PLANETS

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WOW! That's THE Eloy album! It is among the best progressive rock albums of 1981, with Rush's "Moving pictures". The modern keyboards here are at their BEST: many pleasant organ parts take place, but the overall modern keyboards are rather atmospheric, intense, melodic and absolutely futuristic. The omnipresent melodic moog-like keyboards are the trademark of this record. Frank Bornemann's sharp electric rhythmic guitar sound is quite razor, and he also often plays short & clean guitar notes. "Planets" is more progressive than hard rock, although the omnipresent electric guitars and organ textures provide a big dose of sophisticated hard rock. The very present bass always makes a melodic rhythmic texture. The drums are very good and varied. Again, like on most of the Eloy albums, the overall rhythm speed is rather slow.

"Introduction" is a perfect futuristic keyboards track. The futuristic atmospheres on "Mysterious monolith" are AWESOME: the keyboards really steal the show here! "Queen of the night" has some very good participating orchestral arrangements and delightful & powerful female backing vocals a la Roger Waters' singers. "At the gates of dawn" is another Kitaro-esque New Age track that Eloy used to produce around 1980: the AMAZING thing on this track is the BRILLIANT fretless bass and futuristic keyboards combination. "Carried by cosmic winds" still has very participating orchestral arrangements and keyboards, futuristic atmospheres and catchy modified backing vocals; the melodic organ is particularly impressive. ALL the tracks are at least EXCELLENT!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Second album with the '80s lineup, and the first to record a concept, in this case about the Planet Salta and the inhabitants known as the Ikareens. Originally "Planets" was meant to be a double album, but EMI/Harvest didn't quite like the idea (especially in the early '80s when double albums went out of fashion), so the band was forced to conclude this album the following year (1982) with "Time to Turn". I could not be more surprised with "Planets", especially since the album has often been looked at in a negative light compared to their previous, "Colours". I find little to complain of "Planets", it sounds to me like the band was making a compromise of their new, direct approach they explored since "Colours", and the spacy sound they explored when Detlev Schmidtchen and Jürgen Rosenthal were in the band ( "Ocean", "Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes").

The album is loaded with great Moog and string synths, done in the '70s style, but since this was the early '80s, some new polyphonic synths (such as the Prophet 5, or something similar) was starting to surface, as demonstrated on songs like "Point of No Return" and "Sphinx". You can be certain the band was still reluctant to let the 1970s go. The album starts off with "Introduction" (nothing to do with another piece they titled "Introduction" from "Power and the Passion"). This is a purely electronic piece, proving that Hannes Folberth could have made some great electronic music solo, but he preferred to be in a band. Fine with me. The music then segues in to "On the Verge of Darkening Lights". Here's all the proof you need of the band merging their new sound with the old. It's still in a more accessible, direct fashion, but they included some great, spacy Moog solos that could've been done by Schmidtchen. "Point of No Return" is mainly a song-oriented piece, with polyphonic synths dominating. There's a heartbeat (likely inspired by "Dark Side of the Moon") that segues in to "Mysterious Monolith". I like the introduction part of the song, and the end part with the atmospheric synth solos.

The second half showed the band was oddly wanting to move back to the sounds of "Dawn". The reason for that was the presence of orchestra on all but one of the cuts. "Queen of the Night" is that prime example. It starts off with a piano ballad, before the band rocks out, then the string synth solo come in. In there are the strings that sound like they came off "Dawn". "At the Gates of Dawn" is a very pleasant instrumental number with spacy Moog and piano, with the strings, once again. "Sphinx" is the only piece on side two without the strings, and is truly one of the album's high points. Stuffed with great playing, I especially like the '70s synths found here. It then segues in to the final piece, "Carried On By Cosmic Winds", with some more great cosmic sounding synths. The orchestra comes in, once again bringing to mind "Dawn".

It was 1981, MTV premiered, DURAN DURAN released their debut album, GENESIS released "Abacab", YES ceased to exist, ASIA formed (but no album released until the following year, of course), and ELOY pretended all the unfortunate things to happen in the world of music never happened (like new wave, the emergance of MTV, and old-time prog bands going commercial or ceasing to exist), making "Planets" one of the better prog albums I've heard from the 1980s. Definately the album to start first if you want to try '80s ELOY.

An Excellent Symphonic Space Rock album !

By the time this album was released, what a treat for me at the time. All the punk and new wave bands like The Human League, Robert Palmer, Mo, B 52's, Duran Duran were common music to all radio stations in Bandung, West Java, where I took my engineering study. About the same period, Genesis released "abacab", Yes with "90125". Prog was really dead. Planets soon became my favorite choice for my day-to-day rock listening pleasure. I don't know why this morning I grab this album and put my amplifier volume "high". Wow! What a great and memorable album! This album represents my first introduction to the band. Quite late actually, as the band was already there during the glorious years of the seventies. But I was so lucky with the release of this album - in the middle of punk and new wave that swept music industry in the world.

"Introduction" provides an overture that sets the tone for the album. It flows to the second track that represents my first "in love" with the band: "On The Verge Of Darkening Lights" - an uplifting song opened beautifully with an upbeat spacey music. The keyboard dominates the song. The vocal quality is very nice and powerful - it has the same timbre with the space rock music. Perfect! The keyboard solo after two verses of singing passage is simple but it's very enjoyable - especially it's augmented with a bass guitar and drum beats. The overall music is performed in an energetic style.

The next track continues with a transition of spacey keyboard and enters to "Point Of No Return" in a slower tempo. The beauty of this track lies on the keyboard sound at the back that fills in alternate with voice line. It's a great composition and it has an excellent melody. Guitar is only used at the end of the bars to accentuate the music. "The evidence of no future ." oh what a nice melody .. BTW, bass guitar plays an important role in this track. Overall composition of this track can be considered as a symphonic space rock music.

"Mysterious Monolith" opens with a nice combination between guitar fills and keyboard sound followed with a powerful vocal in this quiet passage. The music flows in a slow tempo with obvious bass guitar work. A very nice opening verse. The keyboard then enters the music smoothly followed with some effects. Bass guitar provides a transition that brings the music into a little bit faster tempo exploring the works of keyboards. Guitar is uses as rhythm section. The keyboard exploration in the middle of the track is simple and melodic. The break with bass guitar solo augmented with keyboard sound effects provide a spacey and futuristic nuance.

"Queen Of The Night" is a song with a very melodic opening, backed with an orchestration. The music moves in a crescendo with drum beats followed with female backing vocals. It sounds pop but it's very nice and enjoyable. The orchestration has helped a lot in strengthening the composition, overall. It reminds me to a sort of Electric Light Orchestra music but in a spacey mood. In addition to the simple orchestra, I love the vocal quality also.

"At The Gates Of Dawn" is an instrumental track with soft piano, keyboard and guitar fills performed in mellow style. The melody is made through the keyboard sound at background. It gives a spacey nuance of the song. Orchestration is added in the middle of the track. Overall, this track provides an excellent break to the album as a whole.

"Sphinx" brings the music into a medium tempo mood with - still - maintaining the melodic nature of a composition, using keyboard as the main pillar of the structure. Again, the band gives a very nice passage in the middle of the track where it turns into a quieter passage featuring vocal backed with a keyboard exploration. There is a simple drum solo that sounds poppy but it fits the whole structure of the song. Excellent!

"Carried By Cosmic Winds" is a very nice song opened with a melodic keyboard sounds that brings the music to vocal line. Vocal quality is really good. When the music enters with all instruments, the organ sound serves as main melody followed with a keyboard solo to accompany backing female voices. Some keyboard sound is emulating cello / violin sounds - it provide some orchestration flavor to the song. Excellent!

Overall, it's a highly recommended album. Despite it's relatively simple composition, this album comprises all excellent tracks that form a cohesive music as a whole. At the time of its release in 1981, it was a masterpiece and I still consider it the same after more than 20 years around us. I may be too naïve, but I think this album deserves a full five star rating. - Keep on progging!

Yours progressively,

GW - Indonesia

"...an awesome glow that shines through the sky attracts me strongly like an obscure shrine..."

With Planets Eloy definitely found a (partially) new direction. The first part of a double- album concept work based on a science-fiction' story by Frank Bornemann about the eternal battle of good and evil in a planet named "Salta", settled in the solar system of Hel, the largest solar system of the universe.

The band's usual and celebrated sound gets more refined, not changed. And in fact you couldn't say it has not to be included in the space rock sub-genre. The eighties don't seem to have contaminated Eloy's essence. They also enriched the music by introducing a wonderful strings' arrangement in the memorable track "Queen of the Night", the most convincing song of the whole record, in my humble opinion and in the good closer ""Carried by Cosmic Winds".

It's great the band and the Harvest (EMI) label delighted us with that excellent remaster reissues. I only have to criticize, as I told before in another review, the decision to write the booklet's liner notes completely in german.

Back to Planets, now. I don't think this is a mastepriece as someone stated. It's an excellent work, though, showing the talent of the band in paiting vast and deep scenes, perhaps their peak of maturity (even if not their most relevant work) along with the following "Time to Turn" (the second and last part of the science fiction concept).

If you like lush and densely layered keyboard textures, crammed with just about every sound available in the early 1980s, wrapped in pressure-cooker Stadium-Prog with a merest nod to the spacey soundscapes of former glories ..... then you might love Planets. Guitars are used sparingly, mostly as secondary rhythmic support and sometimes hard to spot behind the barrage of keyboards, while a genuine string section provides a welcome diversion in places. Generally, the mood is relentless and unvarying with little respite from high levels of intensity and short on light-and-shade contrasts as the music bounds from one big theme to another. Ambient atmospheric pieces like Introduction and At The Gates Of Dawn provide some relief, but this music cannot be described as intimate.

Planets is a Concept Album, using oblique references to ancient history and Greek myth-cycles to tell of the rise and fall of the human race and its destructive occupation of Earth, dressed up in a story of an imaginary planetary system and its battles between good and evil. The story's background is clear enough, thanks to a 'Prologue' printed in the liner notes. However, actual song lyrics are often mystical and occasionally profound, and nearly always somewhat esoteric or obtuse, but they usually reward deeper study in helping to understand Bornemann's view of human nature. The music is not interpretative so its appreciation is unaffected by any ability to grasp the lyrical concepts.

Unlike some Eloy albums, there are no real issues with Bornemann's singing, even though he has entered a field where melody and vocal lines are more important than in his previous incarnation as a space cadet. He does a respectable job, but is not helped by a clutch of uninspiring melodies that spoil some otherwise good ideas. Sphinx is an example of a good song crying out for a killer melody to take it onto another level - its big-synth arrangement and stomping rhythms harking back to the likes of Genesis and ELP would be stunning with a half-decent tune. Musically, the album is creative and accomplished, but none of the core songs are at all memorable if you remove the camouflage. The best melody lines are saved for uncredited female vocals in Queen Of The Night!

Despite its faults, there is much to like and admire. On The Verge Of Darkening Lights and Mysterious Monolith are excellent shapeshifting Prog tracks and the orchestra helps to lift At The Gates Of Dawn and Carried By Cosmic Winds above the ordinary. In its first couple of minutes, the latter promises to deliver something lighter than the usual bombast, but it too finally succumbs to the general malaise and you are left feeling a little cheated and bewildered. Some people claim Planets is a masterpiece. Perhaps, if you like lush and densely layered keyboards ..... but others should approach with a degree of caution.

Superb psychedelic space album

That's The Eloy album, in the '80, maybe the second best after Ocean. It is among the best progressive rock albums of that time, because the modern keyboards here are at the highest level, many pleasant organ parts take place, but the overall modern keyboards are rather atmospheric, intense, melodic and absolutely futuristic, Hannes Folberth is a master of keys, really stunning keys on Planets. The rest of the musicians are super, made this album to be a 4 star album. I find the best track Mysterious Monolith, here the key parts is absolute stunning. Nothing else to add just, put the hand on this one, among the best Eloy, and among the best prog albums of the '80. Super

I was rather disappointed with their previous album "Colours"."Eloy" did not really well entered into the eighties. But who did ? So, it was with pleasure that I discovered this album which opens brilliantly on a very atmospheric and spacey instrumental : "Introduction" is peaceful but extremely catchy.

"On The Verge" is more on the rocking side, but not only. The closing part for example, is another very good space-rock moment. I only would have liked it to be a little longer (the finale I mean). No breaks between the songs since it is a concept album. The listener is plunged into "Point Of No Return" and its full floydian atmosphere.

Good tracks succeed top good tracks during this album. "Mysterious Monolith" should please all the synthezisers lovers. You' ll get plenty here. A flamboyant song. Not like "Queen Of The Night" which is the poorest one featured.

Would you believe that "Eloy" released a song called "At The Gates Of Dawn" ! And would you believe that it sounds as a "Floyd" one ? It is an instrumental track, spacey for most of it. Just a pity that there are some strings at the end which were not necessary at all.

I like very much the mood of "Sphinx". It vaguely reminds me of "Genesis". Heavy keys, heavy rhythm but pleasant melody. Vocals are not as catastrophic as on previous albums, which is a good news. This aspect was definitely a handicap. I'm not saying that Bornemann became a great singer out of the blue. But at least he is bearable on most of this album. The closing "Carried By Cosmic Winds" is another spacey / psychedelic song. Maybe a bit old fashioned. But, to me, "Eloy" has always been a bit out of mood.

I am very happy to change my mind with this album. In my review of their previous work, I said "if the giants were not able to produce good music, how could "Eloy" be different" ? Well with this good album, "Eloy" did better than most of the giants. Bravo ! Three stars.

If the preceding "Colours" gets lumped in with "Planets" and its followup "Time to Turn", this turns out to have more to do with the lineup, the time period, and the overall approach of generally shorter punchier songs than with the actual sound. While on "Colours" the question of what might Eloy sound like if they had an additional guitarist was answered, on "Planets" we understand what could happen when that second guitarist doubles as second keyboardist. Moreover, Frank takes a step back with his guitar, to the extent that he doesn't really play any solos on the entire album. This and the presence of orchestration on a few tracks puts "Planets" in a similar lineage to Dawn.

Indeed this 1981 album is much more overtly spacey than its predecessor, and it includes two lovely symphonic instrumentals. But elsewhere we have some great vocal tracks, like "On the Verge of Darkening Lights", that contains a gorgeous melody sung by Bornemann in the middle, surrounded by impelling keyboard work. This track ends in an ambient haze before we are jolted to life by the upbeat "Point of No Return". The theme of a collapsing civilization is captured by the musical movements and the lyrics of its chorus, as the population sways and loses control. The two epics are "Mysterious Monolith" and Sphinx. Both are built around the sort of riff that implants in one's subconscious, and the latter includes another elegant middle section with Bornemann in fine voice. "Queen of the Night" and the closer "Carried by Cosmic Winds" both feature gentle starts before they become more fitful, and female vocal accompaniment that works far better than it did on Silent Cries, perhaps because the rip off factor is not nearly so evident. It sounds fresh.

With "Planets", Eloy changed yet again and ensured its survival for at least a few more years. An easy 4 stars.

There's a lot less guitar on this one compared to the previous album "Colours", but man the lush keybords and orchestration sounds pretty amazing on this one.This is a concept album,in fact there's a short story in the liner notes telling us about it.Pretty cool story really.The next album "Time To Turn" is a continuation of this story. "Introduction" is a 2 minute spacey ride laden with tons of synths. "On The Verge Of Darkening Lights" we get vocals and a good beat.I like this one.Some organ in this one as well.I like the 1 minute instrumental interlude.Vocals return 3 minutes in.A spacey calm after 5 minutes as it blends into "Point Of No Return".Again like the previous song a good beat comes in early as vocals join in.Lots of lush synths in this catchy tune. "Mysterious Monolith" offers up some nice bass lines before 2 minutes as the organ comes in as drums pound and synths play over top.Vocals return a minute later.More great bass after 5 minutes. "Queen Of The Night" opens with piano as reserved vocals join in.It builds as female vocals come in.Some strings in this one too.Very spacey 3 1/2 minutes in. "At The Gates Of Dawn" is dominated by a lush,spacey soundscape,great tune. "Sphinx" opens with some nice synths as vocals join in.A good rhythm to this one after a minute.It settles after 3 minutes then kicks back in.It ends with the wind blowing which continues in the next track called surprisingly "Carried By Cosmic Winds".I like the FLOYD-like synths early.Vocals before 1 1/2 minutes.A fuller sound a minute later with strings to follow. An enjoyable album for me and well worth 4 stars.The bonus track is a live version of "On The Verge Of Darkening Lights" and it's better than the studio version.

This is one of the two Eloy albums I own and although Ocean has the upper hand Planets is not that far behind. Once again I find it difficult to enjoy Frank Bornemann's vocals because of his accent and Mysterious Monolith is certainly one of the more extreme examples of my case and point.

What makes this album a bit less interesting in comparison to Ocean are the shorter track lengths which take away the opportunity of establishing an atmosphere which is a must have when it comes to space rock! Gone is also the magnificent drum work by Jürgen Rosenthal that made Ocean into a real treat.

On the positive note the album doesn't sound all that much like an 80's release although it doesn't have the 70's sound either. It's mostly a mix of the two and I like it! Overall it's an enjoyable space rock title and a must-have for most genre enthusiasts. I also believe that Planets can be a good introduction album since the shorter track lengths can actually be easier to digest for anyone who is new to space rock.

***** star songs: Sphinx (6:50)

**** star songs: Introduction (1:58) On The Verge Of Darkening Lights (5:37) Point Of No Return (5:45) Mysterious Monolith (7:40) At The Gates Of Dawn (4:17) Carried By Cosmic Winds (4:32)

*** star songs: Queen Of The Night (5:22)

Eloy's 1981 album is an incredible fusion of two marvelous genres, resulting in symphonic space rock- a fantastic blend. Similar to Yes's Drama, one can hear the 1980s flavor grabbing a hold of the music, but only coloring it just a bit. It is like some intergalactic medieval world- sword and space ships, queens and quasars, extraterrestrials and excommunications...portcullises and planets. The swirling keyboards as the most fascinating aspect- they are the centerpiece that refuses to remain in the center.

"Introduction" Dazzling synthesizer textures create an expansive atmosphere.

"On the Verge of Darkening Lights" The first stop on this journey involves a speedy rocker featuring rapid drums, light electric rhythm guitar, a thudding bass, flashes of synthesizer, and an urgent lead vocal. The masterful instrumental segment weaves synthesizer, shimmering guitar, and that same steady bass around one another. Gentle keyboards fade the song out, but bleed into the next.

"Point of No Return" Retaining the feel of the previous track, this song shows the creeping influence of the 1980s more so than some of the others, but makes for a hard-hitting and great song nonetheless.

"Mysterious Monolith" Gorgeous guitar and synthesizer begin this wondrous extended piece. The instrumental passage relies on organ for the foundation alongside the guitar, drums, and bass, but uses varied synthetic tones to paint over it all.

"Queen of the Night" Sweet strings dance over this heavy, fast-paced song, which relies on feminine backup singing quite a bit. Again, the diverse tones from the keyboards do not disappoint, and are an integral aspect of the song.

"At the Gates of Dawn" More delicate guitar and bright synthesizers flow through this breathy instrumental. The beautiful strings return, adding yet another dimension.

"Sphinx" Decidedly 1980s in sound, this piece has a decent drive and melody, but is really like a cross between early ELP and latter-day Pink Floyd. It has its own distinctive flair, however, and employs a militaristic theme throughout.

"Carried by Cosmic Winds" The final piece seems to borrow from early Mike Oldfield. It employs the organ more than any other song, and even uses a Vocoder for a few sections. At times, it may be compared to The Alan Parsons Project. The strings are once again phenomenal additions.

A planet plagued by "greed, vanity, egoism, wars and atrocity"? What a strange idea!

The 1980 release "Colours" was not received with the usual enthusiasm by Eloy fans. While the music was well performed, the album as a whole was lightweight, with commercial leanings. Band leader Frank Bornemann took these criticisms to heart, and decided that the band should record another full blown concept album. He duly came up with a story, working with Sigi Hausen on the lyrics and the rest of the band on the music. The project came together quickly and successfully, and Eloy found themselves with sufficient material to put together a double album (based on LP lengths that is). While the record label was delighted with the band's enthusiasm, they felt that it would be best to release the resulting tracks as two single albums. Thus this album "Planets" appeared in 1981, and the other half of the project "Time to turn" appeared in 1982.

The story is centred on one particular (fictitious) planet called "Salta", which is Earth like with humanoids called Ikareens. The planet is visited by supreme beings and darker forces leading to inevitable problems. As you will gather it is all in the best traditions of all things prog, the story on this occasion even justifying a full narrative in the sleeve notes.

Musically, after the brief lapse with "Colours", "Planets" finds the band continuing to develop the prog side of their music with swaths of synths, complex arrangements and imaginative lyrics being the order of the day. Once the brief instrumental "Introduction" has set the scene, "One the verge of darkening lights" offers the first of the finely crafted symphonic prog pieces. The segue into "Point of no return" is seamless, the two tracks knitting together to form a fine 11+ minute whole.

Lyrically, the album is quite intense, with tracks such as "Mysterious monolith" being verbose. Even here though, plenty of space is found in the fully developed track for some superb multi-part synth. "Queen of the night" sets out as a softer ballad, but features a raucous female vocal driven chorus with strings accompaniment. There is an Ayreon /Star One feel here, the track being somewhat more commercial than its peers.

The Pink Floyd reference may be somewhat obvious in the title of the instrumental "At the gates of dawn", but this beautifully constructed track feels more like a Tony Banks (Genesis) piece than a Floyd one. "Sphinx" continues this Genesis interlude, the distinctive rhythm and vocal passages being very "Squonk" like. The album closes with "Carried by the cosmic winds", a fine prog title for a closing track. The plink plink opening is rather Oldfield like, and the song as a whole is a light melodic number.

In all, a full return to form for Eloy, who deliver an album of great beauty and majestic power. The concept album side is not overplayed, but helps the band to focus on maintaining a consistency which allow the album to flow superbly.

The remastered CD (beware of the dreaded "copy controlled" version with the dubious software) has one bonus track, a live version of track 2, "On the verge of darkening lights". This slightly shorter rendition is interesting, but far from essential.