PSYCHEDELIC/SPACE ROCK

It was the quartet's first album after a five-year silence, and found the band playing shorter, harder songs, precision-tooled for local Seattle kids hooked on their city's Grunge Rock legacy and looking for a noisy afterparty. Some of the music is incredibly catchy: "Last Day on Earth"; "Conflict Free Diamonds"; "Skim MILF" (another in a series of hilarious Kinski song titles); and so forth. Add Pete Shelley's adenoidal voice to any of the above and you might find something resembling a long-lost Buzzcocks single.

But the few instrumental tracks work best, and show the lingering influence of the band's Krautrock adolescence. Note the convincing motorik rhythm under "A Little Ticker Tape Never Hurt Anybody", and again in "We Think She's a Nurse" (...quoting Brian Eno, "repetition is a form of change")

The album might have been a natural progression from their previous "Down Below It's Chaos" (2007), but that doesn't make it Prog. Two stars (at best), from a Progressive Rock point-of-view, but three (or more) on an Ass-Kicking scale, especially when played loud enough to rattle your sub-woofers.

Shortly after the heavy lift-off Journey To The Space Mountain shows them underway with a proper groove furthermore. Spacemind appears thoroughly mixed up with more mellow and melodic sentiment. Petri Lassila's guitar work is stellar above all. The closing highlight From The Ashes proves this in particular due to a wide range in style. A multi-tracked performance, garnered with soaring moments, many delay effects and indo/raga appeal caused by a sitar. And so 'Psychedelogy' stands for a proper genre album overall, space rock connoisseurs won't be disappointed when making a grab for this one, 3.5 stars.

Eloy's music organically ebbs and flows with an ineffaceable virtuosity on 2 of their greatest triumphs. 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.

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 J'rgen 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.

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."

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.

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.

"Colours" is a very good album with a retro sound and some of Eloy's best material. 'Horizons' features the high pitched vocals of guests Edna and Sabine over a quirky time sig driven by keyboards and the hypnotic guitar melodies of Hannes Arkona and Bornemann. 'Illuminations' has familiar Eloy vocals from Frank Bornemann and the strong synth sound of Hannes Folberth. The pace is moderate tempo, and some heavier guitars are heard sounding like Nektar. The riffs are catchy, with terrific guitar work throughout, incredible keyboard solos, and I would say this is a highlight on the album. 'Giant' has a Pink Floyd vibe and some innovative guitars. The keyboard phrases are spacey and it tends to hook into a hypno groove with beatific passages and nice vocals from Bornemann.

'Impressions' has a whimsical feel with beautiful flute sound, keyboards and guitar picking with the vocals taking on a laid back style.

'Child Migration' is a keyboard domination, and the vocals are well executed. I like the way the crunching heavy guitar riff comes in later with an odd time sig. The release of tension into light passages is an outstanding touch, and it drives along with layers of keyboards.

'Gallery' has faster keyboard phrases with an 80s sound but Eloy somehow keep it progressive enough to hold interest.

'Silhouette' is the single and has a Pink Floyd style riff with a rock beat. The vocals are phased and effective. This has a solid melody line and scorching lead guitars.

'Sunset' finishes the album with acoustic vibrations and symphonic synths. The mesmirising beauty of the instrumental is as captivating as the album cover artwork. I would dare to suggest this is one of Eloy's triumphant releases and it certainly caps off the 80s that was devoid of innovation like this for the most part. Eloy managed to capture a modern sound without giving into commercialism and creating an album of progressive virtuosic musicianship.

Overall this 2 album set displays Eloy's virtuoso musicianship and song writing skills. This is a worthy addition to your prog collection and the price is definitely agreeable on this twin album sets.

Eloy's "Inside" captures the invigorating psychedelic sound of the 70s and it is the band at their most mind blowing in terms of lengthy jamming and trippy musicianship. The opening epic that runs out to 17:20 is a mind tripping psych prog blaster that features some mesmirising musical interludes. There is a lengthy instrumental break that is a freak out of shimmering Hammond, spacey lead guitar and frenetic drumming with a ton of time sig shifts. It is wonderful music to immerse your ears in.

'On The Road' is a fast rocking blaster with tons of hammering Hammond and a full on lead guitar freakout. The vocals are reverbed and strangely distant. The organ phrases are terrific and I absolutely love the psychedelia of explosive organ and guitar, making this one of the heaviest Eloy songs ever.

Overall, "Inside" is a fascinating nostalgic trip back to the psychedelic sound of early prog. Eloy are inventive and progressive throughout this earlier album. It may not be as good as the followup "Floating", but this is an improvement on the debut, and is full of some of the trippiest and heaviest music to ever emerge from the Eloy catalogue.

My obsession with Eloy began with "Floating" and I believe it is the best album from the band. An instant masterpiece to my ears. This is psychedelia drenched space rock at its best. The first track I heard from this album is 'Castle in the Air' and it was enough to draw to me to the entire discography of the band. Admittedly, not everything that Eloy puts their hand to is gold, but on this album they had the Midas Touch and could do no wrong as far as I am concerned. I get chills everytime I hear it.

It begins with the stellar funkadelic psych of 'Floating'. A massive crunching Hammond blazes away along a wandering bassline and punctuated percussive beat. Bornemann's guitar chimes in and we are on our way. The vocals are loud and bombastic in the opening section and then it switches time sig to a very fast tempo before breaking into a pounding drum beat.

'The Light From Deep Darkness' opens with a serene guitar phrase and Frank Bornemann's inimitable vocals. Suddenly a loud staccato blast of organ and guitar with dollops of drums and bass begins to resound. A time sig locks in dominated by power organ and then a wonderful keyboard solo by Manfred Wieczorke. The bass of Luitjen Jansen is effective pulsating out a rhythm and those drum accents of Fritz Randow are compelling. It sounds like vintage Uriah Heep and Deep Purple in places, only very distinct as only Eloy can be.

'Castle In The Air' is my favourite Eloy track and this is due to Bornemann's incredible guitar riffs and the way it locks into some hypnotic rhythms and allows a myriad of keyboard and guitar solos to unleash a barrage of psychedelic space rock paradise.

The track includes spoken narration, a trademark of many Eloy albums, and some dynamic trade offs between organ and guitar. The bassline is astonishing on this and in fact all musicianship is virtuoso so I can never tire of this. An absolute masterpiece song on every level.

Overall, this is one of the greatest albums of 1974 in a strong year for prog. Every track is compelling wonderful virtuoso musicianship and there is never a dull moment. A definitive masterpiece, "Floating" is one of the best albums I have discovered over recent years and my collection would be impoverished without it.

"Power and the Passion" is another concept album for Eloy that surfaced at the peak of prog rock's domination in the mid 70s. The concept is as usual highly based on searching for an answer and travelling to a mystical land or the future to finds the answers, via a drug induced hallucinatory experience. It begins with 'Introduction' that is a cathedral organ instrumental and this flows seamlessly into 'Journey into 1358'. This begins softly and then the tempo speeds up with fast paced organ phrases and Bornemann singing over a driving drum and bass rhythm.

The next movement of this suite of songs is 'Love over Six Centuries' with acoustics and gentle vocals. The track is 10 minutes and flows in a variety of directions; a bassline locks into a groove as a synth solos over. The staccato Hammond blasts at 2:40 are sensational with fuzz guitar riffs. The next part in the journey is 'Mutiny', another lengthy track of 9 minutes, with layers of synth. It builds with marching percussion and wonderful organ phrases along some haunting melodies. The music is powerful, sweeping and emotional, augmented by the lead guitar break. The pace shifts into a fast shuffling rhythm and some impressive keyboards and a jangling guitar. The vocals return to continue the estranged story.

'Thoughts of Home' begins with Clavinet and a gentle vocal expresses that he will delve into magic to find his way home. This leads into the blistering guitar and Hammond crunches of 'The Zany Magician'. A role play of a nasty magic man ensues with an echoed manic delivery; "You'll forget where you've been, Forget what you've seen, You won't feel a thing, you just, Drink it all down, your heart will pound, See you around." So the protagonist is under the spell and we move onto "Back into the Present". The swirling syths and spacey effects represent the journey home, then a bright rock song strikes up.

The concept may come across as convoluted in places, but Eloy make it work somehow such is the conviction of their sprawling vision. It all seems to makes sense and the major source of joy of this album is the way it seamlessly flows from one idea to the next. This is Eloy at their most innovative and it would not be the last time they would venture into high concept as "Dawn" follows, with an even more complex story.

A crash of thunder, rain and storm clouds of orchestra strings opens up the magnificent "Dawn" by Eloy. Bornemann's familiar vocals soon come in and a beautiful acoustic flourish on 'Awakening'. The concept album was a huge drawcard to album listeners in the 70s and Eloy always delivered some of the best conceptual masterworks. The music with lengthy jamming instrumental was always designed for the conceptual link between songs and Eloy delighted listeners with lengthy complex compositions and reflective lyrics.

"Dawn" is a complex album with some huge ideas put to very impressive musical themes. The tracks run together almost seamlessly as one and there are multi movement suites that encompass several songs such as 'Between The Times' in 3 sections with a variety of styles and time signatures, with inventive musical breaks. These moments are definitely highlights and at times the music is uplifting and very emotionally charged such as the beautiful melancholia of 'The Sun Song.' The stirring majestic orchestral score at the end of this track is stunning.

The majesty continues on 'The Dance in Doubt and Fear', with organic keyboards that glide over a strong percussive hook and pulsing bassline. Bornemann narrates the ideas and the music is allowed to flow along on beautiful key pads. The music soars to the stratosphere and is perhaps some of the loveliest musicianship from Eloy.

'LOST!?' in 2 parts is next beginning with 'Introduction', made up of deep chanting and synthlines. The second section is 'The Decision' beginning with cathedral organ in the vein of Sky's 'Toccata'. The currents of guitar lines flow on a river of synthesizer. It slowly ebbs meandering until Hammond and bass crash in. This is mesmirising music and it builds so gradually until Bornemann's vocals return like an old friend. The wall of synth is so effervescent and ethereal, and at the end a howling wind emanates.

'The Midnight-fight/ the Victory of Mental Force', an 8 minute prog feast, begins with a fast vocal delivery and an off beat bass heartbeat. The fast tempo drums are outstanding and later there are powerful string eruptions to augment the atmosphere of a battle in the heavenlies.

'Gliding into Light and Knowledge' opens with weird bird calls and an acoustic layer. The ambience is joined with an accordion sound along a rhythmical meter.

The album ends on a majestic uplifting note as if dawn is closing in and the world is again at peace. The album has been a breathtaking momentous work of innovation.

These early Eloy albums are a stunning achievement; conceptually masterful with some of the most incredible musicianship of the mid 70s when prog was flourishing. The albums stand out as landmarks for Eloy. These are symphonic works of beauty, they are diamond studded jewels in the treasure chest of progressive milestones.

Look at photos of the group and you'll see a quartet of musicians well past the first bloom of youth, but don't worry: they play like a much younger band. Proto-Punk guitar thrashes dominate, with a higher percentage of actual songs this time around, including the grungy ersatz title track, "Dayroom at Narita Int'l", no doubt the source behind the memorable NME blurb comparing the album to "Sabbath in a washing machine during a power surge".

We're a long way from anything like Progressive Rock, in other words, despite the evident brains behind the music, and several unexpected digressions. Note the savage guitar freakout at the climax of "Passwords & Alcohol"; the subtle flute embellishments introducing an otherwise raucous "Boy, Was I Mad!", and the oddly mutated rhythm driving "Child Had to Catch a Train", with an extra beat subjoining each meter.

They aren't really a Space Rock outfit either, although the album's brooding five-star finale "Silent Biker Type" comes close. The long instrumental track works like a bridge across time from counterculture Germany to post-millennial Seattle, in just over nine hypnotic minutes reaffirming an obvious Krautrock influence, absorbed like a xenomorph spore at close to genetic levels.

It's a powerful end to an already muscular album, and a reminder of the hidden strength often lurking behind an unassuming moment of musical repose.

That dynamic contrast is exploited right from the start, in the almost ten-minute album opener "Steve's Basement": a powerful Sludge Rock anthem building a furious head of fuzzed-out guitar steam from a single throbbing bass line and a sympathetic drone. The relative subtlety and restraint of the even longer "Schedule For Using Pillows & Beanbags" (the hilarious song titles are a Kinski signature) likewise yields to an imminent Krautrock frenzy, cued by a drummer with enough discipline and precision to make the ghost of Klaus Dinger turn green with envy.

The only vocals on the album are a few barely audible spoken words from bass player Lucy Atkinson, in the aptly-named punk thrash "Rhode Island Freakout". It's hard to believe the same band (and on the same album) was also responsible for the meditative calm of "I Think I Blew It", and its bookend epilogue "I Think I Blew It (Again)": two matching postcards from Another Green World.

Progressive Rock it ain't, by any definition. But the album still rocks, in a transcendent fashion: often heavy, occasionally not, and with a subversive authority only achieved by veteran rebels.

Don't be too intimidated by the word "opera" in "rock opera". There are no singing dialogues. Only a few parts are spoken, cleverly distributed throughout the disc. It is still a rock album, with Frank's unimitable vocals. More than that : it's a standard of what progressive rock is about, full of breaks and different time signatures. The classic Eloy sound is here : lush guitars and synths, this time with a light medieval flavour.

I never wrote a review before this. First, because english is not my native language. Second of all, though there are plenty of well known masterpieces here to talk about, this one is quite unexpected. This is the album every fan wishes his favourite band would come with, after close to 50 years of activity. Eloy are back in their full majesty.

"Virsi" starts the album. It´s a little bit different as the version in "Rakennus"-album. After the dramatic sung verse band starts the uptempo trip, but very soon the piece calm down and you hear Mika playing beautiful piano longeings. Song ends to same verse as in the beginning. Next "Rykmentti" has very military feeling, but it could be also the background music of the scifi-movie. It is made by keyboards and drums. "In the name of Rock - Android" is a long, but interesting shamanistic piece with some guitar, shoutings, acoustic sounding drums and effects. "Skiiing" is very quiet, sad piece with Mika´s singing very same way as in "Virsi" but not screaming at all. "Dungeon" is also sad and quiet instrumental. There is some kind of clockwork in the back of it and again very beautiful piano playing. The ending "Murheenkryyni" is quite the same kind of version as in "Rakennus"-album, but little bit longer.

The end years of 2000 were very creative years to Circle. In 2007 they released three studio and two live albums, also recorded this in that year. Their improvisations haven´t been always great, but in this album they have managed to create very great music. This album is very near of the greatness of "Miljard"-album, also has lots of same feeling. This is highly recommended to all who love Circle´s experimental albums.