Fatal Illusions (Eloy, 1994)

"Fatal Illusions" comes from the album "The Tides Return Forever" and has a Floydian taste, a pop flavour and an electronic touch. The guitars seem to flow on a pulsing musical ocean, while the mellow intro, some lively sung parts, a melodic theme and a rocky final section follow one another. True, some of these features didn't get old very well and some rythmic sections are too plastic-made for the 21st Century tastes, but the song has strong melodic foundations and very well found changes in both mood and tempo.

With this album Eloy signed their sixteenth studio work.

More than this, there is a balanced mix of catchy tunes and original solutions, spacey atmospheres and solid rock 'n' roll passages. As usual, Eloy put in their music all the musical worlds they visited and enjoyed and keep the song architecture under control. That's why I like them.

The Apocalypse (Eloy, 1979)

One of the most spacey tracks in the huge production of Eloy surely is this "The Apocalypse", coming from the album "Silent Cries And Mighty Echoes". The Floydian influence is very strong here, nonetheless the song has its own special flavour. Electronic sounds and electric guitars guide the listener through the three parts of this suite, titled "Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes", "The Vision - Burning" and "Force Majeure". The sci-fi atmosphere and an underlying tension give to "The Apocalypse" an epic mood, while the changes rivet the listener's attention.

This album was the seventh studio album by Eloy.

The sounds are chosen with a sure taste and keenly mixed, and also the sung parts are very well written, so that the track has a solid melodic structure. Here and there, a touch of vintage keyboards and a beautiful female voice à la The Great Gig in The Sky create a pleasant contrast with the up-to-date background. I really like the alien landscapes Eloy can conjure up, something that many neo-prog bands were going to imitate. A good song for the dreaming part of any prog lover.

Jeanne d'Arc (Eloy, 1992)

I can remember several songs inspired by Jeanne d'Arc, but this one, taken from Eloy's album "Destination" is probably the one I listen to with the greatest pleasure. Not only the track is pleasant and features a good melody, but the sounds - with their vague medieval reference - perfectly depict the contents of the lyrics. "Jeanne d'Arc" is the closing and best composition of an album I don't especially like, but it's so well arranged and so beautifully sung that it was to me a good enough reason to purchase the CD.

Well, I don't think this lady on "Destination" cover is Jeanne...

The epic and historical subject surely gives to the track a dignified aura, but the band keeps the song well planted on the ground and no bombastic effects, nor instrumental excesses are to be found here. "Jeanne d'Arc" is just a progressive ballad, infused of real emotions and featuring some very good keyboards and choral arrangements. Is it enough for you, my prog friends out there?

Mysterious Monolith (Eloy, 1981)

We all should be more grateful to Eloy. They were one of the very few European bands having such a long and continuous discography through five decades despite all the musical changes around them. In particular, their early '80s production encouraged the neo-prog movement and was an unfailing source of inspiration in the darkest days of progressive rock. The album "Planets" was released in 1981, featuring a complex science fiction concept, kind Space Opera meets Cosmogony, and this track is by far my favourite one from this project.

 

Eloy's discography includes 18 studio albums to date.

It's a 7:42 minutes song with lots of tempo and arrangements changes, beautiful melodies and very good solos too. Based on traditional symphonic rock solutions, "Mysterious Monolith" also features a good deal of electronic sounds and these updated keyboards proved full of consequences in the forthcoming neo-prog era. Despite the strange lyrics about a weird and almighty monolith, this song has an emotional charge I really like.

Poseidon's Creation (Eloy, 1977)

Beyond its grandeur and its bombastic arrangements, this track reserves many good surprises and emotions. First of all, the usual Floydian (and not only) inspiration is melted with other significant progressive styles, giving to the whole song a full and round sound. Then, I appreciate very much the chenges of tempo, with speedy progessions flowing into relaxing and liquid largos.

The impressive cover for "Ocean" by Wojtek Siudmak.

The sung part of the song's like a ballad, a slightly acid one, followed by a long instrumental coda, maybe the best section of the track, with original musical solutions and a suggestive drum background, with the final choral line in the 70s mood. The whole song hasn't lost its charms today and almost represents a bridge between the classic prog years and the neo-prog era, and the album "Ocean" is a landmark in Eloy's discography, as the recent "Ocean 2" definitely proves.