Eloy - 1977 - Ocean

Eloy

1977

Ocean

01. Poseidon's Creation (11:38)
02. Incarnation of the Logos (8:25)
03. Decay of the Logos (8:15)
04. Atlantis' Agony at June 5th - 8498, 13 P.M. Gregorian Earthtime (15:35)

Frank Bornemann / acoustic, electric & effect guitars, lead vocals, co-producer
Detlev Schmidtchen / Mellotron, Hammond, Minimoog & ARP synths, xylophone, voice
Klaus-Peter Matziol / fretless basses, backing vocals
Jürgen Rosenthal / drums, timbales, rototoms, temple blocks, kettle drums, flute, chimes

With:
"The Boys Of Santiago" / chorus vocals (1)

Ocean is easily my favourite Eloy album from those I have heard so far (I still have a couple of discography gaps from their classic period, so my opinion might change). And much of that has to do with the vocal-free first five minutes or so of 'Poseidon's Creation', which is the easily best passage on an Eloy album. It's a perfect mix of all the best elements heard on their previous album Dawn: driving guitars over thick and atmospheric keyboards, excellent guitar and keyboard interplay, including their Camel/Alan Parsons-style synths that hint at the more synth orientated sound of later albums. And of course, that funky, almost Chris Squire-style, bass. The song weakens significantly once the verses kick in where the plodding rhythm and Frank Bornemann's vocals waste a lot of the gravitas developed thus far. I usually don't mind Bornemann's vocals, unlike many who seem to dislike his heavy German accent, although I can understand why, along with the the faintly ridiculous lyrics (and poor English grammar from time to time), it rubs some people up the wrong way. On this occasion though, it almost goes without saying that the track would have worked better as an instrumental. After the monumental, epic introduction, the track just meanders through the plodding verses and is just about redeemed with some decent solos and synth heavy atmosphere towards the end.

The band clearly liked the plodding atmosphere of the midsection of 'Poseidon's Creation', because 'Incarnation of Logos' is built on the same pattern. Initially I just wrote this track off as another fail, but there's something endearing about the blunt, distant "robotic" spoken word vocals mixed with Bornemann's more earnest vocals, over the Kraftwerk meets Jean Michel Jarre backing synths. The second half of the track speeds up a bit and again I'm reminded of Camel, just with a little less virtuosity and a more spacey/sci-fi production, especially those backing synths. The effect is not too bad overall.

'Decay of Logos' seems like it's going down the same path opening with yet another plodding passage. With a slow Pink Floyd-style build up (don't the drums sound a lot like how Nick Mason would effortlessly build tension on tracks such as 'Echoes'?), almost without warning the track explodes to life with its bombastic second half. I can't help but get sucked in by the almost yelling vocals even if the structure of the track is a bit clumsy.

But in a way all of the tracks are merely present to serve as preludes to the attempted epic 'Atlantis' Agony at June 5th - 8498, 13 P.M. Gregorian Earthtime'; its intended epic nature clear from its length and the pretentious track title. This was another track that I had early misgivings about – the spoken word prelude, and the seemingly endless introduction was a bit of a turnoff. Although it would be nice if it hurried up a bit, it turns out to be another track with an unexpected charm. This time it's about atmosphere built by the sci-fi synths (reminding me most of Brainticket's Celestial Ocean; another clear link of the ocean with space) and the almost pop vocals (the "shine on" always reminds me a bit of 'Instant Karma'). But what really nails the track is the Moog solo. After dominating Dawn with numerous solos, the Moog is used as more of an atmospheric instrument here. But the solo at almost the end of the album reminds the listener that, while hardly groundbreaking, Detlev Schmidtchen's keyboard work fulfilled the band's requirements to a T.

So there we have it. As I said, this is clearly my favourite Eloy album, even with all its weaknesses. Every single track works to some extent even if none of them are even approaching what one would consider perfect. The album structure suits the band and is easy to assimilate, (4 tracks all roughly in the 10 minute region, with only the closing track a bit longer). The album is fairly representative of the band in a way: solid and fun to listen to, even if not particularly innovative.