TIME TO TURN

After the relatively mellow "Planets", Eloy concludes the cosmic two-fer with a grittier album that balances guitars and keyboards better than the last two, almost like a pendulum that has reached the proper set point. It is probably the best combination of progressive and accessible achieved by Eloy in their career.

"Through a Somber Galaxy" is a positive start, a melodic mini epic with a bit of everything thrown in, and "Behind the Walls of Imagination" is an even stronger tune, thanks to some superb clavinet. The title cut features a hypnotic beat and chorus augmented by female backing singers. Again very Floydian but very much their own. Then comes the beautiful "Magic Mirrors", conveying an oddly jazzy ambiance and a shimmering synthesizer solo. "End of an Odyssey" is a monster cut with an instrumental introduction sporting all manner of dazzling keyboards before vocals finally come in after the 5 minute mark. The outro is no less masterful, sporting more clavinet and a certain nod in Alan Parsons' direction. The only weak track is "Flash", as it contains some grating keyboards, but it is more than redeemed by "Say is it Really True", which shows a more acoustic Eloy before a typically symphonic section and fade out, the digital end of the odyssey.

Yet another turn for Eloy, and another remarkably successful one, in fact second only to "Dawn" in quality among their releases. 4.5 stars, rounded up because of the presence of several great songs, an overall flow, the artistic peak it represents, its brilliant melodies, and the 1982 year of release.