OCEAN

With The Ocean, Eloy managed to create a decent album in the space rock niche. It sounds like a mix of many other Pink Floyd inspired bands, somewhere inbetween Hawkwind's Warrior, Camel's Moonmadness and a bit of APP's Tales of Mystery and Imagination. A bit of a copy of a copy of the real thing you could say.

Of course, these references might sound great just the same, but the result is somewhat unfulfilling, especially due to the substandard vocals. The vocalist mainly sticks to declamatory vocals which makes the whole thing rather repetitive. Only rarely does he come up with an actual vocal melody and when he does they are not really imaginative or moving but rather plain and repetitious. Besides, his voice has a strong German accent, which doesn't make it sound very professional. Well, if you're a fan of Robert Calvert then you might enjoy this.

The Ocean is a fine melodious album, but it's too second-rate really. If you're looking for lost gems of the golden era prog, I wouldn't really look here. Still, 2 stars just for the lush instrumental parts.