I'm going off topic, but if you've got problems with the vocals of Eloy (i.e. Frank Bornemann as lead vocalist) => i'm pretty sure Jane will fail completely!!! Grobschnitt: Really recommend Solar Music. Actually i don't like the vocals, e.g. in Rockpommel's Land, their best effort directing to prog/art rock.
Some Jane records have actually great vocalists (Together, "Mask" from 1980) - but even "regular" Hess and Panka singing was not that bad. My wife have problems with Frank voice - but never with Jane, go figure. As of Solar Music - I have 5 versions just on vinyl )). An incredible record. IMHO and sorry for off.
Man, have had Ocean and Silent Cries on repeat. Were these guys listening to Floyd or were Floyd listening to them? I haven't enjoyed something new (to me) this much in a long long time. The vox still get me a bit, but I'm mostly over it now, the music is just toooo good. Tried Gobschnitt's Rockpommel. Didn't dislike it, but can't get into it at the moment. I'm on an Eloy kick! I'll likely revisit after Eloy's sheen has worn off.
Chronicles I is a good start, but most of Eloy records kind of "whole" and I am not sure compilations work very well, IMHO.
The other interesting options are their live albums -"Live" from classic years and recent "Reincarnation on stage", were almost all periods of band are represented.
Eloy is pretty complete on Spotify. For Dawn, Ocean and Silent Cries there only is the 2019 Eroc (ex Grobschnitt) remaster (which i do not like, but for streaming it's ok imho). => just try them all Eloy vocals: What about the vocals on the Inside Album (1973)? Guess most people will like them. (Final track sung by Manfred, the keyboarder, later joining Jane!) Inside is an absolutely great piece of work imho. Very atmospheric and wonderful organ parts esp. on the first track. In my ears Frank's singing and also (lead) guitar playing (don't like it on the Inside track itself) was more "soulful" in the early years. Later he tended to cross the limits of his voice, sounding "stressed", the lead guitar often too riff/licks oriented, "droned". Inside was self produced by the band and published in 1973, the time of both brilliant albums Tubular Bells and Dark Side Of The Moon. So Eloy will draw the shorter straw this time... but still a great album. On the other hand, i still prefer Eloy's Ocean over Pink Floyd's Animals … kill me, if you like to … Nevertheless, Pink Floyd are one of my top favs of all times. My collection is quite complete here, as for Eloy.
I think it is pointless to compare Eloy records with Pink Floyd, they are in different realms. And yet I agree with you I rather will listen to some Eloy, as PF is so overplayed. How many times you can listen to the same song? I like Inside a lot, Floating I am not so sure. IMHO Manfred started sounding almost like Ken Hensley on Power and the Passion, and perhaps it was a good thing he left to have couple of years with Jane while Nadolny did one of his "vacations" )).
I agree on the comparison, but there are many threads in the web and i remember myself asking several times in shops for alternatives either to Eloy or Pink Floyd. As much more people know Pink Floyd, i mention Eloy... I was born in 1964 and my deep love for music began to grow in the mid/late 1970's esp. with Eloy-Ocean as one of the early records i bought myself. It was love on first sight (the impressive cover and the music was even beyond). I've hardly known Eloy before (Master Of Sensation) and was not too impressed. Ocean changed everything. If i remember right, Pink Floyd was not that dominant in school, so my first touch had been the Another Brick In The Wall single. I began collecting Floyd rather from the late 1980s. So no reminiscences of youth bound to Pink Floyd (in contrast to other bands, that still can make me feel the same as 30-40 years ago). But then they really got me in total. Floating (recommending the 200x remaster for CD): Imho one of the many albums where half of it convinces totally and the other half rather drops... Still play side 1 (the first two tracks, mostly instrumental) a lot … great. Still regard the spoken intro to Castle In The Air as one of their greatest moments. Less like the last two tracks. Frank said, that Floating (as the Daylight/On The Road single following Inside) reflects the heavy touring of the band. I always thought of it as a "night" album, and really, Frank produced the Scorpions "Fly To The Rainbow" album in Munich by day, flew to Cologne in the eventing and recorded Floating with the band. BTW His first touch with Juergen Rosenthal, their next drummer... Power And The Passion: A rather late addition to my collection. Adore the first vinyl side in complete, also strong songs on the second side, but somehow it appears to be more fractional. An additional guitar player ... well done, even though only for a single effort. Personally, i like the keyboard/synth parts of Manfred a lot. After the 1979 split Manfred was invited to join Eloy again, but he did not feel comfortable (mood within the band - who ever was in the band at the moment, apart from Matziol). In an interview he agrees that some of the keyboard parts in the Child Migration/Let the sun… single are done by himself (cannot the remember the details at the moment. The single is part of the Silent Cries 200x album remaster).
The Classic Years Trilogy box set (3xLP, 3x CD, limited to 2.000 copies) currently on sale for less than 50€ E.g. Eloy: The Classic Years Trilogy (remastered) (180g) (Limited Numbered Edition) (3 LPs und 3 CDs) – jpc As written above, i'm neiter a vinyl fan nor a fan of the CDs' SQ, but that's my personal taste. But the box set is cheaper than ever...
I gave Dawn another listen last night and it still doesn't work for me. A lack of interesting melodies, overbearing orchestrations that don't serve the music and even the synths seem less diverse and interesting than the 3 following albums. Oh there are some nice moments, but they are overwhelmed by the mediocrity and crap. They really stepped up in quality with Oceans. I find the 5 albums they recorded after Dawn to be much stronger and each worth recommending.
I suggest checking out Colours next. Its a transitional album (from prog to prog-pop) but very enjoyable. I suggest skipping Dawn outright.
On man trash is anther man treasure. For my ears Dawn is mush stronger melodically then Planets. ))) Band itself is much tighter on Planets, no arguing there. Colours is just a great record, better then aforementioned two, no arguing here as well.
$47 USD shipped. Not bad for two albums I already know I DIG man, DIG! and one.... I guess I'll see about Dawn, as it's in the box set, could be I don't spin it much; but that deal was just too good to pass up. I'll check out Colours too. Thanks @deredordica, and everyone for this thread...never heard of this band before and, to say I'm really enjoying them is a huge understatement. Such a treat to find new music that really grabs ya. I don't know if they'll have the staying power of my other absolute favorites, but they've skyrocketed into my top 10, easy.
It was 7-ish euros for shipping...which isn't now making any sense 39.99 +7 shipping to US should have been 46 euro, converted to USD would make it $55 ish, depending on the day. But my receipt in PayPal is $47.12. I'm amped to get Ocean and Silent Cries on the turntable!
Just listened to both Dawn and Colours back to back via youtube. Dawn I don't think I'd skip outright, there was plenty there to keep me engaged, but I think I get your drift @Pete Puma and Colours was far better. I can hear the Alan Parsons similarities others have mentioned where I didn't before (with Ocean and Silent Cries). I do believe a good LP copy of Colours will be the next in line. Anyone have a review of the sound of Eloy: The Classic Years Trilogy (remastered) (180g) vinyl (I'm not interested in the CDs...they'll sit undisturbed in their packaging)? Hopefully it's decently mastered and not compressed to hell and back.
Dawn is frustrating for me because the good bits are prime Eloy -it’s just the lack of consistency that brings it down. I really wanted to like it.
Ah-ha. I can hear that. Those "prime Eloy" bits are probably what I heard which kept me interested. But as a whole, it's disjointed and not as cohesive as what I've heard before. Still, I'll spin it a least a handful of times and who knows, it may grow on me. It's not nearly as captivating as Ocean and Silent Cries, but I finally warmed up to Tull's "War Child" (and that took a long, loooooonnnng time) so ya never can tell.
