Customer Reviews

Ocean

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

German progressive space rock band Eloy perfected the combination of spacey, atmospheric synthesizer work and a thunderous rhythm section on this 1977 album, which many Eloy fans consider to be their best work. This concept album details the rise and fall of Atlantis through four longish pieces including the 11'42 Poseidons Creation; Incarnation of Logos (8'23"); Decay of logos (8'17"); and the final track "Atlantis' Agony at June 5th 8498 13 p.m. Gregorian Earthtime" (15'38"). The musicians on this album are excellent and include Neil Peart influenced drummer Jurgen Rosenthal, bassist Klaus Matziol (he uses a full-sounding trebly Gibson thunderbird bass that really lends added punch), keyboardist Detlev Schmidtchen (Arp and Moog synths, Hammond organ, and mellotron, and finally bandleader Frank Bornemann on lead vocals and electric/acoustic guitar. Although this has been stated by many other folks when discussing this band, it is worth reiterating that Frank sings in English with a very heavy accent. I personally don't mind it one bit but some people have been especially unforgiving. The music itself alternates between very spacey, synthesizer led passages and heavier sections dominated by the powerhouse rhythm section of Jurgen and Klaus. The compositions are all quite good and develop according to a well thought out logic, with wonderful melodies and enough sprightly ensemble work to keep most proggers entertained. The lyrics are very cosmic and add to the overall 1970s charm of the album. This EMI remastered album is quite good, and boasts nice color photos spread throughout and excellent sound quality - unfortunately the (copious) liner notes are in German so I have absolutely no clue what is being said. Although copy control technology was used on the remastered album, playback problems have not been a problem for me. All in all, this is a great album and a personal favorite. Recommended as a good starting point for exploring this great band.

I have just recently bought all the Eloy CD's that they produced in the 1970's, which is the period regarded as their creative and progressive musical best. This was their next to last studio album (back then they were albums, remember?), and was released in 1977, before their sound changed slightly, mostly due to a change in personnel on keyboards (Manfred Wieczorke 1973-1975 and Detlev Schmidtchen 1976-1979 and others after 1980).

I simply much prefer the sound from the albums that came out with Schmidtchen on keyboards, secondly with Wieczorke, and much less from the 1980's and beyond. The music from this period (1976-1979) is highly pleasurable and sometimes almost intoxicating. It keeps reminding me of Camel from their best period, which was this same time frame - the mid to late 1970's. It is very similar music, not too heavy/loud except occasionally (the right mix for me), very progressive and unique, extraordinarily creative, sometimes hypnotic but certainly very alive and captivating.

Camel has always been one of my favorite groups, so that is why I love Eloy! The shame is, for some unknown reasons, I was never exposed to Eloy in the 70's, but only recently introduced to them at the Austin, TX record convention last year. Geesh! Now I seem to making up for lost time and am enjoying every listen.

This is the CD I have come to love the most by Eloy, by far! And it always satisfies me while leaving me with a feeling I want to recapture all over again, as if I were back in time in the 70-'s when progressive music was arguably at its pinnacle.

If you want to experience Eloy for the first time, you may possibly wish to try to Live album, as it captures the first 8 years of music, starting off with the heavy "Poseidon's Creation", also the opening track from this CD. Either way, if you like what you hear, if you like this kind of music, you'll be like me and want to buy all the Eloy CD's from the 1970's.

I find this one to be far and away their best AND my favorite! It is a true work of 70's progressive musical genious!! And I can safely say it has become in the range of one of my favorite alltime albums. And that, my friends, is a hard position to achieve!

Never had I ever known a prog band where the fans were so divided as Eloy. I can understand why fans might be divided over Yes or Genesis since they did turn to more generic pop in the 1980s, but with Eloy it seems that each time the band witnesses another lineup change, they changed their sound and many fans of Eloy's certain sound might not be a fan of their next sound. That's why I see lots of bickering over whether people like Inside and Floating the best, Dawn, Ocean, and Silent Cries the best, or Colours, Planets, Time to Turn, and Metromania the best. For me it's Ocean, particularly because I have a '70s bias. Let me tell you, Ocean is some of the most stunning progressive space rock I have ever heard in my life! A wonderful concept album about the rise and destruction of Atlantis, I really felt Frank Bornemann did the right thing when he added bassist Klaus-Peter Matziol, keyboardist Detlev Schmidtchen, and drummer Jürgen Rosenthal to the band because never before or after had Eloy created such mindblowing work as with this lineup, as Ocean demonstrates. People seem to think that the opener "Poseidon's Creation" is the best and it's all downhill from there. I'll have to disagree there. The second cut, "Incarnation of Logos" is simply stunning. Not too often have I ever heard a song with such out of this world string synths as I have this one! Plus I truly dig the synth solo in the middle. Not to mention the song ends up reminding me a little of Gentle Giant at the end. "Decay of Logos" starts of with some really cool synth work before becoming heavier (in fact it's the heaviest piece on the album). The final piece, "Atlantis' Agony..." is the one people seem to have the most problems with. It starts off with some narration, then with an 8 minute long synth drone. To me I love it! I find it positively mindblowing. If you listen more carefully to the synth drones, you'll find more than just droning, like strange wailing sounds played on an ARP 2600 synthesizer and other cool sounding synths. The other half of this piece shows the rest of the band kicking in, pretty much the same style as the rest of the album. Plus it features a really cool Moog solo. Of course, this being an Eloy album, many of you will have problems with Frank Bornemann's singing, since he's a German having problems with mastering the English language, but he doesn't bother me any. I am rather surprised to find out Ocean had outsold Queen and Genesis in Germany, which seems to be, in an era of punk and disco, that the Germans must have still had good tastes in the late 1970s else bands like Eloy, Novalis, etc. would not have done so well there. So if you want yourself some of the more out of this world spacy prog rock with killer synths and not bothered by Bornemann, you need Ocean!

I have just recently bought all the Eloy CD's that they produced in the 1970's, which is the period regarded as their creative and progressive musical best. This was their next to last studio album (back then they were albums, remember?), and was released in 1977, before their sound changed slightly, mostly due to a change in personnel on keyboards (Manfred Wieczorke 1973-1975 and Detlev Schmidtchen 1976-1979 and others after 1980).

I simply much prefer the sound from the albums that came out with Schmidtchen on keyboards, secondly with Wieczorke, and much less from the 1980's and beyond. The music from this period (1976-1979) is highly pleasurable and sometimes almost intoxicating. It keeps reminding me of Camel from their best period, which was this same time frame - the mid to late 1970's. It is very similar music, not too heavy/loud except occasionally (the right mix for me), very progressive and unique, extraordinarily creative, sometimes hypnotic but certainly very alive and captivating.

Camel has always been one of my favorite groups, so that is why I love Eloy! The shame is, for some unknown reasons, I was never exposed to Eloy in the 70's, but only recently introduced to them at the Austin, TX record convention last year. Geesh! Now I seem to making up for lost time and am enjoying every listen.

This is the CD I have come to love the most by Eloy, by far! And it always satisfies me while leaving me with a feeling I want to recapture all over again, as if I were back in time in the 70-'s when progressive music was arguably at its pinnacle.

If you want to experience Eloy for the first time, you may possibly wish to try to Live album, as it captures the first 8 years of music, starting off with the heavy "Poseidon's Creation", also the opening track from this CD. Either way, if you like what you hear, if you like this kind of music, you'll be like me and want to buy all the Eloy CD's from the 1970's.

I find this one to be far and away their best AND my favorite! It is a true work of 70's progressive musical genious!! And I can safely say it has become in the range of one of my favorite alltime albums. And that, my friends, is a hard position to achieve!

I am 52 and play all of my 70's progressive music for my son. He is 14 and due to bands such as Eloy, he is turning out to be a fine drummer.
Yes, Nektar, Epitaph and Gentle Giant seem to be his favs, and most definitely this lp by Eloy is on the top of his list. I have every Eloy lp and cd and I pick Ocean to be their swan song.

Eloy (name taken from H G Well`s Time Machine) is a German Atmospheric, Progressive Art Rock band that was formed back in 1969. Through the years, personal wise, the band has totally turned over, in some positions, several times. Their originator Frank Bornemann (guitars/vocals) has persevered, presiding over a three decade band, that has turned out some of the best progressive rock music, I've had the fortune to hear.

OCEAN

Ocean, their sixth album, released in 1977, is a concept album, depicting the rise and fall of Atlantis. Though there are only four tracks, they average almost eleven minutes each. Many Eloy aficionados point to this album as their `tour de force'. It is excellent, but as far as I'm concerned , based on what I've heard so far, there is no album that stands heads above the others.

Overall, Ocean has an atmospheric ambience reminiscent of Hawkwind or a more unknown band that I once reviewed named Ship of Fools. It also reminds me Jeff Wayne's, War of the Worlds.

Track listing

1. Poseidon's Creation (11:38) **** Has a long droning medium pace and a whinny guitar intro. At the 4:40 mark, Bornemann finally begins the vocal. There is quite a lot of guitar playing on this song, augmented occasionally by the synth.

2. Incarnation Of The Logos (8:25) **** Has an atmospheric vocal beginning. The song doesn't seem to have much of a melody until the 3:40 mark when the synth/organ takes over with a pleasant one, assisted by some percussion and a bell now and then.

3. Decay Of The Logos (8:15) ***½ The shortest song at eight minutes seems a little jerky at first with more monologue than music. When it does get going after about three minutes it's still jerky in a medium paced beat. Strong synth playing through the middle.

4. Atlantis' Agony At June 5th - 8498, 13 p.m. Gregorian Earthtime (15:35) *****

This is a monster song. It is like nothing I've ever heard. Except for a fifty some second monologue at the beginning, "Atlantis..." starts with a truly intriguing eight minute plus instrumental intro. Not just any intro, like you're used to, with a full orchestra and violins. No this is an spacey atmospheric intro that would make the great Pink Floyd, envious, with the propitious use of ghostly sounds and special effects segueing into an amazing five minute organ bridge, with no beat just the Hammond a few side effects and you. No it doesn't get boring. Instead it sets you up for the vocals, which issue forth at about the eight minute mark. Slowly the rhythm section establishes a slow beat, while the singer does a great imitation of Bob Dylan, with a remarkable spacey synth breaking in between the vocal. But we're not done. With about two minutes left, the band picks up the tempo to a medium fast tempo (the first time I`ve heard them play at this speed). Now the violins join in with the guitar and synth for the finale of this great finale.

Total Time: 43:53

Line-up

- Frank Bornemann / guitars, vocals

- Klaus-Peter Matziol / basses, vocals

- Jürgen Rosenthal / drums, percussion, flute

- Detlev Schmidtchen / keyboards, mellotron, xylophone, voice

- The Boys Of Santiago / chorus (1)

CONCLUSION

One of the factors, I find appealing about this band, is that in the span of three decades, they managed to present a style of music which was compatible with each era, so listening to their albums from different periods gives us a window into the progressive music of various time periods. Eloy's musical tempo almost never exceeds medium and on Ocean tends to be more in the medium slow range.

Listening to this and other Eloy albums I hear influences from numerous other bands. Like many prog bands I hear Pink Floyd but I also hear Uriah Heep, Moody Blues and Bob Dylan (really, on track four!).

Well usually I don't like space/kraut rock as much as neoclassical /classic symphonic PROG MUSIC (After Crying,Isildurs Bane,Anglagard, Mirthrandir, Yezda Urfa, etc.), but in this case, in comparison to the best german space works of Novalis,Grobschnitt or Nektar, this work stands in the same place without reserve !!The concept is about the rise and fall of Atlantis, whose narration -expecially in the track "Atlantis' Agony ..."- is a bit boring. Nevertheless, it sounds almost like Klaus Schulze and it is quite interesting. However,starting by order, the first track "Poseidon's Creation" is characterized by heavy organ riffs, enriched with an atmospheric moog theme and a majestic chorus at the end as well !!Besides the instrumental middle section concerning the track "The incarnation of the logos" is very interesting, making the sci-fi Eloy trademark a secure reference ...anyway their best trademark- the title track- is regarded as a true piece of art music, probably featuring their best stuff, even though I prefer the album "Dawn", here at Amazon not mentioned !!

If you love the best space rock, you have to buy this album!!

For those who have not listened to Eloy before, I highly recommend this masterpiece. There is something fascinating about Ocean. It is an art- rock epic that fuses Yes and Pink Floyd, but you will not find it too complicated. Actually, it is so malted and seriously done that it really deserves to be a part of every A-Z collection. You will understand why this title is one of cult albums from the seventies. Always in their own world, Eloy just could not make anything better than to prove that there are some great rock bands in the rest of Europe. In Germany, Eloy is known as their "best art-rock band ever". Frank Bornemann, Klaus-Peter Matziol, Detlev Schmidtchen, and Jurgen Rosenthal made it so well in 1977. Twenty two years later, their Ocean is still big. I hope you will dive into its water. Good luck!

1977's "Ocean" remains a mystery to me. Given it's a concept album featuring a set of four extended space rock jams, by all tokens I should hate this album with a passion. While it isn't something I'd want to hear everyday, I have to admit that the results have kind of an interesting edge that's slowly grown on me over the years. Largely written by drummer Jürgen Rosenthal, the concept certainly wasn't the most original thing you've ever heard, an allegorical plotline mixing the rise and fall of Atlantis with bits of Greek mythology thrown in (words to the wise, don't piss off the Greek Gods ...) and a nod of caution to current times. While the results weren't perfect, it held together better than most everything in The Pink Floyd catalog and for some reason Boremann's heavily accented vocals weren't really much of a distraction. I'd even argue the occasionally clumsy English lyrics ("guardman of justice offering help favorite victim of your self-made gods") actually added an element of fun into what could have been a pretentious and plodding effort. Back to Pink Floyd for a moment ... Among the dozens and dozens of online reviews of this one, quite a few compare these guys to Floyd; even accusing them of being little more than a copy band. I'd suggest you simply discount those comments and accusations. Sure there are some Floyd influences in these grooves, but they have their own unique sound without being imitative.

- The first half of 'Poseidon's Creation' was an atmospheric instrumental that served to showcase the band's technical competency. Guitarist Frank Bornemann, bassist Klaus-Peter Matziol, keyboardist Detlev Schmidtchen, and particularly drummer Rosenthal all got a shot at the spotlight with impressive results. As mentioned earlier, Bornemann's vocals were heavily accented, but with a little effort you could figure out what was going on and the band's harmony vocals were surprisingly sweet. rating: *** stars
- Initially spotlighting Schmidtchen's synthesizers, 'Incarnation of Logos' was a far starker and more ominous composition. The spoken word backing vocals ("primary procreation is accomplished ..." always make me smile. After droning on for about five minutes the track unexpectedly picked up some speed and energy with Matziol contributing a killer bass line. rating: *** stars
- 'Decay of Logos' seemed intended as little more than an opportunity for each member to showcase their technical skills - Bornemann won this one turning in a killer lead guitar solo. Oh, this was the part of the narrative where mankind basically shows off what a bunch of losers we are, in the process pissing off the Greek Gods. Remember what I said earlier? Don't piss off the Greek Gods ... rating: *** stars
- And then you come to 'Atlantis' Agony of June 5th - 8498, 13 p.m. Gregorian Earthtime' ... This extended epic saw Bornemann and company seemingly discarding most of the elements that made the first side so appealing. Okay, okay, maybe that was a bit on the harsh side ... The track opened up with an over-the-top spoken word segment and then plunged into an extended instrumental section which displayed more than a little Kraftwerk influence, including tons of Schmidtchen doodling synthesizers ... great background music to slap on your sound system while vacuuming the living room. Luckily the band regained their sense of melody towards the end of the track and Rosenthal turned in some astounding drums, even if they sounded like they were being played from the bottom of the ocean (which may have been the intent given Atlantis' final resting place). rating: *** stars

Commercially this one saw the band hit the big time throughout Germany and parts of Europe, though once again they couldn't get arrested in the States.

"Ocean" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) Poseidon's Creation (Frank Bornemann - Klaus-Peter Matziol - Jürgen Rosenthal - Detlev Schmidtchen) - 11:422.) Incarnation of Logos (Frank Bornemann - Klaus-Peter Matziol - Jürgen Rosenthal - Detlev Schmidtchen) - 8:25

(side 2)
1.) Decay of Logos (Frank Bornemann - Klaus-Peter Matziol - Jürgen Rosenthal - Detlev Schmidtchen) - 8:10
2.) 'Atlantis' Agony of June 5th - 8498, 13 p.m. Gregorian Earthtime (Frank Bornemann - Klaus-Peter Matziol - Jürgen Rosenthal - Detlev Schmidtchen) - 15:35

For anyone interested, the official Eloy website is located at:
[..]

When I think about Eloy, the first thing that comes to my mind is WOWwww!!

Their early work (pr-80s) stuff was one of the all-time top3 best Prog/Space Rock Albums ever done in the history of music.

It's only sad that they never got the attention they deserved.

Eloy captures your heart and ears right away with groovy and complex music patterns, resonant bass lines and incredible drums.

All musicians are top notch and they demonstrate their musical abilities exceptionally in each album to the point where one thinks :"Can this get any better??"

All their albums are concept albums, like Pink Floyd, so that's why I'd compare them with Pink Floyd. To me Eloy is Germany's answer to Pink Floyd, although they might not be in the exact genre, but they both take you on a trip to somewhere else (even without 420).

If you would like to get acquainted with ELoy and you already have a taste for Space/Atmosphere Rock, I'd start with Ocean and Down and then go to their live album.

Just listen to the drums and bass lines and observe how incredibly beautiful they weave into each other almost effortlessly.

I wished we could see one last live performance of Eloy in the US