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The Eloy appreciation thread

Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Prog Bands, Artists and Genres Appreciation
Forum Description: Discuss specific prog bands and their members or a specific sub-genre
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=109655
Printed Date: March 29 2024 at 02:45
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Topic: The Eloy appreciation thread
Posted By: Kingsnake
Subject: The Eloy appreciation thread
Date Posted: December 12 2016 at 04:38
For all things Eloy.
 
Let's dicuss this great band and its offshoots:
 
Detlev Schmidtgen (solo)
Ego on the Rocks (Jürgen Rosenthal and Detlef Schmidtchen) 
Echo Park (Jürgen Rosenthal, Jan Nemec, Klaus Peter Matziol, Hannes Folberth)
KPM (Klaus Peter Matziol with Hannes Arkona and Hannes Folberth)
Matze (Klaus Peter Matizol with Jan Nemec and Jürgen Rosenthal)
Wacholder (krautrock featuring Michael Gerlach)
Shade - Faust the Rockballett (Jim McGillivray, Klaus Peter Matziol, Hannes Arkona, Hannes Folberth, Jürgen Rosenthal and Jan Nemec)
 
Let's have some fun!



Replies:
Posted By: Watchmaker
Date Posted: December 12 2016 at 10:10
Can somebody explain to me why Ocean is considered better than Silent Cries... ? Is it the lyrics perhaps? After two listens I still don't get this album. Silent Cries... on the other hand is great.

Also, I've heard there's a new album coming out next year.


Posted By: Kingsnake
Date Posted: December 15 2016 at 04:12
I've always rated Silent Cries and Dawn higher than Ocean.
But that's my personal taste. Of course Ocean is a very special album; almost a blueprint of progressive spacerock.


Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: December 15 2016 at 04:17
ask me 25 years ago - Eloy were the perfect accompaniment for any stoner session.........yes, Floating, Ocean, Silent Cries, Planets, Time To Turn..............just perfect..............
.......and to this day, Eloy are amongst my fave Psych/Space band........


Posted By: Kingsnake
Date Posted: December 15 2016 at 04:26
For the Eloy-albums Planets and Time to Turn, the recordlabels used different artworks. EMI/Harvest used the Winfried Reinbacher-pictures, while Heavy Metal Worldwide used Rodney Matthews-pictures for the UK-release. HM used a lot of stock-pictures for their releases, and for Eloy it worked well.
For Metromania they used a Matthews-cover worldwide.
 
As for Planets/Time to Turn both versions (Matthews and Reinbacher) are great, so I cannot really decide, wich one I like best. Here they are:
 
 
Planets
 
Time to Turn:
 
The LP's were divided in halfs; one half as frontsleeve and one half as backsleeve.


Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: December 15 2016 at 04:52
The cover art win me over in both camps.......
But, the Rodney Matthews arts - Time To Turn is clear vinyl. They replaced a Magic Mirrors with a track from. Colours. Order notwithstanding........ Planets was fine.
Covers always determined the 'trip' factor of an album. Or course, that goes back a bit, but it's undeniable, and it still brushes over to this day and age.............


Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: December 15 2016 at 04:55
^ Typos suck............especially with a 'bung' eye infection, and whatever.....


Posted By: Kingsnake
Date Posted: December 15 2016 at 05:03
I don't care fot typos, it's the message that counts.

I grew up liking Eloy with the Winfried-covers. He also design Colours and Silent Cries, so it sorta fits the Eloy music.

Later on, I discovered the Matthews-covers, but I never actually owned any of these lp's.
I did own the Winfried-covers, so they kinda stuck with music. Especially when reading the backstory and the lyrics.

I never knew the screwed up the order and replaced songs. That's new news to me.


Posted By: kenethlevine
Date Posted: December 15 2016 at 07:09
Amazing band with 6 great albums in a row, from Dawn thru Time to Turn, with a few others outside that period that were great (Inside, Ocean 2).  Spacey and symphonic at once.  While they at turns sounded like Tull, Floyd, Alan Parsons, Yes, and BJH, they nonetheless had their own imprint on the style.  Artwork certainly helped fulfill the fantasy.

My personal favorites are Inside, Dawn, Colours, Planets, and Time to Turn.  Maybe 2 inferior tracks on the 4 albums.   While I enjoy Ocean and Silent Cries, Ocean is a bit too sprawling and Silent Cries a bit too Floydian


Posted By: Modrigue
Date Posted: December 15 2016 at 07:13
Except Dawn and Performance, I own all their albums from 1973 to 1984

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Posted By: Kingsnake
Date Posted: December 15 2016 at 07:16
It's also the musicians that count.
 
Eloy had the a few of the best drummers in prog: Jürgen Rosenthal, Fritz Randow and Jim McGilivray, whereas Jürgen was the most inventive one.

Also Klaus-Peter Matziol is one of the best bassist I have heard in prog. And he was almost on any Eloy album.

As for the keyboardist; Detlev Schmidtgen and Hannes Folberth are amongst the best keyboardist I know. Michael Gerlach is okay, but not as superb as Detlev and Hannes. They really brought that spacey sound to Eloy.

The early years featured organist Manfred Wieczorke, wich I have never seen in any other band. He was okay, really psychedelic, he fit the old sound very well, but I prefer Hannes or Detlev.


Posted By: TheH
Date Posted: December 15 2016 at 07:50
Originally posted by Kingsnake Kingsnake wrote:

 The early years featured organist Manfred Wieczorke, wich I have never seen in any other band. He was okay, really psychedelic, he fit the old sound very well, but I prefer Hannes or Detlev.
 
Manfred joined "Jane" a well known progressive Hardrock band after he left Eloy.
 
He also had a band called Firehorse which made just one Album.
 
He also recorded a lot with Detlef Schmidtchen (also Eloy) and made some solo Albums.


Posted By: Kingsnake
Date Posted: December 15 2016 at 07:59
I actually know Jane very well. used to listen to them a lot, because they sound like Floating and Inside-era Eloy.
 
Didn't know they shared the same organist. Maybe that's why they have the same sound. Great, now I feel like listening to some Jane again.


Posted By: kenethlevine
Date Posted: December 15 2016 at 08:01
I thought Between Heaven and Hell was a great album by Jane


Posted By: TheH
Date Posted: December 15 2016 at 08:16
Manfred is at least on the "Live at Home" album  and some Studio ones (1 or 2)
at that time. "Between Heaven and Hell" and "Age of Madness" I think.


Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: December 15 2016 at 11:03
^ Correct on all counts, and my favourite Jane period, coz it's reminiscent of Eloy, a harder edged, bluesy Eloy.


Posted By: TheH
Date Posted: December 15 2016 at 12:56
Somewhat overlooked from the Hannover Germany Rock scene is the Warlock project
by English man Jon Symon aka Rasputin (he lived in Hannover).
 
He made a Prog Rock album called "Warlock - Memories Of A White Magician" which featured
Matziol, Schmidtchen and McGilivray from Eloy.
 
There is also a live album of that record (with almost the same cover) that features him backed
by Jane musicians (the Lady Jane formation).
 
If you like early Eloy you might also like this Swiss band (Magic Spell)
https://mellowrecords.bandcamp.com/album/magic-spell-is-there-anywhere-a-gasstation" rel="nofollow - https://mellowrecords.bandcamp.com/album/magic-spell-is-there-anywhere-a-gasstation
 
Fritz Randow also played in Jane (at a later phase)
 
 


Posted By: Pastmaster
Date Posted: December 15 2016 at 13:06
I love most of Eloy's albums. The only ones I don't like much are Silent Cries and Planets. 

Floating and Inside are a couple of my all time favorite albums.


Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: December 15 2016 at 22:15
Randow also played on an album by the band SAXON !!


Posted By: Kingsnake
Date Posted: December 16 2016 at 01:41
Originally posted by Tom Ozric Tom Ozric wrote:

Randow also played on an album by the band SAXON !!
 
Yes I know.
Randow was really a heavy metal drummer. There were already traces of proto-metal drumming on Inside and Floating.
He played in more metalbands I believe.
And on Metromania het played some double kick bassdrums on Follow the Light.
Also on the Cronicles albums he plays more heavy than before.
 
I prefer the playful style of Jürgen Rosenthal though. And of course Bodo Schöpf.


Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: December 16 2016 at 02:14
^ I'm sure there's double kick in Shadow And Light (Performance).
Yep - Jurgen.
The project Ego On The Rocks (Jurgen and Detlef) produced another great album in Acid In Wounderland.
I believe Klaus Peter Matziol has a solo album from the early 80's.
And the weakest 'ELOY' album is the O.S.T. Codename : Wildgeese. It's just Matze, Folberth and Arkona. The movie is pretty nuts - Klaus Kinski, need I say more....?


Posted By: Aussie-Byrd-Brother
Date Posted: December 16 2016 at 02:30
I don't know if I'd consider `Wild Geese' much worse than `Visionary', Tom. Now there was a tired dreary album. Just like a pale imitation of a bunch of better Eloy stuff, and it also felt kind of half finished, or perhaps just lacking much in the way of inspiration to begin with.

I'm certain they've got a new album on the way in the new year, but unless I'm wrong, I really wish they had gone out on `Ocean 2', which was absolutely glorious, and a seriously good album for an `older' prog band at that point. It's pretty much on the level of their classics to my ears.

Oh, and does no-one else love `Ra' except me?!


Posted By: Kingsnake
Date Posted: December 16 2016 at 02:42
Originally posted by Aussie-Byrd-Brother Aussie-Byrd-Brother wrote:


Oh, and does no-one else love `Ra' except me?!
 
Ra isn't bad at all.
I don't like the falsetto voice, Frank suddenly started to use.
But I love some really spacey parts on the album, although the drums were poorly programmed.


Posted By: Aussie-Byrd-Brother
Date Posted: December 16 2016 at 02:50
King, I think I always defended the programmed drums on that one because I felt it gave the music a really robotic/sci-fi kind of sound, which is perfectly appropriate for that band, as it's such a defining aspect of their music and words!

Well, that's my theory and I'm sticking with it!

It's certainly better than `Destination', which is probably a reliable hard rock/AOR album, BUT there's not a lot of the traditional Eloy elements on that one. I think it's the only Eloy album I don't physically own a copy of (mind you, if I came across it I'd snap it up in a instant for completist reasons!)

I'm pretty sure `The Tides Return Forever' was much better, although from memory (I probably haven't listened to it in about almost fifteen years by this point) the female vocalists on that one weren't particularly good?


Posted By: Meltdowner
Date Posted: December 16 2016 at 02:59
I finally dedicated some time to put new music in the car a few weeks ago. I copied Metromania and it's epic driving music, especially this one Cool



Posted By: Kingsnake
Date Posted: December 16 2016 at 03:14
Originally posted by Aussie-Byrd-Brother Aussie-Byrd-Brother wrote:

King, I think I always defended the programmed drums on that one because I felt it gave the music a really robotic/sci-fi kind of sound, which is perfectly appropriate for that band, as it's such a defining aspect of their music and words!

Well, that's my theory and I'm sticking with it!

It's certainly better than `Destination', which is probably a reliable hard rock/AOR album, BUT there's not a lot of the traditional Eloy elements on that one. I think it's the only Eloy album I don't physically own a copy of (mind you, if I came across it I'd snap it up in a instant for completist reasons!)

I'm pretty sure `The Tides Return Forever' was much better, although from memory (I probably haven't listened to it in about almost fifteen years by this point) the female vocalists on that one weren't particularly good?

The female vocals on The Tides Return Forever are the best ever. :D

Destination is not really a hardrock/aor album. Most people refer to Performance as being the most pop-rock oriented Eloy-album.
I think Destination is the most progmetal influenced album, and features the first Jeanne D'Arc-song.
Also Destination features the beautiful Eclipse of Mankind. And some great flute-work on a couple of songs.
Destination isn't all bad. It has some crincheworthy moments (Silent Revolution comes to mind).

Ra and Destination are both the lesser albums in Franks' long career, but they both have great moments. Maybe combined (ignoring some tracks) they can form one great album.

The Tides Return Forever is a return to forms. And the promise was delivered with Ocean 2: The Answer!


Posted By: Aussie-Byrd-Brother
Date Posted: December 16 2016 at 03:20
I just looked on Discogs now, apparently the CD of `Destination' is long out of print (and going for quite a bit of money), but there does seem to several vendors selling cheapo `Unofficial' bootlegs of it for a few bucks.

The band should probably jump on that by putting out a proper reissue.


Posted By: Kingsnake
Date Posted: December 16 2016 at 03:22
Right now I'm listening to the futuristic spacerock of Metromania
A very great synth-oriented album. It's also one of my favorite recordsleeves of all times. I can imagina Frank playing guitar on the roof, all futuristic and sh*t...
 


Posted By: Kingsnake
Date Posted: December 16 2016 at 04:04
Here's a treat for Ra-fans:
 


Posted By: kenethlevine
Date Posted: December 16 2016 at 13:37
great discussion Eloy fans!

I have not heard Codename Wildgeese and am not looking for it.
I actually like Ra, at least more than the two discs that bracket it, Metromania and Destination.  It's got some great melodies and grandeur.  IMO Destination is the worst, just not memorable at all in spite of the flutes.  Metromania is 2nd worst, to me a hopeless attempt at metal, other than the title cut and "All Life is One" which are both awesome.   Others I don't much like are Floating (nothing here that they hadn't already done better on Inside)  and Power and the Passion.  Visionary and Performance are both relatively weak efforts but saved by a few great tracks (Edge of Insanity, Broken Frame, Shadow and Light)

Hmm I'm tempted to sell my copy of Destination if it's that valuable




Posted By: Pastmaster
Date Posted: December 16 2016 at 14:09
I love Destination, Prisoner in Mind is especially really great. I don't get why it's disliked so much. 


Posted By: dr prog
Date Posted: December 16 2016 at 20:44
I really like them from 74-83. A strong decade. Oceans was the weakest album in that period though

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All I like is prog related bands beginning late 60's/early 70's. Their music from 1968 - 83 has the composition and sound which will never be beaten. Perfect blend of jazz, classical, folk and rock.


Posted By: Kingsnake
Date Posted: December 17 2016 at 01:58
Destination, Performance, Visionairy, Power and the Passion and Ra were always considered the weak ones.

But still, they are better than what most bands poop out.
In retrospective Eloy never really put out a horrible album.

The thing about Ra and Destination that most people mislike is the sudden falsetto-voice that Frank uses.




Posted By: Lewian
Date Posted: December 19 2016 at 16:58
Hmm, I'm rather an ex-Eloy fan than an Eloy fan; this band is strongly connected with me as a teenager and I kind of fell out with them later; finding many of their compositions too thin as I discovered more complex music. I respect them now though and treasure some of their work, particularly the run between Colours and Time to Turn, possibly even including Performance. The Ego on the Rocks album is up with their best stuff as far as I'm concerned.

That said I'm one of these persons who find Ra really terrible. Their rhythm section has always been their biggest asset and I still think that Matze with Randow or Rosenthal are second to none in prog and elsewhere. Ra has none of this, it's all so synthetic and flat sounding and I really can't bear it.


Posted By: kenethlevine
Date Posted: December 19 2016 at 18:19
Originally posted by Lewian Lewian wrote:

Hmm, I'm rather an ex-Eloy fan than an Eloy fan; this band is strongly connected with me as a teenager and I kind of fell out with them later; finding many of their compositions too thin as I discovered more complex music. I respect them now though and treasure some of their work, particularly the run between Colours and Time to Turn, possibly even including Performance. The Ego on the Rocks album is up with their best stuff as far as I'm concerned.

That said I'm one of these persons who find Ra really terrible. Their rhythm section has always been their biggest asset and I still think that Matze with Randow or Rosenthal are second to none in prog and elsewhere. Ra has none of this, it's all so synthetic and flat sounding and I really can't bear it.

I didn't discover them until about 1991.  Their stuff might not be very complex by prog standards but it's a lot more intricate than most of what's out there.  They also could really play their instruments as you imply.  They had quite a knack for melody.  For instance, even in the rather heavy "Child Migration", the tune sung by Frank is subtle but beautiful when the riff dies out.

I too think Colours thru Time to Turn are their peak, and it might be that this more streamlined sound has aged better than the drone of, say, Atlantis Agony.  I think Performance is kinda weak, but maybe I should give Metromania another chance.  It just seemed pure metallic to me


Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: December 23 2016 at 10:14
Metromania is not so bad - its that 3 star in the middle kind of thing. I can't abide Ra at all. Programmed drums are a real 'no no'.
Time To Turn will always be my favourite not least for the bass lines from KPM. GloriousClap


Posted By: Modrigue
Date Posted: December 23 2016 at 10:20
Metromonia is a cool synthesized-hard-space-rock album, very homogeneous and with some powerful passages. Unfortunately, the last truly good record from Eloy for me...


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Posted By: Kingsnake
Date Posted: December 24 2016 at 06:38
Originally posted by richardh richardh wrote:

Metromania is not so bad - its that 3 star in the middle kind of thing. I can't abide Ra at all. Programmed drums are a real 'no no'.
Time To Turn will always be my favourite not least for the bass lines from KPM. GloriousClap

Almost all drums are programmed in the studio. Especially in rockmusic.
Mainly during the eighties and nineties.
Nowadays with protools, the drums can be adjusted, so it always seems tight.


Posted By: kenethlevine
Date Posted: December 24 2016 at 15:48
While Eloy gets some flak for copying other bands, let's not dismiss the influence they had on many German bands, like Anyone's Daughter, Minotaurus, Madison Dyke, Tibet, Zomby Woof, Epidaurus, Shades of Dawn, Faun (the group that only release one live album, in 1998, not the medieval one), and others I can't think of a the moment.  Not to mention that they definitely had some influence on bigger contemporaries like Jane, Grobschnitt, and Ramses


Posted By: Scorpius
Date Posted: December 25 2016 at 11:51
Eloy was one of those bands for me where I heard one or two of their albums, but didn't really have the time to get into the rest of the discography until just recently. Silent cries, Dawn, and Ocean are my favorites. Inside is great, too.


Posted By: retroactive
Date Posted: December 25 2016 at 13:54
i've listened carefully to all their albums , in my humble opinion , they could beat the Floyds in the 70's , seen them twice in live concerts , in Hamburg & Warsaw , amazing band , lovely spirit and perfect teamwork ~


Posted By: Lewian
Date Posted: December 25 2016 at 18:01
Good that you mention Eloy as a live act. I saw them twice, after having recorded Planets and Performance.
Interestingly, the Planets gig was much more ambitious with a big light show and films. It wasn't attended as well as they had hoped and was postponed once. There was the odd technical problem and despite the sound and the musicians being very good, there was some coldness to this, some lack of emotional connection.

The Performance album isn't many people's favourite and by the time I had become rather sceptical about the band, but to my surprise this was the much better gig, in a smaller venue, very direct, sharper, with very good contact to the audience and an excellent track list going through all their highlights including even Inside if I remember it correctly. I remember this one as one of the best gigs I saw and it was clear to me that they could be a brilliant live band if they trust their music and their personalities rather than technological overkill.

By the way, both of these were in Hamburg (Audimax and Fabrik), so we may have been in the same place.


Posted By: HackettFan
Date Posted: December 26 2016 at 18:13
As it happens, I've really been getting into the Eloy album, Ocean. I hadn't listened to it since I was a teenager and couldn't remember a bit of it. Very happy with it. It seems like I might have had one or two other of their albums. I'd have to check. Ocean is definitely the only one that I've moved over onto CD, though.

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A curse upon the heads of those who seek their fortunes in a lie. The truth is always waiting when there's nothing left to try. - Colin Henson, Jade Warrior (Now)


Posted By: Kingsnake
Date Posted: December 27 2016 at 02:18
Originally posted by kenethlevine kenethlevine wrote:

While Eloy gets some flak for copying other bands, let's not dismiss the influence they had on many German bands, like Anyone's Daughter, Minotaurus, Madison Dyke, Tibet, Zomby Woof, Epidaurus, Shades of Dawn, Faun (the group that only release one live album, in 1998, not the medieval one), and others I can't think of a the moment.  Not to mention that they definitely had some influence on bigger contemporaries like Jane, Grobschnitt, and Ramses
 
Sometimes RPWL sounds more like Eloy than Pink Floyd.


Posted By: verslibre
Date Posted: January 03 2017 at 14:14
Originally posted by retroactive retroactive wrote:

i've listened carefully to all their albums , in my humble opinion , they could beat the Floyds in the 70's , seen them twice in live concerts , in Hamburg & Warsaw , amazing band , lovely spirit and perfect teamwork ~
 
To me, Eloy is the superior band. Now I must emphasize band, because Frank's obviously not going to beat Dave as a pure guitarist or vocalist (though I really enjoy Frank's singing, accent and all). But in every other department — keyboards, drums, and especially bass! — Eloy takes it. And I just like their music better, with their prime (for me) beginning with Ocean, and continuing on for many albums, even up through Metromania, which, like Performance, is underrated. Eloy is a unique band, and they were huge in their heyday. The Floyd-mimic criticism is unwarranted and far overdone (a listen to an early album proves that). 'Sides, Eloy got more symphonic to me than Floyd (who I regard as a glorified psych band) ever did. Again, just my humble opinion.
 
And yeah, let's talk about their bassist! Klaus-Peter Matziol is fantastic. That guy has enough grooves to populate a coin-operated vending machine.
 
 


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Posted By: verslibre
Date Posted: January 03 2017 at 14:16
Originally posted by Lewian Lewian wrote:

The Performance album isn't many people's favourite and by the time I had become rather sceptical about the band, but to my surprise this was the much better gig, in a smaller venue, very direct, sharper, with very good contact to the audience and an excellent track list going through all their highlights including even Inside if I remember it correctly. I remember this one as one of the best gigs I saw and it was clear to me that they could be a brilliant live band if they trust their music and their personalities rather than technological overkill.
 
I'm just jealous you guys got to see Eloy live! I'd have loved to see any and all of the tours from '78 through '85. As I just said in my previous post, I dig Performance and Metromania. The dual keyboardists line-up's a win-win for me.


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Posted By: Kingsnake
Date Posted: January 04 2017 at 03:11
Originally posted by verslibre verslibre wrote:

Originally posted by retroactive retroactive wrote:

i've listened carefully to all their albums , in my humble opinion , they could beat the Floyds in the 70's , seen them twice in live concerts , in Hamburg & Warsaw , amazing band , lovely spirit and perfect teamwork ~
 
To me, Eloy is the superior band. Now I must emphasize band, because Frank's obviously not going to beat Dave as a pure guitarist or vocalist (though I really enjoy Frank's singing, accent and all). But in every other department — keyboards, drums, and especially bass! — Eloy takes it. And I just like their music better, with their prime (for me) beginning with Ocean, and continuing on for many albums, even up through Metromania, which, like Performance, is underrated. Eloy is a unique band, and they were huge in their heyday. The Floyd-mimic criticism is unwarranted and far overdone (a listen to an early album proves that). 'Sides, Eloy got more symphonic to me than Floyd (who I regard as a glorified psych band) ever did. Again, just my humble opinion.
 
And yeah, let's talk about their bassist! Klaus-Peter Matziol is fantastic. That guy has enough grooves to populate a coin-operating vending machine.
 
 

Hear, hear.

Although I like Pink Floyd and Eloy equally, they both have other unique qualities.
Frank's guitarplaying is not as superb as David's, but when Hannes Arkona joined, the band had some rock-guitar that Pink Floyd would never have.

The drums and bass of Eloy are far superior.
I think the synths are almost equally good and tasteful.

But I like the conceptalbums of Eloy better. The Wall is too pretentious for me and Animals too political.
I like the naive mythological and space themes of Eloy.

There are a few songs where Frank pays hommage to Pink Floyd, especially with the guitar intro (wich he does a couple of times), the basspart in The Apocalypse and Poseidon's Creation (although Matze is far superior to Waters), and the acoustic intro of Say Is It Really True, wich sound too similar to Wish You Were Here.

But the space and futuristic rock of Planets -> Metromania is unrivalled. (maybe only Saga comes close).

Also criminally underrated is Dawn, wich is too date, the best symphonic spacerock album I have ever heard.


Posted By: verslibre
Date Posted: January 05 2017 at 11:23
Clap


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Posted By: kenethlevine
Date Posted: January 05 2017 at 12:33
I greatly prefer Eloy to Floyd.  Much more dynamic and less consistently cynical and downbeat.   I only wish the powers that be would have given them more exposure so I could have discovered them in the 1970s instead of the 1990s.


Posted By: Lewian
Date Posted: January 05 2017 at 16:07
Originally posted by Kingsnake Kingsnake wrote:


 
But I like the conceptalbums of Eloy better. The Wall is too pretentious for me and Animals too political.
I like the naive mythological and space themes of Eloy.
 

I know this is the Eloy appreciation thread but I'm with the Floyd on this one. However...
Originally posted by Kingsnake Kingsnake wrote:



The drums and bass of Eloy are far superior. 

!


Posted By: Kingsnake
Date Posted: January 06 2017 at 02:13
Originally posted by Lewian Lewian wrote:

Originally posted by Kingsnake Kingsnake wrote:


 
But I like the conceptalbums of Eloy better. The Wall is too pretentious for me and Animals too political.
I like the naive mythological and space themes of Eloy.
 

I know this is the Eloy appreciation thread but I'm with the Floyd on this one. However...
Originally posted by Kingsnake Kingsnake wrote:



The drums and bass of Eloy are far superior. 

!

Absolutely no problem to prefer Floyd over Eloy. That's what discussions are for.

In my opinion Floyd and Eloy have this spacey synth-sound and spacey guitar sound. I like to dream away to the music. But Eloy takes me to other planets and mystical landscapes.
Floyd just keeps me in the English country, with Animals and The Wall. Shine on You Crazy Diamond would have been more awesome if it had fantasy or sci-fi lyrics.

But it doesn't matter though, I can always play The Apocalypse or Planets or Dawn to take me to other planets.


Posted By: Kingsnake
Date Posted: January 06 2017 at 02:18
I mean: when spaceing out to Eloy, while reading the lyrics, this beautiful landscape really comes to life:




Posted By: verslibre
Date Posted: January 06 2017 at 11:26
^That's why gatefolds are so awesome. This isn't the Tangerine Dream thread, but some of the images in TD's '70s gatefolds complemented the music very well, a really Yin & Yang dynamic there...!

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Posted By: Wilf
Date Posted: January 25 2017 at 16:22
Good to see an Eloy thread - I don't know anyone else who actually likes them (or has even heard of them), so it's interesting to read this and see whether everyone else's views reflect my own.
 
First encountered them when Ra came out.  Loved both the music and the cover art and played the album to death.  Metromania followed, and I thought it was absolutely stunning.  I grew up on keyboard-driven 80s pop, so unsurprisingly, it's the run of albums from Colours through Metro that I think of as being Eloy's peak.
 
Also very fond of Dawn and Silent Cries from the 70s, though apart from the debut album I do like all of them from that decade, too.  Not sure why anyone would rate Ocean as the best of them, but the first half of Decay and the sheer epic feel of Atlantis' Agony make it well worth having.
 
Think their post-Ra output is rather patchy, though.  Destination is the sole Eloy LP missing from my collection - I really couldn't get into it at all, and thought it was all style and no substance.  Willing to give it another go if I can find a copy, though - Fire & Ice (from Chronicles II) is pretty decent.  Tides Return was a superb release, though, as was Ocean 2.  Massively disappointed by Visionary, so I'm glad there's a new LP in March so they don't go out on a whimper.
 
I have Codename Wildgeese too, but it's not really a proper Eloy album.
 
Deeply envious of everyone who's seen them live, especially in the 80s.  I never have - if they ever pop over to England, I'll be there like a shot.


Posted By: verslibre
Date Posted: January 25 2017 at 18:21
Codename Wildgeese is like a Tangerine Dream album without Edgar Froese, i.e. it was recorded by Hannes Arkona, Hannes Folberth and Klaus-Peter Matziol. I like it, though!

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Posted By: Kingsnake
Date Posted: January 26 2017 at 01:23
I agree that Destination is their weakest album.
It was my second. I first bought Planet and was sold. I liked Destination because of it's heavy metal approach.
But there's only a handful of songs that really stuck with me; Eclipse of Mankind is really one of the best songs they ever did. Fire and Ice, Prisoner in Mind, Call of the Wild are decent hardrocktracks (love the flute in Call of the Wild), but the album also has the weakest tracks they ever did: Silent Revolution is really silly.

Destination also has the first Jeane d'Arc song. On The Tides Return Forever, there's the second part, called Company of Angells.

The biggest problem with Destination and Ra is the voice of Frank. His falsetto(?) is really used too much and it's a pain to listen to.
On Ocean 2 and Tides Return Forever and Visionairy he uses his normal voice again.


Posted By: BaldJean
Date Posted: January 26 2017 at 05:48
I like the old Eloy albums like "Inside" and "Floating" best. I think after "Dawn" they became too pompous. the German accent of Frank Bornemann is horrible though, so the vocals make me wince


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A shot of me as High Priestess of Gaia during our fall festival. Ceterum censeo principiis obsta


Posted By: Kingsnake
Date Posted: January 26 2017 at 07:44
Inside and Floating are different kind of spacerock. Similar to what Jane was doing those days.
I can understand why the other Eloy albums sound so different.

For me, I like the Dawn album so much and I love the synth-driven spacerock that followed. I love synths more than organs I think.


Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: February 07 2017 at 01:56
I had a listen to Poseidon's Creation from Eloy Live this morning. Jurgen has some serious chops. Pity he couldn't have stayed with the band a bit longer.


Posted By: Kingsnake
Date Posted: February 07 2017 at 02:05
^ with the exception of Ra, Eloy Always had some very good drummers.

I like Bodo Schopf and Jim McGilivray aswell. Fritz Randow is more a metaldrummer, but his drumming on Time to Turn is truly amazing...

I agree I like Jurgen Rosenthal. His feel and sound is truly wonderful. He is much more than just a drummer.


Posted By: Cosmiclawnmower
Date Posted: February 07 2017 at 15:54
I first heard Eloy do a BBC radio session for Tommy Vance roundabout 1981 (?).. 2 tracks from 'Performance', 'Out of a sombre galaxy' (from time to turn) and a track from 'Planets' (though i cant remember which one); i taped it off the radio (LOL) at the time and had it for years (though lost it at some point- i have seen an over-priced, presumably unofficial, CD of these sessions on Ebay).. they did play a couple of nights at the Marquee club in 1983 (i think, ive looked for my ticket stub but cant find it..) which i seem to remember were booked then cancelled then re-instated. I cant remember much detail to be honest (that was my fault..Confused) but it was very cramped on stage with two keyboard set-ups etc as well as in the crowd and the set was mostly 'Performance' with tracks from Planets and time to turn. I think at the time they were 'lumped in' with many of the 'Neo-prog' bands and as a lot of people hadnt heard of them, assumed they were a relatively new band.. i had got a few of the older lps on 'Conifer Import' (Colours and Ocean) on German Harvest label.. but of course they had a tightness and confidence which stunned a lot of people (who were expecting something like IQ or Twelfth Night). Many years later i made contact with someone else who was at the gig and was selling their fully signed picture disc of Performance, which i duly bought!


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Posted By: Kingsnake
Date Posted: February 08 2017 at 01:38
^ both shows are available as bootleg (I have them both). The BBC-radio thing is very well produced.
Indeed these days they were more of hardrock band than a spacerock band. Shorter songs, two guitarists, a heavy metal drummer etc.


Posted By: Cosmiclawnmower
Date Posted: February 08 2017 at 13:29
I'll look out for them!! it seems a long time ago (well, it was... and in a galaxy far far away too!). Of course they were released on 'Heavy metal worldwide' label in the UK and at that time there was quite a leap forward in guitar tech, pedals, effects as well as digital synths and that gave them a more 'modern rock' sound.. but i still found them very 'spacey' in their sound. and i actually really like performance and metromania.. at the same time (one of my other long time favourite bands) Hawkwind were modernising their sound with a lot of digital sequencers and they were seen to be moving more to a 'hard-rock' sound away from space-rock but its just an inevitable movement with the times.


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Posted By: kenethlevine
Date Posted: February 08 2017 at 17:52
How I wish I knew of the group in the early 1980s, but then I doubt they ever made it to America, and big trips were not in my consciousness (or budget) then


Posted By: Kingsnake
Date Posted: February 09 2017 at 01:31
I like almost every album Eloy did. The psychedelic ones, the symphonic ones, the spacerock ones, and even the mroe hardrock ones.
 
The 1979-1984 version of Eloy was very tight and could play circles around many of the then emerging neo-prog bands. Same goes for Saga (often cited as neoprog)


Posted By: Cosmiclawnmower
Date Posted: February 09 2017 at 15:06
Ive just dug out my vinyl copy of 'Ego on the rocks- Acid in wounderland'.. what a fantastic lp; i found it on import back in the very early 80's after a tip from an old scouse buddy.. with all the voices and 'cut-ups' between and within the tracks, it is very trippy and quite different from what Eloy were doing in 1980.

I also dug out my copy of the first Eloy lp (Trash-can) on Phillips.. it is a very different sort of lp, early 70's heavy rock- more political lyrics and a harder, rougher edge. I dont really know much about its genesis or how/why they changed their style.. i havent really played it a great deal. any thoughts?


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Posted By: kenethlevine
Date Posted: February 09 2017 at 17:14
Originally posted by Cosmiclawnmower Cosmiclawnmower wrote:

Ive just dug out my vinyl copy of 'Ego on the rocks- Acid in wounderland'.. what a fantastic lp; i found it on import back in the very early 80's after a tip from an old scouse buddy.. with all the voices and 'cut-ups' between and within the tracks, it is very trippy and quite different from what Eloy were doing in 1980.

I also dug out my copy of the first Eloy lp (Trash-can) on Phillips.. it is a very different sort of lp, early 70's heavy rock- more political lyrics and a harder, rougher edge. I dont really know much about its genesis or how/why they changed their style.. i havent really played it a great deal. any thoughts?

I liked Ego on the Rocks well enough but haven't listened in a while.  The name was a jab at Frank Bornemann who, when those members were splitting off, referred to them as having big egos.

In the first LP Frank was a more minor member.  I don't think he sang and he may also not have been the main writer.  The leader(s) left and he took over, and the rest is history.  I'm not a big fan of the album but it has some good moments;  then that is true of even the weakest Eloy albums, well except maybe Destination!


Posted By: Lewian
Date Posted: February 09 2017 at 17:44
The Ego on the rocks album is very cool and unique and goes with the time in its own way. It has clearly some late 70s/early 80s influences but uses them well. I love the concept, the compositions, the keyboards and drumming (their key skills), even the lyrics (which I fairly generally tend to ignore), although it wasn't quite a true masterpiece because a better singer and Matze on bass were missing. 



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