SILENT CRIES AND MIGHTY ECHOES

By 1979, most prog bands were either disappearing or chugging out shorter pop/AOR material in an attempt to satisfy their record companies or line their wallets. Whatever the case may be, Eloy apparently didn't get the memo and continued to produce some beautiful spacey prog rock (unfortunately, that memo would arrive, just not yet). Not only that, but Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes sold really well for the band.

The opener Astral Entrance/Master of Sensation and the mini-epic The Apocalypse are two of the greatest songs Eloy ever made. Astral Entrance was clearly inspired by Pink Floyd's Shine on You Crazy Diamond with the lush synths and Gilmouresque guitar work. Both of these songs feature some amazing keyboard work from Detlev Schmidtchen. The rest of the album seems more of a letdown because they aren't as inspired and exciting as the first three tracks. But if you skip over those first three tracks and start with the rest of the album, what you are left with is some excellent material that's on par with some of Eloy's best stuff from this time period. It's just that they pale in comparison to Entrance/Master of Sensation and The Apocalypse. The album might have been better off ending with The Apocalypse and having tracks 4-6 appearing between these two great pieces.

Other than an imbalance from track positions, the only other downside to Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes might be the vocals of Frank Bornemann. Now I say might be because for some listeners, his heavily-accented English doesn't bother them. It doesn't bother me either, but I feel it's worth noting for those of you who haven't heard Eloy's music. I sometimes think Eloy could have been a notch better if Bornemann had sung in his native German tongue.

Both Detlev Schmidtchen and drummer Jürgen Rosenthal would leave Eloy after this album, and it would take its toll on the band. Future albums featured shorter songs and what seems like a movement towards neo progressive rock.

Definitely a four-star, almost-masterpiece gem released when most prog bands were doing the "Follow You, Follow Me" silliness. Highly recommended for those of you who love lush, spacey synthesizers.