Eloy - 1976 - Dawn

Eloy

1976

Dawn

01. Awakening (2:39)
02. Between The Times (6:07) :
- a) Between The Times
- b) Memory Flash
- c) Appearance Of The Voice
- d) Return Of The Voice
03. The Sun-Song (4:24)
04. The Dance In Doubt And Fear (4:28)
05. Lost!? (Introduction) (5:20)
06. Lost?? (The Decision) (5:01)
07. The Midnight-Fight / The Victory Of Mental Force (8:07)
08. Gliding Into Light And Knowledge (4:16)
09. Le Réveil Du Soleil / The Dawn (6:48)

Fank Bornemann / lead vocals, electric & acoustic guitars
Detlev Schmidtchen / piano, Hammond, Mellotron, MiniMoog, guitar, backing vocals
Klaus-Peter Matziol / bass, backing vocals
Jürgen Rosenthal / drums, percussion, glockenspiel, voices

With:

Symphonic Orchestra arranged & conducted by Wolfgang Maus

Eloy were the ultimate prog "magpie" of the second generation of prog rock bands, borrowing from a number of earlier and more successful progressive bands, mostly from the UK. (Although starting during the wave of first generation bands, they did not really come to prominence until later and were one of the few prog bands to successfully navigate their way through the difficult prog era of 1976 to the early 80s, not surprisingly by also apparently borrowing from the few others who were successful at the same time such as the Alan Parsons Project and Rush). Sometimes this borrowing can make for an intriguing mix of bands, most notably Yes, Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd, Genesis etc. from the earlier days, and adding in Camel and Alan Parsons Project from the latter days. But at times Eloy can't quite capture the essence of these bands and the final result is just a random mix of typically prog characteristics and, ultimately, the final product is rarely progressive at all. Add in the oft-criticised vocals (although I don't usually mind them) and questionable lyrics and Eloy ends up being a band somewhere between an acquired taste and a band for prog aficionados/completists only. I consider myself a prog aficionado so the above is certainly not a problem for me, but I can understand those who do not like Eloy for this reason.

Dawn, released in 1976, reminds me most of classic Yes and Meddle-era Pink Floyd mixed with Camel with the occasional Thick as Brick flourish. The increased emphasis on keyboards, especially the moog, possibly as a result of the relative success of Camel and Alan Parsons, or perhaps merely presaging the band's direction for the late 70s and early 80s, works quite well with the band. Some of Eloy's best moments are when the guitars and keyboards are given equal prominence, such as on excellent intro to 'Poseidon's Creation', the lead track from the following year's Ocean, and that is also true of parts of Dawn. The best moment of the album is the excellent 'Lost?? (The Decision)', which effortlessly mixes atmospheric keyboards with mournful guitar notes before shifting to the desperate vocals on top of a deep, bendy, almost funky in a slow way, bass line. The preceding track in the two-part suite 'Lost!? (The Introduction)' is also good with a fantastic Camel style moog solo mixing with prominent bass.

The storm sound effects and orchestration at the beginning of 'Awakening' exist somewhere between generic and dramatic as an album introduction. The rest of the track is quite good, and leads perfectly into the excellent 'Between the Times', a good driving rocker, verging on hard rock, that really emphasises the bluesy stop-start rhythm with which 'Awakening' ended. For a driving rocker, the track is also surprisingly catchy and is likely to be the one song stuck in your head long after the album is over.

'The Sun-Song' is quite pretty in a simple way, again most reminiscent of Camel in one of their simpler moments. 'The Dance in Doubt and Fear' gets into a good groove, again with a nice balance between the moog and the bass before some really nice interplay between all three instruments (moog, guitar and bass).

The closing 'Le Réveil du Soleil/The Dawn', even with a title that seems like a strange ripoff of a Yes song (not sure if that was intentional or not?), is one of the best tracks here. Not in the least bit surprisingly the track is another dominated by a lengthy moog solo, this time one that is both relaxing/atmospheric and urgent at the same time, balanced perfectly with chiming guitars and those deep, dark basslines, so prominent on the album. Basically Camel with extra atmosphere and bass guitar.

As for the lesser tracks, 'The Midnight Flight' has more than a passing resemblance to Thick as a Brick especially the galloping/marching rhythm and the crashes at the end of 'Thick as a Brick part 1'. Some versions of the album have 'The Victory of Mental Force' combined with 'The Midnight Flight'. Apart from its atrocious title, this track doesn't distinguish itself from 'The Midnight Flight' in the slightest and its hard to know one where one ends and the other begins. 'Gliding into Light and Knowledge' is another nice track but does not in any way distinguish itself from what came before and gets quite lost towards the end of the album.

I must say that Dawn was a very slow burner for me (it certainly didn't have the immediate impact of say Ocean) but has now become one of my favourite Eloy albums. Part of the problem is the album's structure and flow. As is common with Eloy's music, the album at times seems just like a random assortment of prog tropes, with no clear structure or direction. With a couple of notable exceptions, most of the tracks blend into each other making the album difficult to assimilate. Most tracks are complex in themselves, even if usually in a superficial way, with multiple sections, Pink Floyd-like tape recordings, orchestral sections, etc. The final effect is rarely equal to the sum of its parts. On the other hand, the album's structure also makes it difficult to dislike (unless you cannot tolerate prog at all of course). After sufficient listens I found that the album to be surprisingly consistent and found it easy to just tune out, slowly drift along and just wait for all those neat prog tropes to appear every now and again… Also, if you really pay attention, you will notice that the band commonly reprises little bits here and there, especially basslines, throughout the album, giving the album a pleasing "wholeness" that is not apparent on the first 10 or so listens.

As is clear, this is hardly a classic prog album, but most prog lovers should still enjoy it. Prog haters won't agree of course and neutrals would probably find it average and unoriginal. But who cares about them.