CHRONICLES II

Let's see. A band has one classic period extending from 1976 to 1982 (with some pretty strong material earlier than that) featuring 6 albums brimming with inspiration, and a pretty mediocre period from 1983 to 1992 featuring only 4 more albums. While the production in the earlier phase might come under question, this excuse could not be used for the 1980s sound, which was just generally lacking in songwriting, conviction and execution. So whose idea was it to release one album of rerecorded classics from each period?

A more viable approach would have been to release a double CD that included at most 3 selections from latter day releases. Among these, I could understand perhaps "All Life is One", Voyager of the Future Race", and "Rainbow". But the rest smacks of profiteering from sketchy quality. Even if the material had been better, too little time had lapsed to warrant new versions, and nothing here is really improved upon.

I will therefore make an exception in my Eloy discography. An album of this type is of little use for fans and I sure wouldn't want to introduce neophytes to Eloy via "Chronicles 2". My goodness, 4 songs from "Destination"?! This pretty much defines the one star album.