Search - Eloy :: Colours

Eighties Progressive Rock

Mr D. | Cave Creek, Az United States | 10/15/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It took me thirty years to discover this band but I'm making up for it now, I have purchased eight of their sizable catalogue in the six weeks and one more in route.



Eloy (name taken from H G Well`s Time Machine) is a German Atmospheric, Progressive Art Rock band that was formed way back in 1969. Colours, their eighth album, was released in 1980, the tenth anniversary of their first self titled album. The web site doesn't show it but the album cover is a rather colorful painting depicting the back of a clothes less fairy.



Colours is considered one of Eloy's most accessible, mainstream albums. True enough, it does have lot of pop/rock elements which should have a broader appeal than previous and subsequent releases but I still feel strong Progressive vibes. All the songs on Colours range from slow medium to medium in tempo. There is a fairly good variety, with songs like the opening track, "Horizons" featuring a couple lady singers and a new age, Adiemus feel, while the fifth track "Child Migration" has a strong hard rock feel. Tracks two and three "Illuminations" and "Giant" have a spacey psychedelic ambiance with the later being somewhat Pink Floydian. All the singing by Bornemann while not bad seems to be somewhat suppressed, like he's singing from a well. Whether this is done purposeful or not I have no idea but it's very evident on Silhouette, which coincidently receives my vote for the best song. Track four, "Impressions" emphasizes some flute playing and "Sunset," the last track, sounds like a spacey pan flute, though it's probably a synth. In fact a synthesizer or keyboards is a prime instrument used throughout on this and many other Eloy albums



What I Like



~ Brings back some of the great seventies and eighties sounds.

~ Simple unpretentious melodies.

~ Compelling arrangements. Nice use of instruments.

~ Like a mellow Hawkwind on some songs.

~ Music doesn't try to overpower you.

~ Nice variety in song selections.



What I don`t Like



~ *39 minutes - too short!



* Several Eloy albums were shorter that forty minutes and can now be purchased with bonus tracks of two albums combined.



Conclusion



One of the interesting things about Eloy is that their music spans almost three decades and the changes from album to album are palpable. It doesn't seem so much like they were evolving, more like they were adapting. Eloy's music isn't like that of most other bands, which have high, highs and low, lows. It's very even keel, it's more like their music is created, not to captivate or repulse you but to pleasure you.



I now have eight Eloy albums each with it's own personality, none with any songs that I obsess over and have to play over and over but I have been keeping four, out of five, cds on my player for weeks, so I guess you might say that I'm consumed with the overall effect of the albums rather than individual songs.



One of the good things about Eloy is that the music is so damned enjoyable. It does very nicely as background music. It can be unobtrusive but it has enough character to be a focal point, something you could sit down with headphones and listen to for enjoyment. That is one of the reasons I can't seem to get them out of my cd player. They're not distracting and they're not boring. The strength of Eloy lies not so much in the individual songs but the whole album as a unit.



Final rating 4.25 stars



Discography

1970, Eloy

1973, Inside

1974, Floating

1975, Power and the Passion

1976, Dawn

1977, Ocean

1977, Wings of Vision

1978, Live

1978, Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes

1980, Colours

1982, Planets

1983, Performance

1983, Time to turn

1984, Metromania

1985, Codename Wildgeese

1988, Ra

1992, Destination

1994, The Tides Return Forever

1998, Ocean 2"

A fine album of heavier progressive rock from Eloy

Jeffrey J.Park | Massachusetts, USA | 12/09/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Eloy bravely soldiered on into 1980 with fantasy/sci-fi influenced cover art, loads of spacey synthesizers and very cosmic lyrics. I give them a lot of credit for this when you consider that a lot of the other prog bands had either packed it in or had watered down their approach. Admittedly, Colours does present a stripping back of the approach used on the excellent Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes (1979), but it more than holds its own musically and makes for an enjoyable listen.



Having lost the excellent drummer Jurgen Rosenthal and keyboardist Detlev Schmidtchen, the lineup on Colours includes bandleader Frank Bornemann (lead vocals, electric and acoustic guitars); Klaus-Peter Matziol (electric bass guitar and vocals); new keyboardist Hannes Folberth (organ, piano, synthesizers); new drummer Jim McGillivray (drum kit and percussion), and a new guitarist (Hannes Arkona - electric and acoustic guitars). In addition to the core group, there are some female backup singers that are featured here and there along with some flute parts that are not credited.



I like this new lineup and although the drummer is not as good as Jurgen, he holds his own. Besides his admittedly heavier, more straightforward approach works well with the material. The new synth player is great and his soaring leads on (what sounds like) the mini-moog are fantastic. He also creates wonderful atmospheres with some of the spacier synthesizer textures. Peter is a thunderous bass player and his punchy trebly tone really adds a lot to each piece. Overall, this band is very tight. One last thing, while Frank Bornemann sings in English, he has a very strong accent - it does not bother me the least.



The eight tracks range in length from 2:53 (Sunset) to 7:20 (Child Migration) and the tracks seem to blend into one another. Musically, this is solid progressive rock with a touch of the harder edge of the American stadium rock bands popular at the time. There are also some spacey sections characteristic of Eloy's mid-late 1970s music too and the combination with the heavier sections is very enjoyable. Melodies are pretty well developed.



This remastered album by EMI is excellent and features restored cover art and the lyrics to each track (in English). Unfortunately, while there are liner notes, they are written in German so I do not have the foggiest notion of what is being said. The bonus tracks are not bad although Wings of Vision does sound a tiny bit dated and Silhouette sounds like an outtake from Pink Floyd's The Wall album (especially Another Brick In the Wall). The sound quality is excellent.



All in all this is a fine example of heavy progressive rock by a band that, unlike their peers, did not care about dragging the cosmic 1970s into the 1980s. Come to think of it, the followup album Planets (1981) is even spacier! Recommended along with Dawn (1976), Ocean (1977), Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes (1979), and Planets (1981). Chances are that if you liked this album, you may like a few by Canadian band Rush including A Farewell to Kings (1977) and Hemispheres (1978)."