Eloy Discovery Zone

 Eloy's "Inside" captures the invigorating psychedelic sound of the 70s and it is the band at their most mind blowing in terms of lengthy jamming and trippy musicianship. The opening epic that runs out to 17:20 is a mind tripping psych prog blaster that features some mesmirising musical interludes. There is a lengthy instrumental break that is a freak out of shimmering Hammond, spacey lead guitar and frenetic drumming with a ton of time sig shifts. It is wonderful music to immerse your ears in.

This is followed by a more subdued but very good track 'Inside' that features some of the bright Hammond again with Bornemann's vocals lighting up the soundscape.

'Future City' is one of my favourite tracks with Ian Anderson style vocals and a hypnotic bass and guitar rhythmic groove. The freak out instrumental is a fast tempo outbreak of upbeat jazzy psych prog. It returns to the main theme to end making this a well structured track.

'Up and Down' has a slow paced cadence and measured vocal delivery. It feels relaxed and psychedelic with reverb on multi tracked vocals and wah wah guitar embellishments . The wandering bassline is well executed and I like the simple high hat work. It switches to a new time sig with glorious organ phrases. The lead break is superb, and as it shifts to a new time sig, staccato organ and bass are joined with sporadic drumming patterns. It pauses for a while until the slower signature returns and some spoken preaching sounding weird against the backdrop of Hammond, bass and drums. The scratchy organ that jumps in is delightful, forced and wonderfully trimmed with that raw 70s edge. The music swells up and down in volume and intensity with a genuine feeling of tension and release.

'Daybreak' is a shorter track that is dominated with a hard rock guitar and organ riff. It locks into the heavy tempo and there are orchestrated violin strings. A heavy fuzz distorted guitar crunches in and the groove constantly drives headlong as a lead guitar solo augments the atmosphere. There are vocal intonations and some wild percussion breaks.

'On The Road' is a fast rocking blaster with tons of hammering Hammond and a full on lead guitar freakout. The vocals are reverbed and strangely distant. The organ phrases are terrific and I absolutely love the psychedelia of explosive organ and guitar, making this one of the heaviest Eloy songs ever.

Overall, "Inside" is a fascinating nostalgic trip back to the psychedelic sound of early prog. Eloy are inventive and progressive throughout this earlier album. It may not be as good as the followup "Floating", but this is an improvement on the debut, and is full of some of the trippiest and heaviest music to ever emerge from the Eloy catalogue.

POWER AND THE PASSION

 "Power and the Passion" is another concept album for Eloy that surfaced at the peak of prog rock's domination in the mid 70s. The concept is as usual highly based on searching for an answer and travelling to a mystical land or the future to finds the answers, via a drug induced hallucinatory experience.

It begins with 'Introduction' that is a cathedral organ instrumental and this flows seamlessly into 'Journey into 1358'. This begins softly and then the tempo speeds up with fast paced organ phrases and Bornemann singing over a driving drum and bass rhythm.

The next movement of this suite of songs is 'Love over Six Centuries' with acoustics and gentle vocals. The track is 10 minutes and flows in a variety of directions; a bassline locks into a groove as a synth solos over. The staccato Hammond blasts at 2:40 are sensational with fuzz guitar riffs. It all pulls back then into tranquil ambience with sustained key pads and spoken dialogue; "my name is Jamie and mine is a strange story, one of which even I don't fully understand, my father is a scientist and he's been experimenting with time eroding drugs". Then he goes to the future, meets Jeanne who begins to tell her story, about a man who rules with an iron hand and an arranged marriage by her father. "Well, I see we've both got our problems," observes Jamie. Then they take some drugs together and Jeanne sees a sunset with psychedelic colours, and she ceases to worry. It really emulates the LSD experience and is quite blatant in that regard but quite compelling nevertheless.

The next part in the journey is 'Mutiny', another lengthy track of 9 minutes, with layers of synth. It builds with marching percussion and wonderful organ phrases along some haunting melodies. The music is powerful, sweeping and emotional, augmented by the lead guitar break. The pace shifts into a fast shuffling rhythm and some impressive keyboards and a jangling guitar. The vocals return to continue the estranged storyline. Jamie vows to protect Jeanne his beloved, "against the hated iron hands, they're uniting, They're backed by everyone in town, And I must ride to beat them down, how they're fighting, But I understand their cause, To fight against the laws, they're right, I promised to defend your father to the end and fight."

Next is 'Imprisonment', a sad ballad where Jamie cries out from his prison cell after being incarcerated for his mutinous ways. The lyrics are simply carrying the story through to the more elaborate tracks; "I know the feeling of rejection, To be imprisoned for no crime, So God please take me out of here, You are my one hope at this time." The guards come to release him and it moves to 'Daylight'. The lyrics state; "Living can be easy if you take life in your stride, I see new horizons push my loneliness aside." Now the protagonist is freed from his captives the tempo becomes faster again and the musicianship brighter, especially some exceptional guitar work that interplays with organ embellishments.

'Thoughts of Home' begins with Clavinet and a gentle vocal expresses that he will delve into magic to find his way home. This leads into the blistering guitar and Hammond crunches of 'The Zany Magician'. A role play of a nasty magic man ensues with an echoed manic delivery; "You'll forget where you've been, Forget what you've seen, You won't feel a thing, you just, Drink it all down, your heart will pound, See you around." So the protagonist is under the spell and we move onto "Back into the Present". The swirling syths and spacey effects represent the journey home, then a bright rock song strikes up. The vocals are multi tracked and some very trippy melodies dominate. This feels like a vintage psychedelic sound with mindblowing lead breaks and happy Hammond bursts. Jamie says people won't believe what he's seen so he goes to a disco with flashing lights to clear his thoughts and unwind.

A tolling bell intros the final piece of the puzzle, 'The Bells of Notre Dame' and this is followed by tranquil synth pads. The soft vocals infuse the sound and some enigmatic lyrics; "The world seems to start outside of my body, I don't know what I feel, In these four hallowed walls, The peal of the bells remind me, Of my journey through time." The remix of this song is similar but has some clearer varied musical interludes.

At the end of this journey one is left with some fascinating ideas that are encased in incredible musicianship. The concept may come across as convoluted in places, but Eloy make it work somehow such is the conviction of their sprawling vision. It all seems to makes sense and the major source of joy of this album is the way it seamlessly flows from one idea to the next. This is Eloy at their most innovative and it would not be the last time they would venture into high concept as "Dawn" follows, with an even more complex storyline. It is an ambitious project but I admire how Eloy come up with one staggering album after another, brimming over with innovation. Many of the ideas on the album, the meeting of characters, the journey, the spoken dialogue and the musical dialogue between tracks signifying key scenes, has been done before of course, but this is still a highly inventive and refreshing approach to the medium. I am in awe of how brilliant this band is; a true revelation of symphonic prog, and yet again creating a masterpiece album in 1975.

The album begins with a powerhouse rocker 'Through A Somber Galaxy' that is a definitive highlight for the group. It has some dynamic synth work and awesome heavy guitar riffs with a blistering lead solo. After listening to more recent Eloy albums such as 2009's "Visionary" and 1994's "The Tides Return Forever", to me this album really stands out as being a masterful accomplishment. Of course the band were younger and more inventive back then, but it is such a delight to hear Eloy launching into one treasure after another. The tunes are always uplifting and the spaceyness of the synths are mesmirising throughout. The bassline punctuates the rhythm and drives the track beautifully. A brilliant start to this album.

'Behind The Walls Of Imagination' is another great track with a strong rhythmic feel, on keyboard and guitar. Clavinet accents are effective but the synth keyboards dominate and saturate the soundscape with pleasurable stellar nuances. Two solid gems to begin the album make this proghead very pleased indeed, and I am already in love with this album.

'Time To Turn' is intriguing for me after hearing part 2 from "Visionary" first. The same melody was obviously implemented as I recognised instantly the melodic phrases, especially in the chorus. The addition of guest vocalists Amy, Anna and Sabine is a master touch as they sound incredible. This is a poppy song, rather than prog, but is endearing with the vocal work and synth soaked musicianship.

'Magic Mirrors' opens with more clavinet and a pulsating bassline. The keyboards are mixed to the front and overpowering. I like it though as a diversion from complex structures, but it has to be said the keyboard work is very straight forward rather than complex virtuoso.

'End Of An Odyssey' clocks 9 and a half minutes so I hoped for a masterpiece composition. It begins with a welcome synth solo with spacey drones and high pitched resonances, as though Wakeman turned up in the studio and began to play on his way to a curry vindaloo. So far I am delighted and looked forward to some inventive structures. The music builds with drums and high hat cymbal work and this continues for about 5 minutes. Then on cue Bornemann's vocals chime in and he sounds great on lines such as "if you perceive the truth within yourself". The Pink Floyd style symphonic element is present throughout but there is also a funky Alan Parson's Project feel. The captivating song ends with a battle of clavinet and keyboard sounds and overall this is another definitive highlight of the album.

'The Flash' begins with ambience in the form of synth pulsations and a heartbeat of bass. Bornemann again injects some great vocals. The music develops to a quicker cadence with wavering synth. I love the music at 2:20 that is a bit like the synth heard in 80s rock such as Ultravox, Yazoo or Human League, and I am a fan of that sound. It is actually like the New Romantic music which was a delight for me. Eloy are more complex on this track in terms of structure and what a treasure it is to hear after the simplistic styles preceding. I love this song so much and it really cemented and confirmed a high rating as far as I am concerned.

'Say, Is It Really True' is a song with a difference, very diverse as it features the acoustic guitar, similar to tracks on other Eloy albums but mysteriously missing on this album until now. It is quiet and peaceful after the deluge of synth previous. The lyrics are nice; "Say is it really true that the flame of hope has grown, that the spirit has changed, that the few no longer stand alone." I like the seagull screech effects too. It is a melancholy song that ends the album with a fade out. I highly recommend this album unreservedly to Eloy fans and symphonic or space rock addicts. I was pleasantly surprised at the consistent quality and the amount of highlights. There are no filler tracks and it is an uplifting experience to hear Eloy so inspired and playing at their musical best. As an 80s album, this must rate as one of the best when prog was experiencing a lull in inventiveness. Eloy at least delivered a worthwhile sound and this never disappoints from track to track.