ELOY LIVE

I would not call this one a flagship of space rock - nor any other album of the band (I know so far). Some significant characteristics are missing here although several songs definetely have a floating mood for example and they use some narrations as to notice on the epic Atlantis' Agony. There are way too much symphonic elements in their music on the other hand - Detlev Schmidtchen and Frank Bornemann have a taste of both styles half way through.

'Ocean' is their masterpiece which I like very much - and they play nearly the complete suite which saves the performance from ruin more or less. Despite some narration appearing when starting with Poseidon's Creation I cannot recognize significant differences to the album version. The song as such is a revelation and especially the last four grooving minutes are exciting. Incarnation Of Logos holding Camel traces is not more than a copy too.

What now follows is so-so, symphonic light tinged, sounding unisono - not a challenge really as for the compositional skills. The Sun-Song from the predecessor 'Dawn' album opens with narration again - this time in German. Inside from the eponymous 1973 album makes out a beneficial exception here with some heavier rocking moments.

At the end they open for the twentyone minutes lasting Atlantis' Agony - the ultimate spacey ELOY song - and it all takes a twist again. Track time is differing compared to the studio album on this occasion because enlarged with additional five minutes. A long synth intro takes you away to foreign oceans, later backed by an amazing bass line. A great floating tune with Pink Floyd leanings - definitely the highlight of the performance!

Knowing the studio album 'Ocean' I don't sense a proper reason to prefer the live recordings. What this doesn't make it better is that they don't modify the songs nearly all the way through - unlike other bands in the 70s. Finally the songs taken from the earlier albums can't really turn me on. Nevertheless this is a quite good live performance in its entirety - ELOY fans will be pleased.