COLOURS

Eloy (name taken from H G Well's Time Machine) is a German Atmospheric, Progressive Art Rock band that was formed way back in 1969. Colours, their eighth album, was released in 1980, the tenth anniversary of their first self titled album. The web site doesn't show it but the album cover is a rather colorful painting depicting the back of a clothe less fairy.

Colours is considered one of Eloy's most accessible, mainstream albums. True enough, it does have lot of pop/rock elements which should have a broader appeal than previous and subsequent releases but I still feel strong Progressive vibes. All the songs on Colours range from slow medium to medium in tempo. There is a fairly good variety, with songs like the opening track, "Horizons" featuring a couple lady singers and a new age, Adiemus feel, while the fifth track "Child Migration" has a strong hard rock feel. Tracks two and three "Illuminations" and "Giant" have a spacey psychedelic ambiance with the later being somewhat Pink Floydian. All the singing by Bornemann while not bad seems to be somewhat suppressed, like he's singing from a well. Whether this is done purposeful or not I have no idea but it's very evident on Silhouette, which coincidently receives my vote for the best song. Track four, "Impressions" emphasizes some flute playing and "Sunset," the last track, sounds like a spacey pan flute, though it's probably a synth. In fact a synthesizer or keyboards is a prime instrument used throughout on this and many other Eloy albums

Track listing 1. Horizons (3:20) **** 2. Illuminations (6:19) ****1/2 3. Giant (6:05) **** 4. Impressions (3:06) **** 5. Child Migration (7:23) ****1/2 6. Gallery (3:08) **** 7. Silhouette (6:57) ***** 8. Sunset (3:15) ****

Total Time: 39:33

Line-up - Hannes Arkona / guitars - Frank Bornemann / vocals, guitars - Hannes Folberth / keyboards - Klaus-Peter Matziol / bass, vocals - Jim McGillivray / drums, percussion - Edna & Sabine / voices (1)

What I Like

~ Brings back some of the great seventies and eighties sounds. ~ Simple unpretentious melodies. ~ Compelling arrangements. Nice use of instruments. ~ Like a mellow Hawkwind on some songs. ~ Music doesn't try to overpower you. ~ Nice variety in song selections. What I don't Like

~ *39 minutes - too short!

* Several Eloy albums were shorter that forty minutes and can now be purchased with bonus tracks of two albums combined.

Conclusion

One of the interesting things about Eloy is that their music spans almost three decades and the changes from album to album are palpable. It doesn't seem so much like they were evolving, more like they were adapting. Eloy's music isn't like that of most other bands, which have high, highs and low, lows. It's very even keel, it's more like their music is created, not to captivate or repulse you but to pleasure you.

I now have eight Eloy albums each with it's own personality, none with any songs that I obsess over and have to play over and over but I have been keeping four, out of five, cds on my player for weeks, so I guess you might say that I'm consumed with the overall effect of the albums rather than individual songs.

One of the good things about Eloy is that the music is so damned enjoyable. It does very nicely as background music. It can be unobtrusive but it has enough character to be a focal point, something you could sit down with headphones and listen to for enjoyment. That is one of the reasons I can't seem to get them out of my cd player. They're not distracting and they're not boring. The strength of Eloy lies not so much in the individual songs but the whole album as a unit.

Final rating 4.25 stars

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