RA

Eloy's "Ra" has a very strong 80s aroma, with those synthy drums, tons of spacey keyboards and echoed vocals. It is not half as bad as some of the dross churned out in the late 80s and really deserves more credit than it gets here. There is prog on tracks such as Invasion of a Megaforce, that thankfully has nothing to do with the "Megaforce" movie trash. It has a lovely melody on the well executed 'Rainbow'.

It has a great driving rhythm on 'Voyager of the Future' and a nice proggy intro with birds whistling, dialogue about a new chapter of mankind's history, and angelic vocals.The synth sequencer screams the 80s but it is a cool vibe, and the guitars are layered with twang, but the drums are mixed by an 80s engineer of course, never a good thing. The melody on the opening track is certainly an Eloy signature, it is the music that has changed over the years.

The songs are overall forgettable but while it is playing the album has a pleasant vibe, everything is crystalline production and upbeat musical atmospherics such as spacey keys on 'Sensations', the fretless bass of 'Dreams' and the reverberating electro drums and snyth lines of 'Hero', along with its extended lead guitar break. Bornemann is still with the band and lends his unique vocals to the sound. Michael Gerlach is still here on keys, but the rest are guest musicians and singers, so it was not really a band in their prime; but they survived!

There are no bad songs really but nothing jumps out and bites this reviewer as being anything more than a good song with some interesting musical structures. I guess the first track is the stand out along with 'Invasion of a Megaforce' with its Yes like vocals and style. I like the lead guitar work on the album by Bornemann especially on 'Hero', and the lovely vocals of Annette Strangenberg on 3 songs. This is an atmospheric album, by no means their worst, and as such is worth a listen for all Eloy fans.