Eloy - Colours, First Review Write Off
Written: Oct 12 '05 (Updated Nov 10 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Intriguing space/art rock from 1980
Cons: With under forty minutes in length, it's a tad short
The Bottom Line: This is the kind of band that one could listen to over and over. Good music that you won't get tired and won't command your attention.
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| daumco's Full Review: Colours - Eloy Movies |
Colours - Eloy
It took me thirty years to discover this band but I’m making up for it now, I have purchased eight of their sizable catalogue in the six weeks and one more in route.
Eloy (name taken from H G Well‘s Time Machine) is a German Atmospheric, Progressive Art Rock band that was formed way back in 1969. Colours, their eighth album, was released in 1980, the tenth anniversary of their first self titled album. The web site doesn’t show it but the album cover is a rather colorful painting depicting the back of a clothes less fairy.
Colours is considered one of Eloy’s most accessible, mainstream albums. True enough, it does have lot of pop/rock elements which should have a broader appeal than previous and subsequent releases but I still feel strong Progressive vibes. All the songs on Colours range from slow medium to medium in tempo. There is a fairly good variety, with songs like the opening track, “Horizons” featuring a couple lady singers and a new age, Adiemus feel, while the fifth track “Child Migration” has a strong hard rock feel. Tracks two and three “Illuminations” and “Giant” have a spacey psychedelic ambiance with the later being somewhat Pink Floydian. All the singing by Bornemann while not bad seems to be somewhat suppressed, like he’s singing from a well. Whether this is done purposeful or not I have no idea but it’s very evident on Silhouette, which coincidently receives my vote for the best song. Track four, “Impressions” emphasizes some flute playing and “Sunset,” the last track, sounds like a spacey pan flute, though it’s probably a synth. In fact a synthesizer or keyboards is a prime instrument used throughout on this and many other Eloy albums
Track listing
1. Horizons (3:20) ****
2. Illuminations (6:19) ****1/2
3. Giant (6:05) ****
4. Impressions (3:06) ****
5. Child Migration (7:23) ****1/2
6. Gallery (3:08) ****
7. Silhouette (6:57) *****
8. Sunset (3:15) ****
Total Time: 39:33
Line-up
- Hannes Arkona / guitars
- Frank Bornemann / vocals, guitars
- Hannes Folberth / keyboards
- Klaus-Peter Matziol / bass, vocals
- Jim McGillivray / drums, percussion
- Edna & Sabine / voices (1)
What I Like
~ Brings back some of the great seventies and eighties sounds.
~ Simple unpretentious melodies.
~ Compelling arrangements. Nice use of instruments.
~ Like a mellow Hawkwind on some songs.
~ Music doesn’t try to overpower you.
~ Nice variety in song selections.
What I don‘t Like
~ *39 minutes - too short!
* Several Eloy albums were shorter that forty minutes and can now be purchased with bonus tracks of two albums combined.
Conclusion
One of the interesting things about Eloy is that their music spans almost three decades and the changes from album to album are palpable. It doesn’t seem so much like they were evolving, more like they were adapting. Eloy’s music isn’t like that of most other bands, which have high, highs and low, lows. It’s very even keel, it’s more like their music is created, not to captivate or repulse you but to pleasure you.
I now have eight Eloy albums each with it’s own personality, none with any songs that I obsess over and have to play over and over but I have been keeping four, out of five, cds on my player for weeks, so I guess you might say that I’m consumed with the overall effect of the albums rather than individual songs.
One of the good things about Eloy is that the music is so damned enjoyable. It does very nicely as background music. It can be unobtrusive but it has enough character to be a focal point, something you could sit down with headphones and listen to for enjoyment. That is one of the reasons I can’t seem to get them out of my cd player. They’re not distracting and they’re not boring. The strength of Eloy lies not so much in the individual songs but the whole album as a unit.
Final rating 4.25 stars
Discography
1970, Eloy
1973, Inside
1974, Floating
1975, Power and the Passion
1976, Dawn
1977, Ocean
1977, Wings of Vision
1978, Live
1978, Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes
1980, Colours
1982, Planets
1983, Performance
1983, Time to turn
1984, Metromania
1985, Codename Wildgeese
1988, Ra
1992, Destination
1994, The Tides Return Forever
1998, Ocean 2
Author’s Comment
What’s a band have to do to get a little respect? With a catalog of twenty plus studio albums, all of which are listed on Epinions, you’d think there would be a review or two, wouldn’t you? Well folks, you’d be wrong, over twenty listings for a longtime respected band and not one review for any of them. Nada, Zip, Zero. Anyone checking out Epinions has no idea what Eloy is about. On the other hand a check of Green Day’s smash hit American Idiot we have no fewer than 47 reviews, Evanescence’s even bigger smash hit, Fallen, 93 reviews and N’sync’s, No Strings attached, a whooping 151 reviews. I don’t know about you but I’d rather read the phone book than 151 reviews. Do you think Epinions writer’s are a little myopic? If I was really interested in something, I might read three, even four of the more interesting looking reviews, which means that 275 of the reviews I’ve mentioned are unnecessary at least and redundant at worst.
What’s my point? I don’t know, except I’d like to see my fellow writers write more first or second reviews on any of the thousands of products that are listed, sitting naked on the site, sans a review. So let’s have a FIRST REVIEW - WRITE OFF! No pretentious invitations, Everybody is welcome. Just write a first review of any product and post it, then let me know by email or in the comments section of this review.
Here is a list of the additional FR W/O entries. Thanks to everybody for your First Reviews and don't forget to enter them for the First Review drawing
Additional entries
daumco: http://www.epinions.com/content_200986824324
vanwarp: http://www.epinions.com/content_208273837700
blindsider: http://www.epinions.com/content_208289500804
noddy1: http://www.epinions.com/content_208300510852
Popsrocks: http://www.epinions.com/content_208111505028
MiDoyle: http://www.epinions.com/content_208423718532
MiDoyle: http://www.epinions.com/content_208408186500
blindsider: http://www.epinions.com/content_208426471044
netnut746: http://www.epinions.com/content_208450915972/s_~na
daumco: http://www.epinions.com/content_197460070020
daumco: http://www.epinions.com/content_208568487556
f6ftg: http://www.epinions.com/content_208589262468#ow
nikefreak: http://www.epinions.com/content_208697265796
skbreese: http://www.epinions.com/content_208932146820
daumco: http://www.epinions.com/content_208993357444
Stephan_Murray: http://www.epinions.com/content_209045524100
Stephen_Murray: http://www.epinions.com/content_209191603844
Stephen Murray: http://www.epinions.com/content_209332047492
matzaballman: http://www.epinions.com/content_208626486916
matzaballman: http://www.epinions.com/content_209604742788?alert_type=0&ratings=1&submit=Submit
daumco: http://www.epinions.com/content_191429643908
helenekhoffman: http://www.epinions.com/content_209369337476
daumco: http://www.epinions.com/content_210282974852
den_inte_dod: http://www.epinions.com/content_210672127620/s_~na
daumco: http://www.epinions.com/content_210487316100
matzaballman: http://www.epinions.com/content_209095134852/s_~na#ow
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
daumco
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 - Top 500 |
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Location: Cave Creek, Az.
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