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars 3 1/3 stars

I believe this is one of Eloy's best albums. Heavily influenced by Pink Floyd, and spacey in nature; this is a high quality album, and contains my favourite song from the band : Apocalypse. The band has the same strength and weakness here too : mediocre singing + melodies, yet virtuosic musicianship.

Astral Entrance/Master of Sensation is a song influenced by 'Shine on you Crazy Diamond' After the mellow introduction, the song increases pace and turns into a rocker. The Apocalypse should be considered a classic of progressive rock and it is perfect. Even the vocal melodies are good here. It is a 15-minute long epic that offers plenty of musical sections, perfect flow, good rhythm sections (Especially close to the end), and keyboard wizardry. Around the middle of the song, a brilliant theme played on keyboard is later repeated on gorgeous female vocals. The ending of the song is the best part : a brilliant buildup with an AMAZING solo of overdubbed synths during the buildup and a rocking guitar riff to conclude the piece!! The next three songs are good, but nothing special. Mighty Echoes has some great keyboard and guitar riffing though.

1. Astral Entrance (5/10) 2. Master Of Sensation (6/10) 3. The Apocalypse (9.5/10) 4. Pilot To Paradise (5.5/10) 5. De Labore Solis (5.5/10) 6. Mighty Echoes (6.5/10)

My Rating : C+

Review by memowakeman
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars Eloy, what can i say about this awesome band... im a huge fan of them, they were one of the first bands of progressive rock that i discovered, and when i discovered ( Time to Turn ) i fell in love immediately, i love their unique space sound, their combination of progressive space and some hard passages makes this band a speciall band. Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes, this week, i have been listening to it at least twice every day, in fact now im listening to it, and every time i find it more and more awesome... This album was released in 1979, after another great album Ocean, but well lets talk about Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes. Astral Entrance, the first song is alwasy a good song, it is as the name says, the entrance of the album, and its sound is IMO like the beggining of Shine on You Crazy Diamond, Eloy has some Pink Floyd sounds, and this song is a great opening song, immediately Master of Sensation, a change of soft stuff to something harder, but in the same space style, in this song Fran Bornemann`s voice appears for first time, i have seen that you dont enjoy his voice a lot, but i do, i think his voice is great, and its a very good complement to this excellent music, i have to say that talking musically, Eloy is an excellent band, Guitars, Keyboards and specially Bass have much to show us, but well, the next song is a 15 minute epic called the Apocalypse, i think is the strong part of the album, it has a lot of changes, a sepcial sound , great bass lines and the space environmetn is awesome, also at the end we can hear a voice from a girl, something special here dont you think?, all the parts of this song are great, but my favorite is the first part, the next song is Pilot to Paradise, another excellent song, keyboards are always there and i love it, next to it is De Labori Solis, maybe it is the weakest track of this album, "weakest", because neither is weak, but i think is the less good , and at the end Mighty Echoes, another awesome and strong space mood, lets turn off the lights and listen to it, and maybe we will have a feel of tranquility, and sometimes this beautiful music transport us to a mental trip, im not mad, but i always close my eyes and open my mind when i listen to prog rock, this album is great if you enjoy space rock, give it a chance, i wont say that it is essential, this is not a masterpiece, but of course is a very good addition to everyone, 4 stars this time.!
Review by Andrea Cortese
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars "Now we gotta find out that summer's evening's gone! We lived a daydream, embracing, what we called home!"

This german band is really wonderful! The only negative thing in the Eloy's remasters is that the notes are written in german. It is a very strange thing they use german when their songs are completely sung in english...

Silent Cries is the last of the most classic, spacey and warm records of the band. It is the second cd I've bought of them after Power and the Passion. Finally I can listen to their memorable "The Apocalypse" (14,55 mns long). A real gem, in my opinion. Especially for the lovely voice (angelic feminine singing) in "The Vision - Burning", which is the second movement of that magnum opus. Sad melodies which recall us our sad memories. This track would have been an excellent addition to the Lord of the Rings' soundtrack!

A masterpiece untill the first four songs. Then, "De Labore Solis" (latin expression for "About Labour of the Sun") is somehow boring and repetitive. It somehow lacks in mordant.

Fortunately "Mighty Echoes" closes the album with the correct equilibrium. Not to be miss the 2005 remastered version. There are two interesting bonus tracks: "Child Migration" (remarkable chorus in the final part) and "Let the Sun Rise in my Brain" (unexpected good flute).

P.S. "Astral Entrance" reminds me of the intro of PF's "Shine on You Crazy Diamonds"...

Review by Chris S
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars Praise all those who created the genre: Krautrock! Eloy's ' Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes' is another fine example why the germans had all the knack in the world in fitting snugly into the progressive rock genre archive. In addition to this Eloy is a perfect example as to why their music pushed boundaries, stretched imaginations and influnced others. A great band from Europe and more importantly a great album on offer.

Concepts abound, moods and emotions in abundance.' The Apocalypse' and ' Mighty Echoes' are brilliant in delivery and yes whilst there is an apparent influence from the great Pink Floyd, Eloy succeed in defining their own stamp of individuality. The atmospheres are huge on this album, the vocals are great, guitar work totally in sync and the message is an atypicial conceptual great. Discovering this band on this site was a welcome encounter and four worthy stars for ' Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes'

Review by Joolz
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
3 stars After the near perfect blissed-out Space-Psych-Electro-Prog of Ocean, two years later Silent Cries And Mighty Echoes presents more of the same but with a lower quota of inspiration and originality. At times this seems like a trawl through Pink Floyd's back catalogue, as there are strong flavours of Echoes, Great Gig In The Sky, Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Welcome To The Machine and Pigs (Three Different Kinds) and others, all topped off by some insipid, tuneless 'singing' and poor melodies. That's the bad bit.

The good news is that much of the album is packed with superior spacey atmospheres from a variety of well-matched synths and guitars, and hypnotic grooves often featuring meaty rubber-band bass themes. Musically the album works very well, with a number of ear-catching themes, and some gorgeously organic instrumentation from the tail-end of the 'analogue' era. It may be derivative in origin, but Eloy take you much further into the void of outer space. Keyboards tend to dominate, but Bornemann's fluid guitar still captures the attention with some inventive playing, even venturing into an occasional solo as in the keyboard laden Master Of Sensation. Overall, the sound is fat, rich, lush and detailed.

At nearly fifteen minutes The Apocalypse is a natural centrepiece, featuring an easy flow along drifting grooves and ambient atmospheres, and Brigitte Witt doing her wailing Great-Gig-In-The-Sky impression but without the orgasm. The piece progresses well and never outstays its welcome. Pilot To Paradise is in a similar vein, but nowhere near as satisfying until suddenly coming alive for the final two minute coda. De Labore Solis is the opposite - it quickly sets an ambient feel, and simply maintains it to the end with no progression of any kind. Mighty Echoes closes the album on a high, setting up an excellent mid-pace groove and ending with a guitar solo.

Pilot To Paradise and De Labore Solis tend to drag this album down a little. Factor in the all too obvious Floydisms and it becomes somehow easier to become frustrated with Bornemann's singing. Which is a shame, because at its best Silent Cries And Mighty Echoes is as good as the consistently splendid Ocean. Make the most of it - their next album would be a very different beast!

Review by hdfisch
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars Like it used to be the case most of the time with this band they had been with this release here much behind of their time and not knowing that it's actually from 1979 one would put this one right in the middle of the 70's. Starting off in Floyd-WYWH-style in the first two tracks Eloy prove rather to be the masters of boredom than sensation in most of the remaining disk. There's just too little happening and the band wallows too much in this solemn mood dominated by synths carpets and elegiac guitar solos. There's some reminiscence to country fellows of Tangerine Dream in between and overall this record is quite a pleasant listen but really anything outstanding. Just another example of Eloy's bombastic style and another vinyl I keep in my collection mainly for nostalgic reasons. IMHO dated already by the time of its release, extremely derivative and just good, but not essential!
Review by Gatot
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
5 stars Great Music, Engaging Lyrics!

Oh well well well . "Silent Cries And Mighty Echoes" is another great album by Eloy which as far as listening share, it's about the same as my favorite "Planets" album. "Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes" was the band's highest-selling record ever for Eloy. I can understand that because I don't think there is any human being that cannot enjoy - say .. - "The Apocalypse", especially the part at approx minute 1:54 when it's about to enter long music interlude which demonstrates nice keyboard work. Yeah, everyone will enjoy it for sure - whether or not he likes rock music, because it's so catchy (and may be poppy?). Schmidtchhen and Rosenthal then left the group to go solo and were replaced by Hannes Folberth and Jim McGillveray, respectively. Eloy also added guitarist Hannes Arkona. The new lineup released Colours in 1980, which saw the band start to abandon their spacey elements to pursue a more hard rock sound. So to say, this was the last album that the band explored the spacey elements wonderfully - and in fact it's better than any other bands / artists had done it before.

A wonderful stream of music, believe me!

The album starts wonderfully with an ambient music in relatively slow tempo with "Astral Entrance" (3:03) that represents an opening part of first track. This opening part reminds me the nuance of Pink Floyd music - something like the opening of Pink Floyd's "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" from "Wish You Were Here" album. I do personally enjoy this opening part - it's very ambient with Floydian (read: Gilmourian) guitar style. It is then followed with the second part titled as "Master Of Sensation" (6:00) with excellent lyrical parts: "IT is here - IT is near / IT is by OUR side / IT is YOU - IT is Me / IT's OUR guiding light. IT is real - so unreal / IT's the magic sign" .. what a great tune! Wow man .. it's a wonderful music. I can imagine of having another version of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" but this time with upbeat tempo unique to Eloy music. Emotionally, this track is very uplifting and I doubt if there is any music buffs that do not enjoy this music. It's really great! I enjoy the soundscape, the vocal style as well as stunning keyboard work in spacey mood. That's not all! The bass guitar lines are really great as well and they are all very obvious throughout the song. It's a perfect song, I would say. Most importantly - the music touches my emotion, deeply. This is inline with my philosophy "Music is Emotion"!

In some of my reviews I put very clearly that I am more on "album" orientated person than song by song opinion even though in some cases I review at track by track level. What I mean is that, I'm more interested in looking at the music creation at "album" level even though I am fully aware that bad tracks might jeopardize the wholeness of an album. But it's not always the case. Look at Genesis "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" which I gave FULL five stars rating even though until now I do NOT enjoy "Waiting Room" song - but I look at it as the "whole" album so I still consider The Lamb - without any hesitation - as masterpiece album. So is the case with this album by Eloy. I truly admire with the fact that the band is very SUCCESSFUL in creating wonderful stream of music. First at opening track which comprises two parts where the flow is so smooth and it's now when the music flows to second track "The Apocalypse" (14:54) I find that the transition is very good. It's not a seamless deal but the break does not disrupt the overall flow of the music. It happens nicely and it does bring my emotion flies as the music moves along. Oh my God .. it's truly a nice experience. Not only the transition that is excellent, the flow of music in this second track is also great and I feel so peaceful enjoying it - especially with LOUD volume at my integrated amplifier! This second track comprises three parts: "Silent Cries Divide The Night", "The Vision Burning", and "Force Majeure" in which the musical interlude comprises keyboard as well as guitar fills. It's another great track. The ending part full with emotional and touchy notes as results of combined works of bass guitar, long sustain keyboard and synthesizer plus guitar. Wow!

The next track "Pilot To Paradise" (7:01) demonstrates further domination of bass guitar as main rhythm section augmented with keyboard and drum beats. The transition to vocal lines happen smoothly just before first lyrical verse: "WE contain a LIGHT - IT's a twinkling FIRE, WE're in possession of the GOLDEN KEY! Enormous ignorance surrounds the LIAR, But OUR SPIRIT could really tell US PRODIGY!". It's a great opening part. As the music flows there is great spacey mood created through the bass guitar as well as keyboard work. In the middle of the track there is a touchy organ / keyboard solo followed with last verse of the lyrics "And I know there's SOMEONE to hold US tight! MAN'S damned to fight, only LOVE and TRUTH will bring US the LIGHT! PILOT TO PARADISE - open OUR eyes! PILOT TO PARADISE - make US wise!" followed with ending part which features stunning guitar work. I cannot say that this is a mediocre track - it's a great track, indeed!

"De Labore Solis" (5:12) starts mellow with keyboard work, followed with tight basslines and nice long sustain keyboard / synthesizer work and guitar fills as rhythm section. This mellow track provides as a nice break after almost all of upbeat music with songs before this track. Again, I enjoy the bass guitar work. "Mighty Echoes" (7:16) concludes the album wonderfully with mellow opening part. The music moves in crescendo with dazzling drum work and keyboard sounds. "Do WE know LAWS of NATURE? All in what WE feel or do, ECHOES return from INFINITY! WE'll come to know OUR CREATOR! WE can't stop the ECHOES". It's an uplifting album ending which has meaningful message at the end of it.

Overall, this is a masterpiece of any prog music collection which came out at the end of prog and rock golden era (the seventies). The composition is very tight, the music flows wonderfully without any sense or feeling of getting bored with keyboard or guitar solos, the performance of the band to deliver the music is outstanding. I don't see this album lacks of something - all are perfect to me. So, overall, I rate this as a FULL five stars rating. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

Review by ZowieZiggy
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars "Astral Entrance" is on par with "The Walls of Babylon" ("Pendragon"). The same rip off from "SOYCD" from "Wish You Were Here" but so pleasant (in both case) that I don't blame those bands for this.

When you listen to "Master of Sensation", "Floyd" comes again immediately to your mind. But a harder "Floyd" ("One Of These Days" for instance). Another good song of course but the problem with "Eloy" from their early days, is that they are five years behind the trend. But of course they are no trend-setter. A good band releasing good albums. That's all. Even if I like the instrumental parts of "Master...". Because vocals didn't improve.

In this order of things, "The apocalypse" should have been a full instrumental. Some great synth and guitar work (but this is general to this album). Sweet and melodic, like the masters could play. Such music is really pleasant and when "Eloy" performs such a great number, it does belong to a very good class of bands. Would these awful vocals being taken out of it, this would have been a great track. As such, it is a very good one because most of the "vocal" part will be held by Brigitte Witt.

I just put vocal into brackets since they will be more in the style of what can be heard in "The Great Gig In The Sky" and the fabulous work from Clare Tory. What a pity that no one in their management could have made this clear. Anothe rvocalist should have been assigned. But even so, "The Apocalypse" is a highlight and one of the best "Eloy" song from this side of the earth. It also shows obvious "Tangerine Dream" influences (mid seventies period during their great trilogy). An abrupt end though which is rather weird for a song of that lenght. The band could have thought of something more "refined".

This first part of the album is really great. It will be difficult to keep this high quality level.

Still "Pilot to Paradise" holds a great deal of psychedelia and great guitar sounds during the second part. The very good mood keeps on going.

This is one of my favourite album from the band. not a single weak song even if the invading vocals rather destroy "De Labore Solis" which is only saved by a great and pleasant finale. As one could guess, "Mighty Echoes" is fully "Floyd" oriented again. This time it is strongly related to "Have A Cigar" for the chorus.

This album might not sound very innovative nor personal but it is a pretty good album. One of the best "Eloy" one. Four stars.

Review by kenethlevine
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Prog-Folk Team
3 stars Eloy's shameless tribute to Pink Floyd's peak 1970s albums was also the best selling album of their career. I feel this had more to do with the follow up phenomenon than anything else, in which a band releases a major breakthrough that creates a buzz in the community ("Ocean") and an environment in which the next release is virtually assured of attaining highest sales.

While another musically strong album, "Silent Cries" suffers from its imitation status. But they never got as morbid and despairing as Pink Floyd, for better or worse. Even here, a sense of optimism and faith shines through the gloom.

The opening section of "Astral Entrance" casts a knowing nod at "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" which kicked off PF's "Wish you were here", even if the subsequent "Master of Sensation" is Eloy all the way. Further along, we have an unfortunate attempt to replicate "The Great Gig in the Sky"'s propensity to female histrionics. But, apart from these displays of idolatry, the album stands pretty well on its own. Bornemann performs more lead guitar solos than on the last few releases and shows himself more than capable, but plenty of spaciness remains in Detlev Schmidtchen's accompaniment. In fact, I do believe Eloy also tipped the hat to fellow Germans Tangerine Dream in the final part of "Apocalypse", which sports the telling "Force Majeure" (a name of a concurrent TD album) moniker.

"Pilot to Paradise" is the most original sounding song on the album, with a central riff that would be explored and ameliorated on later efforts, but, along with the superb bass underpinning, it motors along rather well. In quieter sections, gentle and subtle lead guitar interfaces with the synths until Bornemann regales with a similarly caressing vocal melody. The softest contribution is "De Labore Solis", but it never really develops beyond ambient, which is rare for Eloy. The album closes with "Mighty Echoes", which borrows lyrically from ELP's "Take a Pebble" but musically is again more like PF circa Dark Side, although it must be said that Bornemann sounds nothing like Gilmour! As with its predecessor, this album culminates well in the final minutes.

Due to its general, at times, blatant lack of originality, I have to dock a half star to Eloy's last 1970s effort. Still a partial triumph for its era, and one of the last echoes of epic 1970s prog.

Review by progaardvark
COLLABORATOR Crossover/Symphonic/RPI Teams
4 stars By 1979, most prog bands were either disappearing or chugging out shorter pop/AOR material in an attempt to satisfy their record companies or line their wallets. Whatever the case may be, Eloy apparently didn't get the memo and continued to produce some beautiful spacey prog rock (unfortunately, that memo would arrive, just not yet). Not only that, but Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes sold really well for the band.

The opener Astral Entrance/Master of Sensation and the mini-epic The Apocalypse are two of the greatest songs Eloy ever made. Astral Entrance was clearly inspired by Pink Floyd's Shine on You Crazy Diamond with the lush synths and Gilmouresque guitar work. Both of these songs feature some amazing keyboard work from Detlev Schmidtchen. The rest of the album seems more of a letdown because they aren't as inspired and exciting as the first three tracks. But if you skip over those first three tracks and start with the rest of the album, what you are left with is some excellent material that's on par with some of Eloy's best stuff from this time period. It's just that they pale in comparison to Entrance/Master of Sensation and The Apocalypse. The album might have been better off ending with The Apocalypse and having tracks 4-6 appearing between these two great pieces.

Other than an imbalance from track positions, the only other downside to Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes might be the vocals of Frank Bornemann. Now I say might be because for some listeners, his heavily-accented English doesn't bother them. It doesn't bother me either, but I feel it's worth noting for those of you who haven't heard Eloy's music. I sometimes think Eloy could have been a notch better if Bornemann had sung in his native German tongue.

Both Detlev Schmidtchen and drummer Jürgen Rosenthal would leave Eloy after this album, and it would take its toll on the band. Future albums featured shorter songs and what seems like a movement towards neo progressive rock.

Definitely a four-star, almost-masterpiece gem released when most prog bands were doing the "Follow You, Follow Me" silliness. Highly recommended for those of you who love lush, spacey synthesizers.

Review by b_olariu
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars Keeping the flag high in prog music

Silent cries and mighty echoes from 1979 is a very strong Eloy album, among the best from them, close to a masterpice but not as good as the predecesor Ocean. Here we have on some pieces and is not something new about Eloy's music, floydian atmospehere, spacey guitars and keybords. Another thing to mention is that Eloy's music by the time they reach the end of the '70's is still very good and with high quality in their albums, kinda hard to find on other prog lengends that begun very well in the 1970 and by the late '70's thy became or more AOR or pop prog bands, examples are many. Eloy keep the flag and standards very high in progressive music in that period, and this is very good. So the best pieces are all, not a step down from the previosses albums. Silent cries and mighty echoes desearve 4 stars without question, among the best late'70' albums, recommended not only for Eloy fans but for those who listen to good spacey progressive music in general. Excellent.

Review by Mellotron Storm
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars ELOY deliver their spaciest album yet in "Silent Cries And Mighty Echoes". For some it sounds too similar to PINK FLOYD and they dismiss it, for others it ranks as one of the best records that ELOY ever made.

"Astral Entrance" opens with synths before those Gilmour-like guitar sounds come in before a minute. This sounds so much like the song "Shine On You Crazy Diamond-Part 1". "Master Of Sensation" has a good beat with synths as guitar comes in then vocals. Some nice organ runs follow. Synths are prominant before 2 minutes. Excellent guitar solo 3 1/2 minutes in.

"The Apocalypse" is the epic at almost 15 minutes. It opens with almost spoken vocals with floating synths in the background. Organ and drums come in after 1 1/2 minutes followed by guitar and synths. Great sound ! Love the guitar 3 1/2 minutes in. Vocals a minute later. It's very spacey as it settles before 6 minutes. Female vocal melodies join in before the guitar returns. The synths 12 minutes in really remind me of FLOYD. Nice bass 13 1/2 minutes in. The guitar makes some noise to end it. "Pilot To Paradise" has a good rhythm to it with lots of synths and organ. Vocals after a minute. Guitar solo before 6 minutes.

"De Labore Solis" has this great spacey soundscape with more excellent bass. Vocals after a minute. Some cool lyrics on this one. "Mighty Echoes" is mellow to start before it kicks into a fuller sound a minute in. Then it settles into a mid-paced tempo. Great guitar after 5 minutes. More meaningful lyrics as well.

There's no question this is one of their best releases. I still prefer the earlier albums "Inside" and "Floating" but this is a must for fans of spacey and atmospheric music.

Review by ProgShine
COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars 01. Astral Entrance / Master Of Sensation Beginning of evil, but one thing I can talk about the sound is Shine On You Crazy Diamond Pink Floyd in the past that track, listen and give! Master Of Sensation already is a mixture of those, fully instrumental space, with a sensational voice, without equal. Several 'orquestrações' sinister, a low-ending played by Klaus-Peter to play a simple riff and the perfect timbragem. Another highlight are the guitars of Frank Bornemann (also responsible for the voice). The track in question is a classic kind of natural (laughs).

02. The Apocalypse a) Silent Cries Divide The Night b) The Vision Burning c) Force Majeure Long range, where the strong are the beds of keys Detlev Schmidtchen, after the first part, some keyboards entirely Genesis comes into play, you just give rise to land fully Richard Wright (in timbre). Several parties sensational low and battery (Jürgen Rosenthal). The vocalizations of Brigitte Witt make a sensational air the track, even more with the guitars very melodic. On its other side a 'bang' gets crushed the left side of the speaker, and a synthesizer from the underworld boss a melody that the band is taken very Neo Prog in the 80, all of the legacy master Richard Wright in Wish You Were Here.

03. Pilot To Paradise Sensacional name, starts there. Line bottom sensational, guitars that 'speak' and a bitch Space Rock. Full of crazy sounds of keyboards and guitars full of unique style. In some moments I remember the Nektar too.

04. De Labore Solis A 'whistle' simulated by keyboards, bass and a bed of guitar, and once again Pink Floyd in the can, unless the excellent voice of Frank. The melody is trash. A calm music and 'thinking' for cleaning the same thoughts.

05. Mighty Echoes Full of German accent that voice, which gives an extra charm. Chorus full of energy. Can you see the guys who heard Floyd pacas, (laughter). Soil full of inspiration and some dobradinhas along with keyboards, various parts of hit, strange sounds, a low base and endless sensational.

www.progshine.com

Review by Menswear
PROG REVIEWER
5 stars Deserves your attention.

With bands like Singularity, Rovescio Della Megdalia and Nektar, Eloy is now a nominee in my book for 'Best Underrated Band of All-Time'. I tried this band for fun, and I decided to go with this album...mainly because of the great art cover. I had a book as a kid of paintings by great Sci-fi artists (think of the Heavy Metal girl sitting on the flying beast), and the cover attracted me instantly as a reminder of those great readings. It also reminded me of covers of the Van Vogt sci-fi books I used to read in high school, instead of paying attention. So everything was in place for me!

The songs just captivated me almost instantly: spacey-dreamy keyboard, great chopped guitar riffs and perhaps the catchiest bass lines of the 70's. Are you like me, loving the Riverside bassist chops? Then you find more than you asked for with this album. Simply, it made me want to grab my bass and learn it!

When I heard of space rock, I knew 2 types: Pink Floyd and Hawkwind. The first being too known, and the latter being dissonant music to get naked on LSD and make out with anyone (ewww). I had my worries. But Eloy is not really Floyd and certainly not Hawkwind: a intergalactic trip on a spaceship with a spectacular landing on a planet filled with unknown species. Oooh yeah!

If space rock isn't your cup of tea: try this album, you won't consider the genre the same way anymore.

Review by Tom Ozric
PROG REVIEWER
5 stars Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes almost sees Eloy beating the masters at their own game - the two-part opener of 'Astral Entrance/Master Of Sensation' initially cuts PINK FLOYD's 'Shine on You Crazy Diamond (part 1)' real close and then lurches into a bass-heavy rhythm that's lifted straight from their song 'Sheep' (without Roger's flange effects), one could criticise the band as mere copyists and not of much value. Well, I'd like to think they have immense value, despite the similarities, and stand by the few that rate this band (and album) highly. Regarding instrumentation, Detlev Schmidtchen's keyboards are amazing, with vibrant moog solos cutting through brightly alongside the full-sounding organ and string-synths constantly floating in the background. Klaus-Peter Matziol has a great sound, style and feel, demonstrating a solid and elaborate quality to his playing - just listen to 'Pilot To Paradise', such a dynamic bass-line he came up with there. Jurgen Rosenthal (once of THE SCORPIONS, on the sensational 'Fly to the Rainbow' album) is still sitting behind the drums and is always a treat to hear, and Frank Bornemann's proficient guitaring supplies lots of spacey vibes and tasteful soloing. I've never found his accented vocals to be a problem as many do, but then my folks have a strong European accent to this day, which may help me in overlooking such matters. The award for best track goes to the near-15 minute three-part cosmic epic 'The Apocalypse' - one can still get lost in this stuff without the aid of any 'herbal remedies'. 5 stars !!!
Review by JLocke
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars From a very overrated extravaganza to a fairly underrated gem?

Just two years after the supposed 'huge breakthrough' for this band that was Ocean, Eloy decided to drop all the coyness and tribute Pink Floyd properly. For some reason, however, when the band faced their similarity to Floyd head-on like this, the sound ended up being much more rewarding for me than I expected.

First thing's first; if you can't tell that this album if a Pink Floyd tribute, you're musical knowledge should be improved considerably. However, since I feel the band made this fact fairly obvious via the album's opening practically mirroring the intro for Wish You Were Here, it resulted in the music itself not sounding nearly as blatantly copied as the previous album. At least for the most part. I think there is a female vocal solo on ''The Apocalypse'' track that is pretty reminiscent of ''Great Gig in the Sky'', but that's the only other musical movement on Silent Cries that screams 'Floyd' to me.

To be honest, the only moment on the record that sounds like a DIRECT rip-off, at least to my ears, is ''Astral Entrance''. Like I said, this album opener sounds scarily similar to the first few moments of the Pink Floyd track ''Shine On You Crazy Diamond Part 1''. However, after that, the hard similarities end, and a much more original album takes shape. The tunes never lose that Floydian vibe, and they are clearly wearing that influence on their sleeve, but that doesn't mean the album itself doesn't stand on its own. I found myself very much enjoying so much of this album, that it blew my mind, especially since this is the very next thing Eloy did in the studio after Ocean.

I DO look at SIlent Cries And Mighty Echoes as a tribute to Pink Floyd, and not just a simple clone. In fact, there are some moments on this album that sound nothing like Floyd at all. Sure, they still 'feel' like Floyd, but plenty of stuff happens throughout that I couldn't point to specifically and say ''that came from (insert Pink Floyd album name here)!''. On the band's previous effort, I was able to do that quite often (that is to say, when there actually WAS real music to be heard, and not just the long periods of nothingness that was rampant on that release).

Something else I wish to take time and commend here is Frank Bornemann's vocal work. I gave him a pretty hard time in my last Eloy review, and I want to make sure it's made clear that I don't hate the guy as a singer; I just think he sometimes gets a little in over his head with the lyrics being in English. However, on this one, his accent seems a little more subdued. Perhaps he coached himself a bit, or maybe he just made sure the words chosen were easier for him to get a grip on, Either way, his voice seems to have improved, and it continued to do so over the course of the band's career.

The best tracks for me are ''Master Of Sensation'', ''The Apocalypse'', ''De Labore Solis'' and the album's finale, ''Mighty Echoes'' Yes, most likely another Pink Floyd reference in the title, there. Again, the similarities are made so clear on this one, it's obvious they were intentionally paying tribute to Waters and crew. Nothing wrong with that, in my opinion, as long as the music itself can stand on its own, which I believe it does on this one. This is also an improvement over the last album simply because there is more content, here. This is 'real' music that rocks, soars and grooves to a degree the motionless song structure of Ocean was nowhere near.

So how am I going to rate this album? Well, I certainly consider it one of Eloy's better efforts. No longer avoiding the obvious similarities with their key musical inspiration, they learned to embrace it and use those familiar cues to fuel a more vibrant, original record than some of their previous works. It's a fine album that carries enough familiar stylings to comfort the new listener, yet stands on its own when it truly counts. it still doesn't quite match the heights Eloy would reach a little later in their career (in my opinion), but I do think it gets a bit overshadowed by its predecessor, which is a real shame. Claims made against Silent Cries about it being a rip-off of Wish You Were Here seems a little too much, to me. Certainly there are similarities, but as I already said, I believe Ocean to be the more unoriginal of the two, and since these are both among the band's top sellers, if you choose to go with one or the other, choose this one. Especially if you're new to the band.

3.5 Stars, really, but since it's so much better than the last, I feel this album's rating can be bumped up into the four star range.

Happy listening.

Review by tszirmay
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
5 stars Musical Viagra/ Cialis

I am starting to get into Eloy pretty extensively lately, always knew they were there but never really went beyond the two Ocean albums (Ocean 2 being a big favorite). I found this well- documented masterpiece and frankly (pun on Bornemann), this is damn good space rock, if you go beyond the Teutonic accented vocals. The Floyd vibe is very apparent on the opener, sounding exactly like a Wish You Were Here outtake, clearly intentionally but there is a strong Gong/Hawkwind feel as well, especially from the rhythm section and the spacey keyboards. Everything is supremely tasty, from the classy artwork and booklet to the tight compositions that are seemingly acutely focused on space/trance infused sonic travel. "Master of Sensation" is where the classic warp speed soundscape comes to the fore, deep, profound and infinite, almost danceable in a spooky way, the slithering synths flutter within the illuminated bass-driven galaxy. Bornemann has only to solo wildly over the Lunar crests and the Martian craters, all quite tastefully, might I add! This is a classic space rock track, a catapult into the harsher frontiers of electronica ruled by some aggressive rhythm section work. The massive and highly acclaimed "The Apocalypse" epic follows immediately, a measured and tempered pace keeps this horseman tightly reined in by a robust and unyielding bass disciplinarian in Klaus-Peter Matziol, aided and abetted by sultry keyboards and scintillating guitar licks that whiz by the asteroids, blossoming into colossal bluesy leads that would do the Gilmour guy proud. The male and female choir work is a new fangled addictive additive that catches one by pleasant surprise, the brief feminine vocal infuses some sexiness into the deal but its really the famed "floating" quality that provides the deserved respect. Very mellow and dreamy as the finale basks in some near TDream-like atmospheres , sequencers and blistering synth leads galore. Another true classic ! "Pilot to Paradise" is another bass bulldozer, a near funky 4 string beat that sets the tone, tout de suite! Nothing ultra complex, just a head-down, full-bore cosmic launch into the senses that proves their worth, as they morph into a neo classical expanse and finish off back diving into the fury. "De Labore Solis" is where they get crafty, swerving into more experimental areas that blur the line between prog and electronics. Sort of like a space ballad that flirts with the mind. The solemn "Mighty Echoes" introduces Frank's finest lead vocals (though his German accent is hilarious) as the focal point that has all the typical Eloy ingredients firmly in place, the Floydian vibe close and upfront, unashamed. I cannot praise this enough as it's inspired, thoughtful and yet utterly relaxed progressive space rock and an absolute must for real fans of planetary arts. The closing guitar solo once again reinforces all the truths, searing and soaring with abandon. The slight gloomy (choir and mellotron) edge is what sets them apart from the other space bandists, much to our pleasure. My copy is a re- master, so there are 2 bonus tracks that tow the line in many ways, "Child Migrations" is short and direct, perhaps in a definite Hawkwind mode circa "Quark Strangeness and Charm", a cool strutting guitar lead and a glossy female choir spicing things up. Same general impressions for the second 3 and a half closer, the bass curling temptingly and the mood dancing along.

I do not know if this analogy is far fetched and perhaps even worthy of censorship but space rock is fantastic "sex" music, trust me on this, a joyous accomplice in providing sonic aura to the all the passionate lovemaking. I mean Hawkwind, Gong, Floyd, Ozric Tentacles (Wow!) and now Eloy, just bloody amazing, musical Viagra! 5 Achtung Babies

Review by Easy Livin
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin
4 stars Wish you were here, one of these days

Having imploded after the "The power and the passion" to the point of virtual extinction, Eloy were picked up by de facto band leader Frank Bornemann, dusted off and re-born with a completely new line up. To his and their credit, the band continued the good progress which had been made, recording the fine albums "Dawn" and "Ocean". The line up remained together for this their third venture together, although "Silent Cries And Mighty Echoes" would be the last recording by this particular quartet. The album was released two years after "The ocean", a sizeable gap in the context of the prolific nature of Eloy's output.

"Silent cries and mighty echoes" (the title is taken from two separate tracks from the album) features just five tracks, and thus represents a brave stance by the band in the face of the changing music scene of the late 1970's and early 80's. While bands such as Yes and Genesis were exploring more commercial directions, it is to Eloy's credit that they continued to record genuine prog.

Listening to the opening bars of "Astral entrance", once could be forgiven for thinking you had mistakenly picked up Pink Floyd's "Wish you were here". The lush orchestral synth sounds and floating lead guitar are straight from "Shine on you crazy diamond". As we merge into "Masters of sensation", we move into "One of these days" with vocals. The sound though is quite sensational, and arguably Eloy's strongest statement to date. The track also features a fine synth solo.

The Floydian influences continue on the epic "The apocalypse", where fine female vocals offer a "Great gig in the sky", while the synth sound of "Crazy diamond" is clear elsewhere. The track is in three contiguous sections, running to 15 minutes in all. "Pilot to paradise" is very much a continuation of what has gone before, indeed the album flows with admirable ease throughout.

The latter part of the album is a bit weaker than the rest. "De Labore Solis" is a pleasant prog ballad, but it largely fails to excite. The closing "Mighty echoes" is the least Floydian of the tracks, taking the band back to their harder rock days.

In all though, a superb collection of tracks, and certainly one of Eloy's finest albums. The Pink Floyd influences are undeniable, and the band make no attempt to disguise them. There are though some majestic sounds and fine compositions here.

The remastered CD has two bonus tracks. "Child migration" is an early version of a track which made it onto the following "Colours" album. The version here has the sound of an advanced demo, and is somewhat shorter than the finalised recording; it includes some offbeat choir harmonics! "Let the sun rise in my brain" was never officially released, but is not particularly worth seeking out, save for some good flute work.

Footnote, beware of the "Copy controlled" CD re-release of this album, which may screw up your PC.

Review by Bonnek
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
3 stars Eloy has always been a band that was heavily indebted to the great UK bands, going from the Jethro Tull and Uriah Heep influences on the early albums, right to the PF salute that this album is often criticized for. Since I consider all of Eloy's albums to be rather unoriginal, I see no reason to hold their influences against them here, at least not more so then on their other albums.

What pleases me is the return to more straightforward space-rocking material. Just as on Floating the band sticks to their chops and create great spacey mid-paced rock. Gone are the symphonic ambitions of previous album. A good evolution as those ambitions reached far outside the band's capabilities and while popular, it never resulted in an artistically satisfying album.

With the catchy space-rock vibe that they struck here, the reduced importance of the vocals makes them far less distracting. There are still some inadequate parts, such as in the opening of the epic Apocalypse, also tracks like Pilot to Paradise and De Labore Solis continue to demonstrate how Bornemann is only capable of that doing that same old talking vocal line on each and every Eloy track.

Excellent music this time but with this vocalist it remains difficult to take this band seriously. Anyway, it's sure my second Eloy favorite after Floating and recommended to fans of early 80's Hawkwind and lush synth space-rock. 3.5 stars (4 for the karaoke version).

Review by SouthSideoftheSky
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Symphonic Team
2 stars Echoes from Echoes

Following on the heels of the popular Ocean, Silent Cries And Mighty Echoes continued pretty much where Ocean left off. As such the present album suffers from the same shortcomings as the previous one, but this album is a lot less intriguing and less memorable. One major problem I have with many Eloy albums is Frank Borneman's German accent which is no less evident here than on the previous album. His vocals would approve on later albums, though.

As hinted at in the album title, Echoes by Pink Floyd seems to be a major influence for Eloy here (and elsewhere). The long compositions with David Gilmour-like guitar solos and floating, atmospheric keyboards remind of that famous band. Some of these compositions are too "nebulous" and seem to go on forever and the tempo is generally too slow for my taste. I wish I was able to describe the music in greater detail, but I find it mostly uneventful. There are some rather tedious and overlong passages with not much happening at all. Frankly I find much of this album dull and quite unoriginal. Ocean too had a couple of gray areas, but Silent Cries And Mighty Echoes is almost entirely a gray area! Ocean also benefitted from its concept that held it together, but if there is a concept here it is vague.

Overall, I find this album to be rather overrated both in the genre as a whole and even within Eloy's own catalogue. I would only recommend this to fans and collectors.

Review by octopus-4
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR RIO/Avant/Zeuhl,Neo & Post/Math Teams
3 stars Pink Eloyd, maybe.

During the 3 minutes intro you can expect to hear Gilmour playing the famous four notes of Shine On You Crazy Diamonds...however if you are not disturbed by the terrible German accent of Bornemann, this album is quite good.

All the songs have more or less Pink Floyd inside, but there's also enough of Eloy's distinctive sound even if Frank's voice is the most distinctive thing in Eloy's music. I've always thought that they would have had more success if they decided to sing in German.

The Uriah Heep influence is now gone forever and this album starts like a clone, but there's a bit more. Regardless the fact that I LIKE Pink Floyd clones because I like Pink Floyd, I have to say that the long "The Apocalypse" is a very good track and reading other's reviews I think that the closer "Mighty Echoes" is underrated. This song, in particular, is the one which sounds less floydian and it's the one that persists more in my mind after I listen to the album, and not only because it's the last track.

It's a pity that a so skilled band had the attitude of "cloning", but they have always added something personal to the clones and the final product is everything but bad.

I don't think it's "essential", as other albums before this (e.g. Ocean) are more representative of this band, but I can't say that it's not good.

3 stars

Review by Warthur
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars The Pink Floyd influence on Astral Entrance doesn't really bother me because there was always a strong Floyd influence in Eloy's work; by my reckoning, Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes is a more than worthy followup to Ocean. Frank Bornemann's vocals are my main problem with the album - accent aside, he just isn't a very good singer, so the extensive amounts of narration on some songs prevent this one from hitting five stars by my reckoning. Still, at least he makes up for it with some tasty guitar solos worthy of David Gilmour himself. Recommended to all fans of Eloy's brand of space rock.
Review by Epignosis
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes, the follow-up album to their most successful work, Ocean, is an admirable space rock experience, weaving a measure of sonic experimentation with refreshing consistency. As with Van der Graaf Generator or The Mars Volta, the vocals are unique, and as such, will put off many listeners. I found the vocals initially irritating, but over time, I have grown to accept and appreciate them as a part of what makes Eloy distinctive. On this record, the singer shines rather than sickens.

"Astral Entrance" A slow atmosphere with soft guitar leads builds in a similar vein to the first several minutes of Pink Floyd's "Shine on You Crazy Diamond."

"Master of Sensation" Following Frank Bornemann's urgent vocals (one of his strongest moments), an incredible synthesizer lead pierces through. The electric guitar solo is equally satisfying.

"The Apocalypse" Bornemann sings reservedly over a synthesizer pad in the beginning of this tripartite extended song. After this introduction, an organ-led groove not unlike what could be heard in late 1970s Van der Graaf Generator lays the foundation for spacy keyboards and lead guitar. It evolves throughout, visiting various psychedelic themes.

"Pilot To Paradise" This slightly heavier track is rhythmically simple and reminds me of The Alan Parsons Project. The middle passage borrows symphonic textures.

"De Labore Solis" Weaving a lonely atmosphere (my mind thinks of the wild west in space for some reason), this is a melancholic but impressive song.

"Mighty Echoes" The final tune is in keeping with the overall mood of the album but is simply the least impressive of the crew. That is not to say it is a bad track; it contains exciting keyboard themes and a steady yet creative bass line. An excellent, if repetitive conclusion to one of Eloy's finest albums.

Review by AtomicCrimsonRush
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
5 stars Eloy's music organically ebbs and flows with an ineffaceable virtuosity.

It is difficult to see where the pinnacle of Eloy's career is located but surely it must have been during the mid 70s with 4 masterpieces in a row being churned out, many of which were visionary concept albums; "Floating" (1974), "Power and the Passion" (1975), "Dawn" (1976) and then they stunned us with "Ocean" (1977). One would be forgiven for thinking that these were hard acts to follow and their glory days may be coming to an end. However Eloy had other ideas and created what many consider to be their all time master work, the amazing "Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes" (1979). Once again it was a massive concept album with some very complex and ingenious passages of music. It is even more stunning as it came in 1979 when prog was beginning to grind to a halt with the upsurgence of new temporary fads of music such as interminable punk and even worse the disco infestation. Nobody, except the very discerning music connoisseur, cared about concept albums and lengthy compositions with time sig changes and virtuoso musicianship.

All that was required to get people hyped was a 3 minute song with 3 chords and no singing ability; I present The Sex Pistols. If that was too heavy for you, there was always the booming beat, with orchestra strings, funkadelic bass and manufactured singing; I give you the discoteque scene. As shameful as these musical diversions that lasted a few years were, prog rock had no chance and the synthesizer was about to become the best friend of the 80s, with the rise of new Romanticism and processed artists churned out of a mixing machine in a studio. The artists didn't even need to perform live anymore as lip synching for TV appearances was sufficient and if you couldn't sing, fine as long as you looked pretty and could make girls scream. Again bands like Eloy were doomed. You either jumped on the bandwagon and emulated the next big thing or your career was sunk. One prog band after another sunk without trace to the bottom of the ocean, swallowed up by the craze of the inferior musical landscape of disco and commercialism, and the ones that survived had to transform image and sound or end up also drowned in their own progressive juices. Genesis, Rush, ELP and Yes were victims of the new changes and gained new fans but lost old ones. Pink Floyd were about to change their sound after enormous success with the mother of all concept albums "The Wall" right on the cusp of 1979.

Where did Eloy fit into all this? They decided to bite the bullet and produced another concept album with huge progressive delicacies, and the result is one of the best progressive albums of 1979, and indeed one of their triumphs among a plethora of 70s masterpieces. It was to be one of their last crowning achievements, though "Colours" (1980), "Planets" (1981) and "Time to Turn" (1982) proved they still had some excellent musical ideas left in the tank.

"Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes" opens with the ominous drone of a synth, with majestic cathedral organ. The opening of 'Astral Entrance' as the soft guitar chimes in, is reminiscent of Pink Floyd's 'Shine On' intro with the same measured tranquil beauty and atmospherics. It builds with 'Master of Sensation', with a faster cadence and strong vocals by Bornemann. His delivery is quite forced with Hawkwind spacey echoes; "It is real, so unreal, it's the magic sign, Make us rise, makes us kneel on the edge of time, Here dwells the lord of creation, Here comes the master of sensation." Even the lyrics by Jürgen Rosenthal have Hawkwind references but no complaints from me as I love that. The instrumental section is dynamic with trade-offs of synth and lead guitar. As usual the heavy use of Hammond is electrifying. The band are incredible when they are in full flight on these instrumental sections. The lead break is awesome and this is a powerful way to open this album on every level. The cathedral organ at the end is absolutely wonderful. A triumphant song by Eloy and they are at their best here.

After an energetic opening the album moves into a tranquil passage of music with a 15 minute suite of songs under the banner of 'The Apocalypse' in 3 sections. The first part is 'Silent Cries Divide the Nights' and I am almost in tears at the beauty of the music at 1:58. The lead guitar augments the beauty with spacey echoes over a layer of synth pads and a pulsating bassline. The music organically ebbs and flows with an ineffaceable virtuosity. Bornemann's vocals are transfixing on part 2 "The Vision ? Burning", as he sings of esoteric and high conceptual thoughts of the astral plain of existence; "The air will be afraid of our mortal frame, Ethereal we are, the air we breathe, The storm that's stirring up all fire, I see, our life and limb will still, Not come to harm at the moment, That's the reason why we still think, Of everything to be alright, But our hidden souls already dwell, In seas of flames, red hot solution." The next section is an ethereal instrumental, "Force Majeure", with some angelic female intonations, something like 'Great Gig in the Sky'. The lengthy instrumental section contains some breathtaking musicianship, with buzzsaw synths, mellotron nuances and emotional guitar soloing. At the end it even reminds me of 'Thus Spake Zarathustra'. Then the rhythm changes into a pulsating electronic sound like Jean Michel Jarre and some swirling synths take it into the stratosphere. There is not a moment that does not take my breath away with the powerful jaw dropping musical intensity. It really is a work of mesmirising beauty concluding another stunning masterpiece track for the band.

Next up is "Pilot to Paradise" driven by an undulating bassline by Klaus-Peter Matziol and powerhouse keyboard playing. This is a wonderful track and especially exciting due to some glorious vocals and an exuberant tempo. The musicianship is exceptional particularly the keyboard finesse of Detlev Schmidtchen trading off with the soaring guitars of Bornemann.

'De Labore Solis' is a mellow ballad with softer vocals and ambient keyboard with acoustic layers'; mesmirising and beautiful. 'Mighty Echoes' closes the album with a very melodic infectious atmosphere. There is a nice steady rhythmic pace, and Bornemann's vocals are simply stunning here; so original and emotional. There is a tirade of symphonic keyboards and guitars that drive the melody. The two bonus tracks on the remaster are very worthwhile, featuring 'Child Migration' with amazing percussion from Jürgen Rosenthal and a rollicking tempo, and 'Let The Sun Rise In My Brain' with Moog synths and cosmic space rock nuances with some wonderful flute solos.

Overall, "Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes" is a sensational album, with some of Eloy's best songs of their lengthy career. It is totally killer and no filler, and came out at a time when prog was beginning to decline. The no-holds barred original approach to the music is awe inspiring, and sets them apart, though they clearly are enamoured with Pink Floyd (but who wasn't?). The musicianship is virtuoso and overflows with innovation and power from beginning to end. Once again Eloy has produced a masterpiece and I am in awe of how they can consistently produce one brilliant album after another; "Floating", "Power and the Passion", "Dawn", "Ocean" and now this album are 5 star treasures of prog. The band would produce other excellent albums after this, not masterpieces but still incredible music by any standard. Eloy are one of the greatest prog bands and deserve the highest recommendation.

Review by horza
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars 'Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes' was released in 1979. 'Wish You Were Here' was released in 1975. The album opens with the track 'Astral Entrance/Master of Sensation' and it sounds a lot like what Pink Floyd were doing four years earlier with 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond'. Only just not as good. Don't get me wrong I really like Eloy but I find this album to be one of their least inspiring. The next three albums (Colours, Planets, Time to Turn) were FAR better in my opinion. The second track 'The Apocalypse' is just short of fifteen minutes long. Seven minutes in and you will checking your e-mails and reading the spam to pass the time. Its not one of my favourite Eloy tracks. It does not hold my attention at all. 'Pilot to Paradise' opens with a repeating bass line and is accentuated with some nice keyboards throughout. 'De Labore Solis' is a fairly straight-forward stroll down the early-Floyd path. There are no real surprises on this album and no really strong songs. The final track 'Mighty Echoes' does not really lift this album out of its three-star furrow. 'Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes' was apparently the third and last studio album with the line-up of Frank Bornemann, Detlev Schmidtchen, Klaus-Peter Matziol and Jürgen Rosenthal. Maybe Frank decided that a change was required. Whatever the reason, the next three albums were proof that the change was an inspired one.
Review by FragileKings
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars Since acquiring this album two years ago, I have always felt it was a very good album, perhaps even the best of the five Eloy albums in my collection (no, I don't have 'Oceans' yet). On my way home last night, I listened to it again all the way through, bonus tracks included and I have to say the after the main album had concluded, I was left with the impression that I had just ridden on a parade float that was composed largely of clouds of stardust with some flashing lights bursting here and there, all the while the wheels and motor kept turning and churning below.

As I remarked in my review of 'Floating', Eloy don't come across as technical wizards, neither do they attempt to put on a show of mixing genres or playing a variety of instruments. What they do is write and perform music awash in keyboards and backed by an electric guitar that knows when to keep its machine heads down and when to step up with some strong chords or a melodic solo. The drums often just carry the beat, which never really gets too fast even when the bass would have you believe so, and drum fills come in aplenty though mostly seem like level two textbook examples for those who mastered elementary drum fills. The bass is often near the forefront of the mix but never more than necessary. It doesn't do too much. Eloy's bass guitar works closely with the drums to keep the rhythm moving, usually at mid-tempo.

Now, while it may sound disparaging to say that much of the music is rather un-technical and not so experimental or advanced, the album is still rather good. It could be compared in a way to Pink Floyd's 'Wish You Were Here', which is a comparison Eloy leader, Frank Bornemann would probably be very delighted to hear about. 'Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes' keeps a musical theme, a colour if you like, perhaps green like the cover, throughout the album. It is a vehicle for the message behind the lyrics of Eloy's music, which I believe could be summed up with a line from 'Mighty Echoes': 'Do we know that we are composed of the trinity of Heart, Soul, and Mind?' Lyrics about recognizing our need for higher spiritual learning and growth. Do Frank B. and Uli Jon Roth hang out together?

So, about the Pink Floyd thing, I mean, the music doesn't get too advanced but instead creates this big roving spacey cloud, green as it may be, with lots of synthesizer and some well-placed guitar solos. At times, the music even sounds a lot like it was inspired by 'Wish You Were Here,' such as the introductory piece 'Astral Entrance' or the closer 'Mighty Echoes'. Mind you, this is not to say that it is of the same level as Pink Floyd's music. But the inspiration is easily detected.

My two favourite tracks are the 14:56 multi-part 'The Apocalypse' and perhaps the most rocking track on the album, 'Pilot to Paradise'. This is where the green cloud has most of its flashes of brilliance and rolls along almost briskly. 'Master of Sensation' and 'Mighty Echoes' are also worthy of mention. The two bonus tracks do have a very different sound from the rest of the album with more pop energy. They provide an enjoyable reprieve from the main album, but it is also clear that they wouldn't have suited the atmosphere.

For fans of symphonic space rock and a journey toward astral inclinations, something not too aggressive or diverse but just a steady voyage to the stars kind of thing, this album could appeal. I find it has its allure, though now that I have heard all the way through once again, I will likely let it rest for a while.

Review by Modrigue
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars Symphonic PINK FLOYD?

4.5 stars

As the last album featuring ELOY's "golden" line-up, "Silent Cries And Mighty Echoes" marks the end of an era. After the success of "Ocean", this new opus was their best selling record. Musically, the style is the same as on the previous opus, however a little more space-rock and science-fiction oriented. Catchy melodies, variations, rhythm changes, spacey guitar soli, synthesizer layers, hypnotic bass... Everything you're looking for is present. The only small problem is that the band was accused of plagiarism. The compositions exhibit clear inspirations from their British elder brothers, PINK FLOYD. So, rip-off or not rip-off?

"Astral Entrance" certainly resembles the famous "Shine On You Crazy Diamond Part 1" ambient opening with its synth-textures and Gilmour-ish guitar. It may have been first time this introduction was ripped-off, but clearly not the last in the progressive world. However, "Master Of Sensation" is different. This catchy song is an immediate boarding for space travel adventure, with varying rhythms and cool Bornemann soli. It really rocks! The 15 minutes "The Apocalypse" epic is the highlight of the record. A cosmic odyssey, alternating aerial and oppressive atmospheres.Driven by synthesizers and bass, this piece contains two PINK FLOYD references. The first one is the female singing passage in the style of "The Great Gig in the Sky". The second one is the pulsating bass line of the ending part, similar to the bass loop on "Echoes Part 2", however with a heavy guitar riff finale. Needless to say these two tracks are amongst ELOY's bests.

That's it for the FLOYD's borrowings.

We continue our interstellar journey with the energetic "Pilot To Paradise", a dynamic song carried by a nice synthesizer melody with some symphonic incursions. The two last tracks are much more ambient and slower. "De Labore Solis" is the weakest track of the record, as it is a little repetitive and does not contain many changes. On the contrary, "Mighty Echoes" offers much more variety and possesses a mystical ambiance. It features a pretty glockenspiel melody, a cool bass line and a spacey finale.

The remastered edition features 2 bonus tracks. If "Child Migration" (different from the track of the same name in "Colours") has replaced "De Labore Solis", this album could have reached the maximal note. This song is one of ELOY's catchiest and rock-iest! "Let the Sun Rise in my Brain" is more anecdotal.

So, plagiarism or not? "Wish You Were Here"'s little brother? I wouldn't say so. First, the borrowings are only present on some parts of the first two tracks. Second, and the most important, ELOY uses their floydian inspirations to develop a different music with its own style and personality: a mixture of fantasy, symphonic and sci-fi progressive rock.

Whether "Ocean" or "Silent Cries And Mighty Echoes" is the best ELOY's album is just a matter of taste. If we really want to sum up, the blue one is more symphonic, while the green one is more space-rock oriented. As you prefer. Personally, even after numerous listens over years, I still can't decide. Anyway, although arriving 4 years too late and sounding a bit dated, this opus is certainly one of the best progressive surprise of the year 1979. An essential record for space-rock and PINK FLOYD lovers!

Unfortunately, ELOY's future albums will never reach this quality again...

Review by Seyo
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
3 stars Oh my, oh my... Just when I finished praising "Ocean" in my previous review here, I stumbled upon their next album "Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes". There are two things about this album that stand for me the most.

First, the sound and style is almost the same as on the previous "Ocean". The formula was successful, so why not repeat it? Fair enough; we should not blame ELOY for something that many, if not the majority of, rock bands in this period did on a regular basis.

Second, as if I could hear Bornemann and his company saying: "Hmmm, they accuse us of imitating Pink Floyd too much in the past!? OK, then let's give them those mighty Floyds in abundance on this new album!" And they did just that. The seventh ELOY album is saturated with Floydian references from almost all their albums between "Atom Heart Mother" and "Animals", and this is especially evident on side A. Only "Master of Sensation" track stands out a bit, and it is really one of better and signature compositions by ELOY.

B side tries to offer more of their own true spirit, but the problem is that we have heard all these ideas in a better form on "Ocean" and even "Dawn". The closing "Mighty Echoes" tries, after several more Floydesque noodlings, to finish the album on a grand note and it succeeds in it only partially. So, if this is supposed to belong to something called "progressive rock", then I have an issue with that. There is no much progress going here; and given that ELOY looks often more to the past (both their own and of other famous Brit rock acts like PF) than to the present or future, I can only call this "regressive rock", if that makes any sense.

But, my misgivings notwithstanding, I have to emphasise again that this album is very nicely performed and produced and the band deserves a hats off for that. It is listenable and catchy music, so it kind of makes my guilty pleasure. Still, I cannot say that this album makes an "excellent addition" to a truly "progressive rock" collection.

Review by Tarcisio Moura
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars It is only ironic that german prog rock band Eloy reached its peak during the worst times for progressive music in general. They had released their magnum opus Ocean in 1977 and followed with Silent Cries And Mighty Echoes two years later. Although 1979 was probably the most horrible year for prog music ever, Eloy simply chose to ignore the current fashions and stuck with their guns. I really wish other great groups did the same.

While maintaining the same line up as on the previous two albums, Silent Cries... is quite different in sound, being a lot more laid back and Pink Floyd-ish than ever. Also the first real extensive use of synthesizers on this work by keyboards man Detlev Schmidtchen (instead of the previous heavy doses of the Hammond organ) changed the overall musical landscape a lot, making it almost a ambient/electronic experiment. The result is really nice, although the Pink Floyd influence is sometimes a little overwhelming, the group writing their very own Great Gig In The Sky rip off on The Vision Burning. The opener Astral Entrance is another slice of Floyd´s, this time the famous intro for Shine On You Crazy Diamond. Still, it works. I really love this album, it flows smoothly and it´s a great soundtrack when you want to listen to something trippy. I know it will not be everyone´s cup of tea, it may lack a real strong track to stand out, but as a whole it is an excellent effort.

As usual the musicianship is fantastic, I really dig Klaus-Peter Matziol bass lines, so creative and fluid. Frank Bornemann guitar playing is also one of his best, for there are more guitar solos here than most Eloy previous (and latter) works. Jürgen Rosenthal drumming is very good and, as usual, he provided all the lyrics, giving the band a truly good and deep theme that the band needed so much in the early days (he would be of special usefulness on The Power And The Passion, but that´s another story). The production is very good for the time, my CD copy sounding very crisp and clear.

Conclusion: an excellent work for this classic band. Maybe not as powerful as Ocean or Planets, but still very strong and inspired. And, considering the time it was released, this is far more than we could expect from most prog acts of the period. 4 strong stars.

Latest members reviews

4 stars This album is more dynamic than "Echoes" and brings more space for guitar playing - no return to hard rock but a tasteful team-friendly playing. The band has stepped down slightly from its cloudy heights to provide more melody and accessibility to a less demanding listener. "Mighty echoes" is ... (read more)

Report this review (#2954407) | Posted by sgtpepper | Tuesday, September 26, 2023 | Review Permanlink

4 stars The ending of the '70s was admittedly not very kind to progressive rock. With the exception of few albums such as Rush's Hemispheres, Pink Floyd's The Wall and Steve Hackett's Spectral Mornings, the scene had lost its initial levels of creativity, enthusiasm and innovation. Old-school psychedeli ... (read more)

Report this review (#2165533) | Posted by Trevere | Thursday, March 14, 2019 | Review Permanlink

4 stars 4.25: The eight album by Eloy, it was released in 1979. After hearing completely Ocean, I was exciting to know more material of this band, so I decided to take the next best reviewed. This album continues to have the style of the previous masterpiece, however it is not as good as that previous on ... (read more)

Report this review (#2120013) | Posted by mariorockprog | Monday, January 21, 2019 | Review Permanlink

3 stars 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 ... (read more)

Report this review (#1327266) | Posted by aglasshouse | Monday, December 22, 2014 | Review Permanlink

5 stars This album is especial for me for two reasons. FIrst, it was released the year I was born; second, Eloy is one of my favorite German bands. After the incredible album "Ocean" and its great success, Eloy was in the need to maintain the same standard of high quality. With the album "Silent Cries ... (read more)

Report this review (#1033760) | Posted by Memo_anathemo | Thursday, September 12, 2013 | Review Permanlink

5 stars The end of an era. The last production from The Big Four - Bornemann, Schmidtchen, Matziol, Rosenthal. This 'golden' line-up made three studio albums, and all the three are masterpieces of highest caliber. Many people say that Eloy's music never became so majestic since then, and I think they are ri ... (read more)

Report this review (#1007204) | Posted by proghaven | Sunday, July 28, 2013 | Review Permanlink

4 stars While this is the most Pink Floydian of Eloy's work that I have heard, it is not a rip-off of the Floyd, and stands well on it's own merits. "Astral Entrance"- obvious comparison to SHine On You Crazy Diamond. 3 stars. "Master of Sensation"- my favorite track on SILENT CRIES AND MIGHTY ECHOES. ... (read more)

Report this review (#434016) | Posted by mohaveman | Friday, April 15, 2011 | Review Permanlink

3 stars From the very beginning of the majestic Astral Entrance, which is very much a Pink Floyd influenced Guitar and Keyboard introduction, you know you are in for another special hour in the company of Eloy. On the back of Ocean this is a more mature and and artistic album. It features a more synthes ... (read more)

Report this review (#389583) | Posted by topographicbroadways | Saturday, January 29, 2011 | Review Permanlink

4 stars This was my first venture into the musical career of the band Eloy. The album name and album art really stuck out to me, and I had an unconscious voice screaming out to me to get this album immediately. The two things that stuck out upon my first listen were the bass and the vocals. The bass i ... (read more)

Report this review (#307741) | Posted by LastDaysofParadise | Sunday, October 31, 2010 | Review Permanlink

4 stars I see many reviews here that criticize this album for allegedly copying off of Pink Floyd for a lot of stuff. However, I do not see where they copied anything. Sure, they may have a large influence, but it's always good to be influenced. Music progresses in style similar to evolution - it is a pr ... (read more)

Report this review (#284028) | Posted by HammerOfPink | Saturday, May 29, 2010 | Review Permanlink

5 stars 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 mad ... (read more)

Report this review (#248188) | Posted by Rushlover13 | Wednesday, November 4, 2009 | Review Permanlink

2 stars Eloy goes off the deepend here, blatantly ripping off Pink Floyd and Tangerine Dream. Certainly anathema to any Pink Floyd connoissuer, Silent Cries And Mighty Echoes, is virtually unlistenable when bearing in mind the luster of the Pink Floyd jewels Wish You Were Here and Animals. I`m suprised th ... (read more)

Report this review (#218675) | Posted by Vibrationbaby | Thursday, May 28, 2009 | Review Permanlink

5 stars Wow... this album is simply wonderful... it takes you to another space or era, dimension... Songs like Pilot To Paradise or De Labore Solis... my favorite by the way because that´s my lastname... but simply beatiful. The keyboards and church organs of Detlev makes this album one of the best Eloy ... (read more)

Report this review (#210535) | Posted by Gates ofdawn | Sunday, April 5, 2009 | Review Permanlink

4 stars Rather different from their previous album, Ocean, in that it's not epic in the same manner and thus not too easy to compare. Alone almost a claim to being progressive. By 1979 though, I don't know if this can be regarded as really progressive, most of it had been done five years earlier and ... (read more)

Report this review (#175062) | Posted by Frasse | Tuesday, June 24, 2008 | Review Permanlink

3 stars This album definitely sounds a lot like Pink Floyd in many different places. Then there are a few spots where it sounds like Hawkwind. Then there are a few spots where this is actually singing and you realize this can only be Eloy. It's definitely a kool album to listen to, but it is too derivat ... (read more)

Report this review (#172620) | Posted by digdug | Friday, May 30, 2008 | Review Permanlink

4 stars I had the chance to get this album in vinyl from Frankfurt in 1979 , and honestly i've purchased it for the cover . after few days back home in Lebanon , i gave it the chance to run on my Lenco turntable & electrovoice (interface D speakers ) , the best pair of speakers ever been made up t ... (read more)

Report this review (#164877) | Posted by trackstoni | Monday, March 24, 2008 | Review Permanlink

4 stars One of their best album easily...uhm i just remark that nearly the half of their albums can be called their best !!... If You like cold atmospheric music... this is where you ve got to land ... here is Germany ... a place specialized in cloudy frozen music (ok popol vuh makes me lie) Eloy i ... (read more)

Report this review (#96337) | Posted by TheRedPlanet | Tuesday, October 31, 2006 | Review Permanlink

3 stars Can you say Pink Floyd rip off? Well, Eloy gets accused of this quite a bit, and this album could be a big reason for it. There are so many Floydisms on this album, that it could easily be mistaken for a tribute. Having said that, I find it very enjoyable, with a bit more spacy vibe thanks to ... (read more)

Report this review (#60948) | Posted by | Tuesday, December 20, 2005 | Review Permanlink

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