DAWN

For the fifth album "Dawn" Frank Bornemann practically reinvented the band - himself being the only remaining member from earlier line-ups - and perfected the sound production, which as a result had the first "classic" ELOY album. Again a conceptual work - following a story of a dead man's soul travelling back and forth between universes and settling in the rising Sun, or something like that? - "Dawn" presents a truly consistent effort, which means there are fewer ups and downs; the album flows seemlessly from one song to another, and is really an enjoyable listening experience. Apart from a few heavy guitar riffs in "Between the Times", the music is now largely confined to the genre mixing of symphonic prog and space rock. Beautifully performed rhythm section, with lots of drumming breaks using tympani or tom toms and pulsating melodic bass patterns, is accompanied with dominant sound of electronic keyboards, creating a lush atmosphere sometimes reminiscent of early 1970s work by PINK FLOYD. "Symphonic" nature of the album is also demonstrated by the inclusion of a string orchestra and what sounds like a choir. Yet, these elements do not work well in all cases, as was the situation with many famous "rock meets symphony" collaborations in the past. ELOY's vocal department was never their strong point and Bornemann's heavily German-accentuated English singing is again an issue here, especially if you have not acquired a taste for it. Overall, "Dawn" was the best ELOY album to date and it is recommended as a starting point for newcomers, but due to some missteps with vocals and strings/choir elements I am reluctant to pronounce it a masterpiece. Four and a half stars are dawning...