POWER AND THE PASSION

In retrospect, it would seem that "Floating" was something of a purge for Eloy, a divesting of that love for extended jams if not downright improvisation. While "Power and the Passion" is not a total change of direction, it does signal, particularly from a songwriting perspective, an intention to produce more serious conceptual material and to rein in the wild horses if you will.

While organ is still prominent, and the work of Luitjen Janssen and Fritz Randow remains an Eloy trademark, we actually get some mellotron here and there, Bornemann's solos are slightly less frenetic, and even on the longest cuts, there is a sense that the band may have rehearsed their parts more than once or twice. Speaking of rehearsals, this album almost seems like a practice run for what would become "Dawn" under the next incarnation, although it is somewhat doubtful that this lineup would have been willing to go all out with such a majestic concept.

In the end, though, the compositions just don't rate, the melodies are tentative, and the use of Jethro Tull as blueprint no longer works in this incarnation: a higher power must be summoned, in the nature of the symphonic/space prog giants. It all sounds decent but the lack of real highlights depresses the rating for me. "Power and the Passion" simply lacks in both, and is of value only as a blueprint for what was to come.