Eloy is one of my top Prog bands ever to listen to. I have just learned that Prog threads usually get bumped forward without reply until they just fade away. Prog fans here learn to just hide in plain sight. I have hoped some highly respected audiophile label would take on those earlier classic titles.
You are kidding, right? Some of those bands cannot sell even editions 500 strong, especially German bands with limited worldwide appeal. MoFi, AP, etc would not touch them, even way more famous prog bands like Camel never got audiophile treatment.
You did? Well, let me go back and find it! I'm not looking for professional anyway. Gimme the real peoples' thoughts!
Big fan here too! My favorites: 1-Ocean 2-Colours 3-Planets 4-Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes 5-Floating 6-Time to turn 7-Inside 8-Power and the Passion (Mutiny what a song!) 9-Performance (Like that one! Don't know why it seems neglected by the band would have like a song from the recent live like: Shadow And Light) 10-Ocean 2 (really great one nice sequel) 11-Metromania 12-The Tides Return Forever 13-Live 14-Recanation on Stage (vinyl sounds great) RA really don't like that one.... As for the newer ones doesn't grab me part 1 and 2.....Sad....And Visionary is average stuff for me.
I never mentioned MoFi. Eloy will never be on their radar. I would be happy if the Long Hair label would take on the early Eloy titles. The last vinyl reissue of Oceans listed on Discogs was 1980. That's shameful and makes me believe that their is more standing in the way of releasing their material than label interest.
Well, they just remaster and reissue Ocean on vinyl in "Classic Years" box (2000 copies). And as you can see have to heavily discount because they could not sell it(one can argue that it was a little overpriced originally). Long Hair does indeed reissued a lot of rare records from krautrock era. And people are buying simply because originals are very hard to find and often prohibitively expensive. Nosferatu original is 1500+ euros, so Long Hair reissue is the only reasonable option (for example). And they can sell them . Not the same with Ocean, which was popular record and original copies are easily attainable and not that expensive. The only rare Eloy original is S/T, and it is indeed super pricey because of unique garbage bin cover (music is so-so straight rock, most Eloy fan never even mentioning it). And it was reissued recently by Music on Vinyl (without original cover design), to be a collector's filler. I love Eloy, but that is where we are.
I hadn't thought about that box set for a while. I need to check the marketplace again for what the current prices are. Thanks. Early Eloy titles rarely show up used anymore at local used stores.
I do not remember for sure, but I got Inside and Floating first German pressings for less then $40 each, in VG++ or NM- condition. Last year or in 2018, cannot remember. But yes, they are harder and harder to find, even in German stores )). But still pricewise they are not early Ash Ra Tempel 1st ))
I am impressed with the reissue efforts of the Long Hair label. They are consistently of good audio quality and even upon a few occasions have sounded better than the original. I wish the Garden of Delights label was more aggressive in their efforts as I find them to run a cycle of here today and gone tomorrow. There are many other labels that reissue German and European Prog that have become a life line to a dying genre.
I have limited my Discogs purchases to the US because shipping prices from other countries to the US have become prohibitive. Finding international Prog releases for sale in the US is like trying to find pork in the Middle East.
It is true, some US sellers almost "pricing in" shipping charges from EU. And yet you can find people in Europe with reasonable prices for shipping, starting with 7-10EU for 2-3 records, especially in Germany. Southern Europe - fuggedaboutit. The issue is "if you do not like it ship it back" with shipping to Europe starting I think around $25.
I agree, any purchase shipped from outside the US is pretty much 'as is' as I consider it a one-way deal. I now filter Discogs for 1. US sellers only, 2. M- media, 3. Prog. and 4. $100 and less. I often find an $80 US listing can be purchased from a European dealer for between $40 and &60 plus shipping. The US dealer knows that his competition has a built-in $20 mark-up for shipping. By default, you and I have developed an expensive taste in music. Then there are the Sony, Missing Vinyl, AMS and Music on Vinyl labels that will be carried by one or two dealers in the US at competitive prices. For example - take a recent Italian Prog reissue; there will be two dealers in the US at $30 and twenty dealers in Europe starting at $18. All of the reissue Prog labels are also located in Europe.
I did, thanks very much. Now I have an idea with which to critique...the music will be enjoyed regardess.
There are plenty of German new record stores which charge vert reasonable shipping fees. And with new ones you at least expect less issues with quality assessments. As of M- media... I can go with VG+ from reputable guy, especially thanks to SugarCube ))).
Took about a month and a half, but Dawn, Ocean, and Silent Cries are finally here! The box-set is a pretty nice package. No frills, but some solid vinyl. Nice and flat and quiet. Well done! After giving Dawn a spin, I can tell it's not going to be up there like Ocean and Silent Cries for me. It's not bad, but not enthralling like the other two. After these sink in I think it'll be Colours next for me. Gonna have to track down a good copy. Man, I dig these guys.
Love me some Eloy. I really like the first self-titled album as well, which doesn’t seem to get as much love as their subsequent albums. Stylistically, it’s more Krautrock/heavy prog than the space/symphonic rock that they are more famous for.
Still not a fan of the first album, but i'm close to a completist here. In my ears Erich Schriever is a great rock vocalist - unfortunately he left the band as well as the music business. My favorite song is "Today", the first tracks. Al in all too guitar oriented (on a medium standard in best case), too little keyboard (atmosphere) ... in my ears, of course There are up to three bonus tracks (in later CD editions). My favourite edition is the 2CD by Second Battle: Eloy - Eloy Very rich packaging, album on disc1, while the bonus disc includes both songs of the very first (and extremely rare vinyl) single plus an audio interview with Manfred Wieczorke (20+ min duration) in German. The booklet offers identical info in both German and English. There is interview material from Helmut Draht (the first drummer - claiming equal share in founding Eloy as Frank Bornemann) plus the written version of the M.W. audio interview. If you are interested in the early history of Eloy, you have to get it!
No concept album this time, but, nevertheless, one of my favourites. As much as i loved the Ocean line up, this line up can easily compete. Hannes Folberth on keyboards did a great job. He is a virtuoso player, but he also can create great atmospheres. And Hannes Arkona fills the virtuoso gap in the Eloy guitar, e.g. his lead guitar in Silhoutte is absolutely noteworthy.
Interesting perspective, thanks for sharing. I think Colours is an excellent album and in my top three for the band (behind Ocean and Mighty Echoes). The songwriting is strong on this one (maybe their best), but to me the change in drummers impacts the quality in a negative way. Jurgen Rosenthal was an absolute monster percussionist and drummer -fans of Rush and Neil Peart are highly recommended to check out his work on Dawn, Ocean and Mighty Echoes. Still, Colours is very strong and highly recommended. I cant recommend Power and Passion. The songs don't work for me, nor does the musicianship reach the heights of their next few albums. Dawn is a mixed bag for me. There are few excellent songs (most of side 2), but the orchestration doesn't work well here for me, and much of the songwriting is sub-par. They really improved with Ocean as it is about the best recorded album in my collection. The original CD is demonstration quality. The musicianship is also improved over Dawn and the songs are stronger (though a couple are stretched in length probably more than needed). Mighty Echoes is the last release from what I consider Eloy's strongest line-up (Booreman, Matziol, Detlev S. and Rosenthal). A strong album with again fantastic playing from all -particularly the bassist Matziol who seems to get better with each release (check out Master of Sensation). A small step down from Ocean, but still essential. Planets and Time To Turn are both good, but less consistent than Colours and more simplified. Still, I like at least half the songs on each disk. The songs still draw you in and have analog spacey synths that thankfully contrast with the then-current trends. After these albums my interest in Eloy ends. I have listened to some of the later 80s albums but they don't work well for me -they lost their spacey quality that first drew me to this band. And enjoying this band requires getting comfortable with Frank's vocals (narration mostly), but if you can get there, this music is very enjoyable.
I'm giving Metromania and Performance another chance. I may have been too quick to dismiss them. There still seems to be some Eloy magic in these albums.
Power and Passion is very Uriah Heep sounding (vocals notwithstanding), so if you like Heep you will be OK with P&P )). I kind of like classic Uriah Heep, but cannot stand Byron voice - so in a weird twist I like Power and Passion )).
