ELOY LIVE

One of the best live albums I've ever heard. Eloy are right on top of their game with excellent versions of tracks from 'Ocean','Dawn' and 'Power and The Passion'.The production/sound quality is top notch.This is an excellent starting point if you are thinking of getting one of the recently released remasters from Eloy.

This is one of my favorite 'Krautrock' albums, when I want to be submerged by 24 carat symphonic progrock, I play this one! OK, the vocals have a strong German accent and the lyrics are not really 'down to earth' but the music is so warm and compelling. This live record was the touring of the splendid Ocean album, perhaps their strongest effort and all tracks are on this live album, originally a double-LP. In the late Seventies I bought all the Eloy studio albums but I prefer this live registration because Eloy Live sound so more powerful: strong and flowing guitarwork, lush keyboards and great shifting moods, only the vocals will not be everybody's cup of tea but I love every inch of this album!

This live album is deeply "Ocean" oriented. And it is nothing but normal. It is one of their best album and this is the promotional tour. This live set only ignores "Decay of the Logos". Of course, the handicap of very average vocals is still very much present. But since they are not so many here, it is easier to forgive "Eloy".

Some very good space-rock is played. It reminds me the spirit of the live set available on "Ummagumma". Not that the numbers here can compete with "Careful", "ASOS", "STCOTHOTS" or the magnificent "Astronomy Domine". Of course not. But "Eloy" plays a very convincing live set. So, if you like the live sides of "Ummagumma" (the only ones which deserves a listen IMO), this album will be appealing to you.

I wouldn't say that "Atlantis Agony" is my fave. It was already lenghty in its studio version, and the five additional minutes here do not reallly add anything. The long German recitation is probably not what is needed during "The sung Song". I feel more comfortable once they have been evacuated. We are reverted to the beauty of the original song.

And some tracks will be better on this "Eloy Live" than on their original studio album. "The Dance in Doubt and Fear" is a perfect example. Stronger, harder keys attack. A very good interpretation. Almost a transformation.

Some old songs also are also played during this tour. "Inside" is just fantastic. A highlight. So dynamic, so powerful. Damned good guitar solo and great drumming. It is one of my favourite songs. But "Mutiny" from "Power & The Passion" is also pretty well achieved. The closing section is extremely good. What a great guitar solo ! Another highlight. As most of this live set actually.

If you would like to discover this band, I can only recommend this "Eloy Live". There will be also some very interesting compilations but this one fully reflects the spirit of the band.

Four stars.

Eloy Live is like a companion album to the first BJH Live effort. You might recall that mellotron was almost the only keyboard brandished by Woolly Wolstenholme on that 1974 disk, and whether or not the tron is used by Eloy, the keys have the same effect. It's a totally spacey live trip (as opposed to the studio material with is semi-spacey) through the early-mid period Eloy catalogue, mostly covering "Dawn" and "Ocean", but with very worthwhile snippets of "Power and the Passion" and "Inside". All the songs are well played with some exceeding the studio versions in power. Bornemann's vocal shortcomings become irrelevant in this setting. While not too much improvisation takes place, some tracks do appear somewhat lengthened, such as "Atlantis Agony", in which one can simply surrender to the droning instruments, be they keys or percussion. The sound quality is reasonable enough to get the point across, at least the audience gets it. It is a sure thing for fans and a mildly recommended introduction to the band. Given the paucity of Eloy live material, this one is a minor treasure.

One of the best live albums of space rock, if not the best

Eloy was one of the few space rock bands from the original progressive rock wave that released a live album. If you count the space rock bands that released amazing albums such as this one back then, their numbers are even smaller. Indeed, this album is a gem among space rock for being one of the few very good space rock live albums from the 70's, together with Hawkwind's Space Ritual.

Probably this album is so great for 2 reasons: 1) it was recorded during the best part of the band's best period ever, which was between 76 and 79, when Eloy recorded their best and most famous albums, so both the musicians and the set-list were top-notch; 2) the band managed to gather the best songs from (almost) each album they did so far and play a better version of them live, what makes the album even more interesting, because the songs are not simply played as in the albums: the songs here are unique versions of the of the already great studio version (The Sun Song and The Dance of Doubt and Fear had their running time almost doubled and Atlantis' Agony At June 5th - 8498, 13 p.m. Gregorian Earthtime had its running tim e increased by 5 minutes).

There is, however, one problem in this album. The song Incarnation of Logos has some cracks about halfway through the song and some considerable background hiss near the end. Though those problems are probably caused by some problem in the master tapes, they are considerably annoying.

One interesting feature of this live album is that Eloy's album Ocean is almost played in full, being only one song missing, called Decay of the Logos

Grade and Final Thoughts

What an astonishing release by Eloy. They managed to put their best in this release and the result is great. Also, this album is one of the few good live documents of the original big space rock bands that was actually released in the 70's. As any great album, it deserves to receive its fair grade and i think that Eloy's Live album truly deserves the masterpiece grade.

I had difficulty finding out much in the way of information about this live album from ELOY. It was released in 1978 and recorded during their "Ocean" tour but that's all I got. Haha. Lots of info in the liner notes but it's all written in German. What I can tell you is that the sound is crystal clear, very well recorded. In fact this is one of thoses albums that really does sound better with the volume turned way up. Spacey and powerful music.

This album opens and ends exactly like the "Ocean" album with "Poseidon's Creation" and "Incarnation Of Logos" starting things off before ending with "Atlantis Agony..." We also get three tracks from the previous album "Dawn". My favourite track though is the title track from the "Inside" album. This song is heavier with some fantastic guitar and organ. "Mutiny" is from the "Power And The Passion" record and also boasts some good guitar and organ late. Synths though rule this album especially on the "Ocean" tracks where we get lots of spacey soundscpaes.The opening track "Poseidon's Creation" is my second favourite on here. This sounds so amazing when the sound gets fuller before 2 minutes and the drumming is outstanding. Check out the guitar before 9 minutes as well.

In my opinion this is a "must have" for ELOY fans as this is really the only live album the band has put out. It sounds incredible !

I would not call this one a flagship of space rock - nor any other album of the band (I know so far). Some significant characteristics are missing here although several songs definetely have a floating mood for example and they use some narrations as to notice on the epic Atlantis' Agony. There are way too much symphonic elements in their music on the other hand - Detlev Schmidtchen and Frank Bornemann have a taste of both styles half way through.

'Ocean' is their masterpiece which I like very much - and they play nearly the complete suite which saves the performance from ruin more or less. Despite some narration appearing when starting with Poseidon's Creation I cannot recognize significant differences to the album version. The song as such is a revelation and especially the last four grooving minutes are exciting. Incarnation Of Logos holding Camel traces is not more than a copy too.

What now follows is so-so, symphonic light tinged, sounding unisono - not a challenge really as for the compositional skills. The Sun-Song from the predecessor 'Dawn' album opens with narration again - this time in German. Inside from the eponymous 1973 album makes out a beneficial exception here with some heavier rocking moments.

At the end they open for the twentyone minutes lasting Atlantis' Agony - the ultimate spacey ELOY song - and it all takes a twist again. Track time is differing compared to the studio album on this occasion because enlarged with additional five minutes. A long synth intro takes you away to foreign oceans, later backed by an amazing bass line. A great floating tune with Pink Floyd leanings - definitely the highlight of the performance!

Knowing the studio album 'Ocean' I don't sense a proper reason to prefer the live recordings. What this doesn't make it better is that they don't modify the songs nearly all the way through - unlike other bands in the 70s. Finally the songs taken from the earlier albums can't really turn me on. Nevertheless this is a quite good live performance in its entirety - ELOY fans will be pleased.

Eloy - Live (1978)

This live album of German symphonic/space rock band Eloy has only one long track. On the four sides of this double lp are different versions of this one song...

hey wait a minute..

Those were different tracks? They all sound the same! The instrumentation is exactly the same, the atmospheres are identical and the over-simplistic use of harmonic clichés makes this a very unnecessary release. Also the use of long spoken word passages (some in German) aren't very interesting too. One would have expected some extra guitar solo's on these repetitive tracks, or maybe some development to heavy moments, but non of this happens. This is just a bath of symphonic sounds.

Though the sound of the band is very good, the recording is excellent (maybe even a good example!) and the package of the double lp nice, I couldn't find one reason to buy this record If you already own their well known album Oceans. Oceans is played completely (you'll find all it's tracks on side 1 and side 4).

Conclusion. I thought Oceans was a mediocre record (for one of such a reputation), Inside didn't sound very powerful or inventive too and my third Eloy record turns out to be a let down too. This was the last record of the band I'm going to try. This record might be nice for collectors of the genre or fans of the band, but the average prog listener will not find anything new but the drowsy sound of Eloy. Two stars.

'Eloy Live' is a magnificent live performance of one of my favourite bands that fits snugly onto one CD of almost 80 minutes. The musicians are Eloy in their prime; Klaus-Peter Matziol on bass, J'rgen Rosenthal on drums, Detlev Schmidtchen on keyboards, and the incomparable vocalist, guitarist extraordinaire Frank Bornemannn. The concert is dynamic and vibrant musically throughout and features some of their greatest triumphs beginning with the almighty epic 'Poseidon's Creation' and moving gradually to the classic 'Incarnation Of Logos' with that astonishing melody that locks in towards the mid section, both masterpieces from 'Ocean'. The vocals sound clear and unrestrained and the production is excellent on this 1978 live album.

The break gives Bornemann a chance to speak to his adoring audience in German, though for too long without a translation. This leads inexorably to 'The Sun-song' from 'Dawn' that is a popular song judging from the audience reaction. Immediately I remember the melody as it builds to the beautiful solo passage. Bornemann sounds so fresh and clear on vocals, as good as you would want in a live setting. 'The Dance In Doubt And Fear' follows also from 'Dawn', building with cymbal splashes and a heartbeat percussion that the crowd can clap to. The synths are tranquil golden swathes of beauty, along the waves of bass and guitar. Next is a longer track with 'Mutiny' at almost 10 minutes, a good choice from 'Power and the Passion'. I like the drums on this and the really powerful keyboards over the dreamy guitar phrases. After this the band launch into 'Gliding Into Light And Knowledge' that returns to 'Dawn'. This concert performance showcases how brilliant the musicians were, every track is spell binding virtuoso prog at the highest calibre.

'Inside' follows, the title track from one of their greatest masterpieces, and this is followed by the stunning beauty of 'Ocean''s 'Atlantis' Agony At June 5th - 8498, 13 p.m. Gregorian Earthtime', that clocks a mammoth 20:54. It is an incredible finale and caps off one of the most treasured concerts from Eloy. I wish it had been filmed but listening to this is still a compelling experience. All of the gems are here and this setlist is outstanding. I loved this live album and have no problems awarding it 4 shining stars.

After the success of "Dawn" and especially "Ocean", ELOY is now popular enough to tour in Germany and to release their first live album, simply titled "Live". The track-list consists mainly of tracks of the two aforementioned opuses, with one song from "Inside" and "Power and the Passion". There is no material from their debut, as it is not really ELOY yet, and from "Floating", as its style has always been a bit apart in the Germans' discography. In fact, "Ocean" was initially entirely performed, but, due to technical issues, "Decay Of Logos" had to be removed from the recording.

The live renditions are overall faithful to their studio versions. Some passages have been made more theatrical and features spoken sentences in German. As there were no orchestra, the tracks from "Dawn" are lighter, but nonetheless very nice, even if I'm not a big fan of "The Sun Song" and "Gliding Into Light And Knowledge". "The Dance In Doubt And Fear" is in fact followed by "Lost!? (Introduction)". A powerful moment with a pretty guitar solo in the beginning. As they were not originally played by the "golden" line-up, "Mutiny" and "Inside"'s reinterpretation are quite bombastic. "Atlantis' Agony" has been stretched to 21 minutes. This rather useless and lengthy extension concerns the ambient spacey introduction and does neither really bring something interesting nor enhance the source composition.

For Bornemann and co.'s lovers, there will be no big surprises here, unlike GROBSCHNITT's "Solar Music Live" for example. However, this release is still very good, proving that the band could deliver a robust performance. At this period, during the punk explosion, there were not many live albums from progressive rock bands at this period.

Recommended to ELOY and space rock fans.