POWER AND THE PASSION

Fourth studio album by ELOY, "Power And The Passion" is their first true concept album, with continuous track flow. It also marks a slight musical shift to the progressive symphonic and space rock genres. The songs are heterogeneous and contains many variations. Frank Bornemann gradually emancipates from his initial influences, however you can still hear shades of DEEP PURPLE by moments. To sum up, the music can be described as a mix of space, symphonic and early 70's hard rock.

The first half alternates slow and fast passages.The record opens with a short organ introduction, to then reveals a catchy galoping guitar in "Journey To 1358". For the first time, PINK FLOYD's influence can be clearly heard on an ELOY composition. On the contrary, "Love Over Six Centuries" is rather monotonous and too long. With its numerous variations, "Mutiny" is undoubtly the most remarkable track of the album, while "Imprisonment" is slow and sleepy. The lifely "Daylight" wakes you up.

"Thoughts Of Home" is a pleasant clavinet transition, introduction for "The Zany Magician", the most surprising passage of the disc. It features a heavy/doom metal riff in the style of BLACK SABBATH! "Back Into The Present" is a pleasant hard rock tune. The disc finishes with the sweet spacey "The Bells Of Notre-Dame", which is a bit too long, but has a nice finale.

Although "Power And The Passion" contains some lengthy passages, it offers convincing various ambiances and inspired guitar moments. A good transitional album, and one of the bests from ELOY's first era. Recommended to space-rock and symphonic progressive fans.