OCEAN

For a long while I felt indifferently towards 'Ocean' but the passing of time and the many listens have revised my early opinion. I now firmly believe this to be a genuine contender for the Space Rock crown. For this review I've chosen to focus on the lyrics rather than talk about such and such a detail of the music; suffice to say the album is composed of four epic tracks that almost seem to match the grandeur of the doubtful world of Atlantis on which the whole thing is based.

The story of Atlantis first appeared in Plato's 'Critias' and 'Timaeus' dialogues, although a volcanic eruption circa 1450 B.C. that destroyed Knossos could well be the basis for the story. In spite of the possibility that Plato's story is based on historical events, his dialogues were largely allegorical and attempted to reconcile the idea of the supernatural with scientific explanations of the natural.

The spoken-word parts toward the end may seem to stop the album dead in its tracks but they are essential for the development of the story and in general the concept sticks closely to the original story. 'Poseidon's Creation' explains how the gods divided the earth among themselves, with Poseidon receiving the sea and the island of Atlantis: 'When the mighty sons of the spheres beyond distributed the elements of earth'. Poseidon and the maiden Cleito then begat 5 pairs of sons - 'Incarnation of the Logos', where Logos is the word or the son of a god - and the island flourished: 'And words transform into flesh and blood'

Filled with foolish and wicked ambition - 'Decay of the Logos' - the rulers of Atlantis attempted to enslave the entire Mediterranean world but were defeated in war by Athens: 'Vanity - Insanity, warm, hot and true, / Who cut the enemy down? We are betrayed!' In the aftermath of the war the angered gods delivered the coup de grace: 'Make your eye go down and strike the mutineers with disaster.' 'Atlantis' Agony... ' describes the manner in which it was destroyed when a volcanic eruption, earthquakes and tidal wave engulfed the island: 'A liquid fire appears in the sky... A mind power makes the rocks sink.'

Atlantis was later thought to have been located west of the Pillars of Hercules, i.e. the straits of Gibraltar. Some years ago I gazed out at the ocean that might shelter the legendary city when I stood at 'the edge of the world' in west Portugal, and I would willingly do time on those waters if I had this album for company. Atlantis might or might not lie hidden beneath the depths of Poseidon's domain but Eloy's 'Ocean' soars to the extreme heights of Space Rock.