Search - Eloy :: Ra

Not their finest

Mark Boyden | Austin, TX USA | 03/29/2000

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Not considered their finest work. First release after firing most of the band and only working with Michael Gerlach (keyboards, etc.). If you like the spacy, keyboard rock, start with Silent Cries or Ocean/Dawn. If you like more guitar-driven, heavier riff prog, start with Metromania, Time to Turn, or Performance. For the psych prog, start with Floating or Inside. I prefer the latter two."

Eloy are Still Original

mobby_uk | London United Kingdom | 10/13/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"RA is the most misunderstood and underrated record Eloy has ever made,and being an avid fan for more than twenty years I would like to make the following observations,
RA should be reviewed and heard with a much larger context in mind:
The time and circumstances of its release.
The record was released in late eighties, the worst period for progressive rock, where many bands floundered,while the very few who stuck to the genre had to alter their sound and go more commercial (a prime example being Jethro Tull with Under Wraps, now you can not go more commercial than that!)
The music establishment and industry had their knives out for this kind of music!
To still produce and write a new progressive rock record in this not so favorable market and atmosphere was a great achievement and a credit to the genuis of Frank Bornemann and his dedication to writing decent quality music.
Fans had to wait four years to be surprised by a new Eloy output, since Metromania was very much thought to be the band's last after the '80 line up that had brilliant classics to its name (Planets, Colours, and Time to Turn) disbanded.
But Frank Bornemann the driving force behind the band, held to Eloy's name and returned with a new line up (made primarily of keyboardist Michael Gerlach, joined later by the return of the excellent Klaus Peter Matziol on bass, one of the best in rock music).The result of this return was RA.
In a way, you can consider RA as a new shift in Eloy's sound, yet remaining faithfully in the progressive rock tradition, a heavier and darker sound, one that would remain audible on their next two records, especially on Destination,(tracks like Call of the Wild and Prisoner in Mind are very much in the spirit of RA).
One of the main criticism of RA is the reliance on drum machine, something considered blasphemous to most fans!, but again you have to judge this in the context of the circumstances of the record. Having said that, the quality of the melody and the writing was never compromised!If you just listen to the powerful opening of Voyager of The Future Race (it blew my mind!) or the haunting melodies of Dreams and Hero,(underrated all time masterpieces and in a way more progressive and complex than any track on Metromania),you will realize just how great that record is, and you can excuse Bornemann for going more commercial with tracks like Sensations and Rainbow (for me personally Eloy's weakest track).
So RA is a record that should be reassessed, listened to again carefully, and I am sure you will too discover the original and creative song writing process on it, and the joy that this wonderful band has provided its fans for three decades."