RA

It took 4 years for Eloy, or at least Frank Bornemann, to recover from the debacle of the two albums prior to their mid 1980s collapse, but recover they did, emerging deliberately and forcefully with "Ra" in 1988. The new group is basically a duo with his friend Michael Gerlach, and a host of guests.

The album is well produced even if the mixing and the sequenced percussion are a source of consternation to many fans. The synths are rich and modern yet the melodies and motifs also harken back to the 1970s. Bornemann's leads in the inspired opener "Voyager of the Future Race" are a joy to hear after so long, his voice seems to be on target and sympathetic with the backing singers, and the melodies in "Dreams" and the lovely ballad "Rainbow" are memorable. There is a conscious effort to create lengthy tracks that flow from one segment to another, carrying the listener along in a way that their last productions did not. So even the less enjoyable tracks like "Invasion of a Megaforce" and "Hero" cannot be faulted from a compositional perspective, and they contain some worthwhile moments that punctuate the occasional overdigitization both in instrumentation and in song format.

While "Ra" does not reach the heights that Eloy attained earlier in the decade, it once again finds the band exploring new approaches while casting an eye to their roots, and to that I can only say "ra ra".