ECHOES FROM THE PAST

It is a sheer delight to hear a brand new Eloy album in 2023 with the mastermind Frank Bornemann on  vocals and guitars. His familiar German accent greets me like a lost friend and the beauty of  Hannes Folberth  and Michael Gerlach's keyboards are hypnotic. Klaus-Peter Matziol on bass and Stephan Emig on drums are wonderful in the rhythm section. The album is conceptual and is third in the trilogy of the story of Joan of Arc.

It opens with the haunting ambience of Conspiracy and then the glorious melodies of  Compassion for Misery.

Echoes from the Past is a catchy track and i particularly enjoyed Danger. Other highlights  include Deceptive Glory and the incredible  Warning Signs.

The Pyre is the track that concludes Joans fate and  it is Farewell that brings down the curtain on this trilogy. Eloy are indispensable space prog and they are still innovative and excellent musicians after all these years

Nothing lowers expectations for the final part of a Jeanne D'Arc trilogy than 2 dreadful previous installments. Just the fact that this is the end justifies an extra half star, not to mention that the title is a vast improvement over "The Vision the Sword and the Pyre Part 3" for instance. But "Echoes from the Past" is even better for the almost total lack of spoken parts which infected its predecessors, greater emphasis on keyboards, and an improvement in the dynamics of the compositions.

Frank Bornemann's voice remains problematic for its 4 note breadth and most of these "tunes" are structured to let him run wild in that range, but too often the instrumental passages are treated as if they too are stifled by age when they should have offered much needed contrast. Still, if "Compassion for Misery" doesn't really develop, it sounds voluptuous in that "Colours" era sort of way, and "Farewell" is so direct and unadorned that it could have subbed for the entire trilogy, if only. In between, the title cut and "Warning Signs" thrive on savvy guitar and bass hooks. A couple of recycled themes surface from "Ocean" and "Ocean 2" make appearances and that's just fine.

Not that "Visionary" was all that good, but this is almost its equal, so I will now echo my previous action and round up. OK Eloy.