TIME TO TURN

This is the last of the masterpiece section of Eloy that spanned from 1976-1982. After this, some albums just really didn't go anywhere. The music on this album is simply hard rocking and spacey to me, excellent riffs and vocals. The cover art is also excellent, as with most of the Eloy album covers. The keyboards are little more modern than the previous album, Planets, but this one might be a little less interesting. This is a concept album, released after Planet as a concept duo, both deal with the same thing about space and time and all that good stuff in between.

"Through a Somber Galaxy" is a personal favorite of mine, and an excellent opener. It's has one of the better solo's played by Frank on this one. The bassline is really neat to me for some reason, I just really like it. Keyabords, again, sound extremely modern on this track, for most of the time. "Behind the Walls of Imagination" really does get you thinking. The lyrics are majestic in their own way and beautiful. Musically, it's a much better track than the opener, but it lacks a bit of spark. The keyboards are a little modern and sometimes cold, but they do help add texture to the song. The vocals are very nice, and so are the guitar harmonics at the very beginning. The synthesizers at the middle or so of the song, when everything picks up, sounds a bit like Rush to me for some reason. "Time to Turn" is the shortest and most accesible song. The drumbeat at the beginning is very nice and is extremely dominating in the mix on this track. The keyboards add some of the best atmosphere ever, making it feel so futuristic, painting a picture that is beautifully created, you don't want to look away. So much texture is packed into four minutes of music. "Magic Mirrors" is probably my least favorite because it lacks a bit of soul and sounds much too cold for me. It just dosen't really fit in with the rest of the songs, from my point of view. The bassline is nice, imaginitve lyrics from Frank, and the vocals are nice. It dosen't seem as futuristic as the rest of the album though. "End of an Odyssey" is one of the best mini-epics you will ever hear. It reminds me a lot like the 1979 release from Eloy, Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes, and a little bit of the 1980 release Colours. It's very spacey, but the keyboards give a modern touch. This is simply the best track on the album, and there is no denying it. It contains some of the most beautiful arranged noises that will ever grace your ears. It's farily upbeat in the transition to where it's actually getting started, with a very happy sounding keyboard riff to it. It does seem to be dominated completely by the keyboards at times, but, actually, I really like that feel with this song. "The Flash" is another track which is very good, though not as good as the track before. Very nice guitar work by Frank on this one in the beginning. The vocals are alright on this track, nothing as specail as Planets or some of the other parts on this album. Bassline is very nice on this one though, and the keyboards are very futuristic, and are more or so moved to the background for this one. "Say, is it Really True?" is a more acoustic type of song, and one of the few Eloy songs with an acoustic guitar on it. It's a nice an clever closing, at least to me. The acoustic gives it a feeling that takes you to another world. It's beautiful. With the mellow keyboards in the background, it's the perfect closer.

Though there are moments in Time to Turn that I like more than Planets, I overall like Planets a little more. They are both excellent albums are essential in you Progressive Rock or Space Rock album collection. They have some of the last of Eloy's best music, but they will release more albums. I have to give it a 5 star, but thats probably one of the last times I will with an Eloy album.