ELOY LIVE
Eloy
•Psychedelic/Space Rock
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4.04
| 183 ratings | 15 reviews | 40% 5 stars
Excellent addition to any |
Live, released in 1978 Songs / Tracks Listing 1. Poseidon's Creation (11:37) - Frank Bornemann / vocals, guitars
Recorded Live On Tour During March 1978 and to projeKct for the last updates Edit this entry |
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ELOY Eloy Live ratings distribution
(183 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(40%)Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(48%)Good, but non-essential (10%)Collectors/fans only (2%)Poor. Only for completionists (0%)
ELOY Eloy Live reviews
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Collaborators/Experts Reviews
PROG REVIEWER
PROG REVIEWER
PROG REVIEWER
Some very good space-rock is played. It reminds me the spirit of the live set available on "Ummagumma". Not that the numbers here can compete with "Careful", "ASOS", "STCOTHOTS" or the magnificent "Astronomy Domine". Of course not. But "Eloy" plays a very convincing live set. So, if you like the live sides of "Ummagumma" (the only ones which deserves a listen IMO), this album will be appealing to you.
I wouldn't say that "Atlantis Agony" is my fave. It was already lenghty in its studio version, and the five additional minutes here do not reallly add anything. The long German recitation is probably not what is needed during "The sung Song". I feel more comfortable once they have been evacuated. We are reverted to the beauty of the original song.
And some tracks will be better on this "Eloy Live" than on their original studio album. "The Dance in Doubt and Fear" is a perfect example. Stronger, harder keys attack. A very good interpretation. Almost a transformation.
Some old songs also are also played during this tour. "Inside" is just fantastic. A highlight. So dynamic, so powerful. Damned good guitar solo and great drumming. It is one of my favourite songs. But "Mutiny" from "Power & The Passion" is also pretty well achieved. The closing section is extremely good. What a great guitar solo ! Another highlight. As most of this live set actually.
If you would like to discover this band, I can only recommend this "Eloy Live". There will be also some very interesting compilations but this one fully reflects the spirit of the band.
Four stars.
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Prog-Folk Team
PROG REVIEWER
Eloy was one of the few space rock bands from the original progressive rock wave that released a live album. If you count the space rock bands that released amazing albums such as this one back then, their numbers are even smaller. Indeed, this album is a gem among space rock for being one of the few very good space rock live albums from the 70's, together with Hawkwind's Space Ritual.
Probably this album is so great for 2 reasons: 1) it was recorded during the best part of the band's best period ever, which was between 76 and 79, when Eloy recorded their best and most famous albums, so both the musicians and the set-list were top-notch; 2) the band managed to gather the best songs from (almost) each album they did so far and play a better version of them live, what makes the album even more interesting, because the songs are not simply played as in the albums: the songs here are unique versions of the of the already great studio version (The Sun Song and The Dance of Doubt and Fear had their running time almost doubled and Atlantis' Agony At June 5th - 8498, 13 p.m. Gregorian Earthtime had its running tim e increased by 5 minutes).
There is, however, one problem in this album. The song Incarnation of Logos has some cracks about halfway through the song and some considerable background hiss near the end. Though those problems are probably caused by some problem in the master tapes, they are considerably annoying.
One interesting feature of this live album is that Eloy's album Ocean is almost played in full, being only one song missing, called Decay of the Logos
Grade and Final Thoughts
What an astonishing release by Eloy. They managed to put their best in this release and the result is great. Also, this album is one of the few good live documents of the original big space rock bands that was actually released in the 70's. As any great album, it deserves to receive its fair grade and i think that Eloy's Live album truly deserves the masterpiece grade.
PROG REVIEWER
This album opens and ends exactly like the "Ocean" album with "Poseidon's Creation" and "Incarnation Of Logos" starting things off before ending with "Atlantis Agony..." We also get three tracks from the previous album "Dawn". My favourite track though is the title track from the "Inside" album. This song is heavier with some fantastic guitar and organ. "Mutiny" is from the "Power And The Passion" record and also boasts some good guitar and organ late. Synths though rule this album especially on the "Ocean" tracks where we get lots of spacey soundscpaes.The opening track "Poseidon's Creation" is my second favourite on here. This sounds so amazing when the sound gets fuller before 2 minutes and the drumming is outstanding. Check out the guitar before 9 minutes as well.
In my opinion this is a "must have" for ELOY fans as this is really the only live album the band has put out. It sounds incredible !
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator / Band Submissions
'Ocean' is their masterpiece which I like very much - and they play nearly the complete suite which saves the performance from ruin more or less. Despite some narration appearing when starting with Poseidon's Creation I cannot recognize significant differences to the album version. The song as such is a revelation and especially the last four grooving minutes are exciting. Incarnation Of Logos holding Camel traces is not more than a copy too.
What now follows is so-so, symphonic light tinged, sounding unisono - not a challenge really as for the compositional skills. The Sun-Song from the predecessor 'Dawn' album opens with narration again - this time in German. Inside from the eponymous 1973 album makes out a beneficial exception here with some heavier rocking moments.
At the end they open for the twentyone minutes lasting Atlantis' Agony - the ultimate spacey ELOY song - and it all takes a twist again. Track time is differing compared to the studio album on this occasion because enlarged with additional five minutes. A long synth intro takes you away to foreign oceans, later backed by an amazing bass line. A great floating tune with Pink Floyd leanings - definitely the highlight of the performance!
Knowing the studio album 'Ocean' I don't sense a proper reason to prefer the live recordings. What this doesn't make it better is that they don't modify the songs nearly all the way through - unlike other bands in the 70s. Finally the songs taken from the earlier albums can't really turn me on. Nevertheless this is a quite good live performance in its entirety - ELOY fans will be pleased.
PROG REVIEWER
This live album of German symphonic/space rock band Eloy has only one long track. On the four sides of this double lp are different versions of this one song...
hey wait a minute..
Those were different tracks? They all sound the same! The instrumentation is exactly the same, the atmospheres are identical and the over-simplistic use of harmonic clich�s makes this a very unnecessary release. Also the use of long spoken word passages (some in German) aren't very interesting too. One would have expected some extra guitar solo's on these repetitive tracks, or maybe some development to heavy moments, but non of this happens. This is just a bath of symphonic sounds.
Though the sound of the band is very good, the recording is excellent (maybe even a good example!) and the package of the double lp nice, I couldn't find one reason to buy this record If you already own their well known album Oceans. Oceans is played completely (you'll find all it's tracks on side 1 and side 4).
Conclusion. I thought Oceans was a mediocre record (for one of such a reputation), Inside didn't sound very powerful or inventive too and my third Eloy record turns out to be a let down too. This was the last record of the band I'm going to try. This record might be nice for collectors of the genre or fans of the band, but the average prog listener will not find anything new but the drowsy sound of Eloy. Two stars.
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
The break gives Bornemann a chance to speak to his adoring audience in German, though for too long without a translation. This leads inexorably to 'The Sun-song' from 'Dawn' that is a popular song judging from the audience reaction. Immediately I remember the melody as it builds to the beautiful solo passage. Bornemann sounds so fresh and clear on vocals, as good as you would want in a live setting. 'The Dance In Doubt And Fear' follows also from 'Dawn', building with cymbal splashes and a heartbeat percussion that the crowd can clap to. The synths are tranquil golden swathes of beauty, along the waves of bass and guitar. Next is a longer track with 'Mutiny' at almost 10 minutes, a good choice from 'Power and the Passion'. I like the drums on this and the really powerful keyboards over the dreamy guitar phrases. After this the band launch into 'Gliding Into Light And Knowledge' that returns to 'Dawn'. This concert performance showcases how brilliant the musicians were, every track is spell binding virtuoso prog at the highest calibre.
'Inside' follows, the title track from one of their greatest masterpieces, and this is followed by the stunning beauty of 'Ocean''s 'Atlantis' Agony At June 5th - 8498, 13 p.m. Gregorian Earthtime', that clocks a mammoth 20:54. It is an incredible finale and caps off one of the most treasured concerts from Eloy. I wish it had been filmed but listening to this is still a compelling experience. All of the gems are here and this setlist is outstanding. I loved this live album and have no problems awarding it 4 shining stars.
PROG REVIEWER
The live renditions are overall faithful to their studio versions. Some passages have been made more theatrical and features spoken sentences in German. As there were no orchestra, the tracks from "Dawn" are lighter, but nonetheless very nice, even if I'm not a big fan of "The Sun Song" and "Gliding Into Light And Knowledge". "The Dance In Doubt And Fear" is in fact followed by "Lost!? (Introduction)". A powerful moment with a pretty guitar solo in the beginning. As they were not originally played by the "golden" line-up, "Mutiny" and "Inside"'s reinterpretation are quite bombastic. "Atlantis' Agony" has been stretched to 21 minutes. This rather useless and lengthy extension concerns the ambient spacey introduction and does neither really bring something interesting nor enhance the source composition.
For Bornemann and co.'s lovers, there will be no big surprises here, unlike GROBSCHNITT's "Solar Music Live" for example. However, this release is still very good, proving that the band could deliver a robust performance. At this period, during the punk explosion, there were not many live albums from progressive rock bands at this period.
Recommended to ELOY and space rock fans.
Latest members reviews
This is probably one of the best live Space Rock albums since Space Ritual by Hawkwind. The sound quality, let me say is excellent. Everything is very well heard, and when it comes to the rhythm section with the bass and drums, there is almost no better. The sound is very crisp and everyone ... (read more)
Report this review (#252251) | Posted by Rushlover13 | Sunday, November 22, 2009 | Review Permanlink
Because a live album be considered masterpiece? Because when an album have this level of music... Eloy is one of the best German Prog Rock bands and his style moved from Space Rock to Symphonic Prog. In 'Eloy Live' it is not easy to describe the exact genre, not only because this live prese ... (read more)
Report this review (#220837) | Posted by 1967/ 1976 | Friday, June 12, 2009 | Review Permanlink
Eloy's albums have some superb artwork which attracted me to this band. So I got their Ocean album and then this album. Their music is a highly original blend of space rock and symphonic prog. The vocals are strange, to say at least. But they fit the music perfectly. The average length of the so ... (read more)
Report this review (#187776) | Posted by toroddfuglesteg | Monday, November 3, 2008 | Review Permanlink
Eloy Live captures the band at the peak of their career. It features songs from some of their best albums,including Dawn and Ocean. Performances of most of the tracks from Ocean are included as this was the tour they were on. There is also a breathtaking version of The Sun Song from Dawn. I would ... (read more)
Report this review (#132966) | Posted by monolith | Monday, August 13, 2007 | Review Permanlink
One of the hidden treasures from the Prog island, recorded in 1978 on tour, on the waves of unique and excellent "Ocean", it captured Eloy in a conceptual concert based on story of rise and fall of Atlantis, as a reminder of what could happen in the end to us all. Lineup that would make one mo ... (read more)
Report this review (#80227) | Posted by cedo | Saturday, June 3, 2006 | Review Permanlink
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