SILENT CRIES AND MIGHTY ECHOES

After the near perfect blissed-out Space-Psych-Electro-Prog of Ocean, two years later Silent Cries And Mighty Echoes presents more of the same but with a lower quota of inspiration and originality. At times this seems like a trawl through Pink Floyd's back catalogue, as there are strong flavours of Echoes, Great Gig In The Sky, Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Welcome To The Machine and Pigs (Three Different Kinds) and others, all topped off by some insipid, tuneless 'singing' and poor melodies. That's the bad bit.

The good news is that much of the album is packed with superior spacey atmospheres from a variety of well-matched synths and guitars, and hypnotic grooves often featuring meaty rubber-band bass themes. Musically the album works very well, with a number of ear-catching themes, and some gorgeously organic instrumentation from the tail-end of the 'analogue' era. It may be derivative in origin, but Eloy take you much further into the void of outer space. Keyboards tend to dominate, but Bornemann's fluid guitar still captures the attention with some inventive playing, even venturing into an occasional solo as in the keyboard laden Master Of Sensation. Overall, the sound is fat, rich, lush and detailed.

At nearly fifteen minutes The Apocalypse is a natural centrepiece, featuring an easy flow along drifting grooves and ambient atmospheres, and Brigitte Witt doing her wailing Great-Gig-In-The-Sky impression but without the orgasm. The piece progresses well and never outstays its welcome. Pilot To Paradise is in a similar vein, but nowhere near as satisfying until suddenly coming alive for the final two minute coda. De Labore Solis is the opposite - it quickly sets an ambient feel, and simply maintains it to the end with no progression of any kind. Mighty Echoes closes the album on a high, setting up an excellent mid-pace groove and ending with a guitar solo.

Pilot To Paradise and De Labore Solis tend to drag this album down a little. Factor in the all too obvious Floydisms and it becomes somehow easier to become frustrated with Bornemann's singing. Which is a shame, because at its best Silent Cries And Mighty Echoes is as good as the consistently splendid Ocean. Make the most of it - their next album would be a very different beast!