"A Quest for Prog" is a series of 50 Progressive Rock reviews to be written over a year. The band selection is taken from the book in the first post on this blog. And the albums I am reviewing is based on the highest user ratings for each band on Progarchives.com.
Eloy – Ocean (1977)
Produced by Frank Bornemann
Frank Bornemann – Lead Vocals, All Electric, Acoustic, and Effect Guitars
Klaus-Peter Matziol – Vocals, Thunderbird and Fender Fretless Bass Guitars
Detlev Schmidtchen – Hammond Organ, Mini-Moog and ARP Synthesizers, Mellotron, RMI Keyboard Computer, Xylophone, Angelic Voices
Jürgen Rosenthal – Sonor Genuine Rosewood Drums, Paiste Cymbals, Timbales, Roto-Toms, Temple Blocks, Kettle-Drums, Tubular Bells, Morse Key, Voice, Triangles, Paper and Flute
Track listing:
Side one:
01. Poseidon's Creation (11:38)
02. Incarnation of the Logos (8:25)
Side two:
01. Decay of the Logos (8:15)
02. Atlantis' Agony at June 5th - 8498, 13 p.m. Gregorian Earthtime (15:35)
Released in 1977 “Ocean” is the sixth album by German band Eloy. The band formed in 1969 by Frank Bornemann who is the only staple of the band which has had many line up changes over it’s career. Eloy were originally influenced by The Shadows and The Beatles before becoming influenced by Pink Floyd space rock albums. The band has released 17 albums including a 1998 sequel to this album “Ocean 2: The Answer”.
The album begins with “Poseidon's Creation” a groovy track with some really impressive drumming from Jürgen Rosenthal. The song starts with some nice guitar picking and builds into a space rock version of Deep Purple. The instrumentation is strong and the playing is confident with passages that sound surprisingly contemporary. There is a strong Pink Floyd influence in the way the Keyboards and Bass interact. The band gives themselves a lot of room to move and explore the music. This is a great tune and is only slightly let down by some silly lyrics which do actually work in the context of the song.
Following on is “Incarnation of the Logos” which begins with minimal drums and keyboards. The Floyd reference is here again with a Wall feel at the start of the song. The vocals are strong and are heavily treated with reverb which adds to the atmosphere of the track. The band comes in later in the song with an awesome Space Rock section that gives the Keyboards the lead. The bass and the drums lock into an almost Post Rock groove. This is great stuff.
Side two begins with “Decay of the Logos”. This track reminded me of Trans Am with the mixture of live drums and Keyboards. The groove is huge on this track. This track is similar to “Incarnation of the Logos” is it space rock sound until the 2.30 point when the track breaks down. The guitars get given room to add texture as the bass and drums pulse. The vocals are treated and are sampled and repeated at different positions in the stereo plain. The 2nd half of the song is upbeat and more straight ahead rock and have an ear 80’s Iron Maiden feel.
The final track on the album is “Atlantis' Agony at June 5th - 8498, 13 p.m. Gregorian Earthtime”. The track slowly builds and starts with a spoken word intro. It is a very atmospheric track and one that I was surprised I didn’t get bored of. But this track has so much going on and keep adding layers. At times the voice over’s can seem very cheesy but it for the most part they are pretty cool. The keyboards are given a lot of time on this track to build atmosphere and create textures before the rest of the band appear at the 8 minute mark. The band comes in and brings back the space rock of the rest of the song although less psychedelic and more Meddle period Pink Floyd.
I loved this album. This is the first real surprise from this “Quest”. If you are a fan of early Pink Floyd records then give these’s guys a go. Wonder what “Oceans 2” would be like?
9/10
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