Eloy - 1974 - Floating

Eloy

1974

Floating

01. Floating (3:59)
02. The Light from Deep Darkness (14:37)
03. Castle in the Air (7:13)
04. Plastic Girl (9:05)
05. Madhouse (5:16)

Total Time 40:10

Bonus tracks on 2000 remaster:
06. Future City (live *) (4:59)
07. Castle in the Air (live *) (8:08)
08. Flying High (live *) (3:30)

Recorded in Krefeld, September 1973, previously unreleased

Frank Bornemann / guitars, vocals
Manfred Wieczorke / organ, guitar
Luitjen Janssen / bass
Fritz Randow / drums

I know I've mentioned in my other reviews of Eloy that they rarely appear more than "magpies", stealing musical ideas and influences from earlier and arguably better prog bands. The problem with this attitude is that, save a few questionable artistic aspects (especially the at times cheesy vocals and especially naff lyrics), you have to admit that Eloy were very good at what they did. And while it is easy to say "this bit sounds like band x and that bit sounds like band y", the final result rarely sounds like anyone else. The main influence/rip off (delete as appropriate) on the previous album Inside was Jethro Tull and Floating takes that to the next level, sounding like a spacey version of Thick as a Brick. But, and I am going to state the obvious, as Thick as a Brick is such a good album, why can't you also enjoy Floating, even if you have to acknowledge its derivativeness?

Now, everything I have just said does not apply to the completely annoying throwaway title track that starts the album. This sounds like an attempted rocking "wig out" track, sort of like a slightly proggy/spacey version of a track like Wishbone Ash's 'Vas Dis' which kicked off Pilgrimage. And it is just as annoying as that track.

The proceeding lengthier tracks are far better. The first is the clear epic of the album 'The Light from Deep Darkness', which is also the clearest rip-off of 'Thick as a Brick' with the martial rhythms, the deep organs and harmonies, which all sound very reminiscent of the "See there, a son is born and we pronounce him fit to fight…" section. Naturally, it's not nearly as good as 'Thick as a Brick' (not much is), but it works well as a spacey "reinterpretation". The best part of the track is the thick, heavy build up from the quiet midsection which unexpectedly leads to another instrument-dominated quiet midsection before the build up back to the main theme.

'Plastic Girl' is a similarly spacey track, this time starting with a long jazzy organ introduction before kicking off via a series of excellent guitar solos and then leading to a big choppy organ solo. But the best of the lot might just be 'Castle in the Air' where the "distant" vocals somehow work perfectly with the hard rocking theme. But then the instrumental breaks are a bit weaker and the wordless vocals are frustrating. So who knows. That is actually one of the common criticisms of Floating, that the three lengthy tracks are all similar sounding with their best and worst bits all muddled up forming a giant mess that is difficult to pick apart. I have to agree with the criticism but, you know, this is still fun music to lose yourself in and not worry about that sort of stuff.

The closing 'Madhouse' is a much more straightforward rocker. It appears to be lame blues rocker at the beginning, sounding like it's from similar stock as the title track. But then it turns into a decent hard rocker with bluesy verses and a somewhat catchy refrain. The instrumental section is also more rocking that what has elsewhere appeared on the album, but doesn't quite work for me – with guitars at times sounding like a poor imitation of King Crimson while at other times they are just generic boogie guitar solos. And of course there's the obligatory boring drum solo. I suppose it's good enough to tie the track (and the album) up without being anything spectacular.

So there we have it. Floating is by no means a classic album, but the three lengthy tracks have just enough going for them to make this an album easy to lose yourself in. Some days I really love 'Castle in the Air', other days its 'Plastic Girl'. And these three tracks, along with the main theme of 'Madhouse', show that the band had just enough hard rocking potential to distinguish themselves from most other second rate prog bands. But interestingly, they would almost immediately change tack towards a spacier, more atmospheric and definitely less Tull era beginning with Power and the Passion. The rewards were not immediate, but it does eventually culminate in my favourite album Ocean.