Search - Eloy :: Timeless Passages: Very Best Of Eloy

Worthy Compilation for An Excellent Band

mobby_uk | London United Kingdom | 05/08/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After more than thirty years in the business of making quality music, EMI has finally released the definitive compilation of Eloy.
It is mind boggling how underrated this band is, yet how original and creative they had been since their first 'proper' release for EMI's lable 'Harvest' in 1973, an album called 'Inside'.
They have been unfairly compared to Pink Floyd, Hawkwind and even Jethro Tull,(because they used the flute on couple of tracks in Inside,and because Future City has a bluesy feel!!!!) which is quite ridiculous,and shows how little the music press and industry understands and appreciates progressive rock. When you listen to Eloy properly you will soon discover an original and total creative music world that is compared to none.
Sure, in Silent Cries Mighty Echoes, their 1979 album, the Floydian comparison was the strongest,because of the first two epic songs, however the rest of the album with tracks like Pilot to Paradise, De Labor Solis and Mighty Echoes are 100% original.I would therefore like to stress, that what makes Eloy a very special and innovative band, is the fact that every album is unique and different from the previous one, yet remaining faithfully in the melodic progressive symphonic rock.
Inside was spacey, Floating hard edged, Power and Passion mellower and their first conceptual work, Dawn blends prefectly for the first time in prog rock a classical orchestra with their epic and meditative compositions etc...
What do you get with Eloy?
A music that survives time. Progressive Rock like it should be: very melodic,brilliantly executed time changes, hard, meditative, complex, spacey, and symphonic, with mind blowing drums,(Fritz Randow's drum solo in Floating's Castle in the Air is the BEST I ever heard) and some of the best keys and guitar playing in rock.
What would you get with this compilation?
If you don't own any of Eloy's stuff then this is a perfect start.
It covers their output from 75 with Power and Passion up until their last release Ocean 2. It includes the shorter tracks, like the more commercial Rainbow from RA, and the edited version of Illumination from Colours, but it also contains the masterpiece epic The Apocalypse from Silent Cries (79)in all its three parts. It also has some really surprising choices, like the instrumental At The Gates of Dawn from Planets (81). The only disappointment is the fact there are no tracks from Inside and Floating included here.(Inside, Future City, Up and Down MadHouse, Light from Deep Darkness, and Castle in the Air are true masterpieces)
The only weak track in my opinion in this compilation is the live version of Poseidon Creation, previously unreleased version from nineties.Eloy, has always had bad luck in their live recordings,and their only Live album in 78 was their worst release, fraught with technical troubles, whereas the long awaited Chronicles 3 which was supposed to be a new Live album is probably scrapped.
If you are already an Eloy fan, then you should certainly also buy this compilation, even if you have all the tracks,just to support the band,(even with such a high price!!) since the more they sell, the more EMI will realise what treasure they have in their vault, and will probably sign the band again to do another CD, for I believe Eloy's maestro Frank Bornemann has a lot more great music in him to delight music lovers everywhere."

A must for every prog fan!

Musiko | Verdun, Quebec Canada | 09/13/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Eloy is one of the best prog band of the last 30 years! This compilations is great the sound is newly remastered and it shows. The choice of the song is great exept for the instrumental. I think they should have put at least one song from the album Performance ( I like this album more than the songs they put from Ra). If you don'y know Eloy and you like prog symphonique you should try this album its a winner!"