ELOY LIVE

Eloy Live is like a companion album to the first BJH Live effort. You might recall that mellotron was almost the only keyboard brandished by Woolly Wolstenholme on that 1974 disk, and whether or not the tron is used by Eloy, the keys have the same effect. It's a totally spacey live trip (as opposed to the studio material with is semi-spacey) through the early-mid period Eloy catalogue, mostly covering "Dawn" and "Ocean", but with very worthwhile snippets of "Power and the Passion" and "Inside". All the songs are well played with some exceeding the studio versions in power. Bornemann's vocal shortcomings become irrelevant in this setting. While not too much improvisation takes place, some tracks do appear somewhat lengthened, such as "Atlantis Agony", in which one can simply surrender to the droning instruments, be they keys or percussion. The sound quality is reasonable enough to get the point across, at least the audience gets it. It is a sure thing for fans and a mildly recommended introduction to the band. Given the paucity of Eloy live material, this one is a minor treasure.