PERFORMANCE

German power pop is all I can say. It's not as good as their releases in 1976-1982, but it's okay for a 1980's pop prog album. The musicianship on most of the album is very good, but the drums do sound a little stiff for most of the time. I can't really give into it an enjoy it as much as other albums, but it does have it's odd charm.

"In Disguise" has some wierd lyrics, but I do find the music alright. The synthesizers are fairly representative of the time, but they don't come up and jump me in the face and say im hear, they are just a little bit in the background, normally I wouldn't complaing about that, but this time I will. The basslines and guitars are very good, as with the vocals. Very stiff drumming throughout this song. "Shadows and Light" is a little too poppy for my taste, from those heavy metal licks to that annoying keyboard sound, I really can't listen. The drumming is much better on this track, but that dosen't redeem it well. The vocals make it barely listenable. Lyrics don't interest me in the least. "Mirador" is too short, but it's pretty good. The drums sound a little too electronic, but they are okay. The bassline is excellent, Klaus is really playing his bass very well, and the keyboards are very nice on this track. Interesting chords on the synthesizers, a little odd harmonies going on with it. "Surrender" has some really nice piano with it, along with great synthesizers and basslines. It's a nice guitar type of song here too, and the drums seem to be standard for the course. "Heartbeat" starts with a nice chord from the bass, and the keyboards seem to slowly enter the music. They are very spacey on thist track, and are among my favorite of the album. The drums still don't interest me, and the guitar isn't as strong, but I still really like this track. Vocals and lyrics are acceptable. "Fools" is the poppiest and most accesible of the songs, and it's the most annoying. The keyboards just annoy me the way they try to work with the basslines, but the vocals are the saving grace. The lyrics are okay, but I think that they singing is very good. "A Broken Frame" is a mini epic, starts with some nice keyboards, and is my favorite track. This track honestly boosts up the grade of the overall album because of how good of a closer it is. The guitar is very, as with the vocals being soft in the beginning and quite enjoyable for the most part.

I do think this is an good album and you should have it in your prog collection....for a few of the songs on this album. I'm giving it a 3.6 and rounding it to a 4 stars...it's got it's flawes, but it's definatly a good album and worth having because it's one of Eloy's best 1980's albums, though not the absolute best.