Search - Eloy :: Power & Passion

The Bells will always Chime!

mobby_uk | London United Kingdom | 06/28/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Power and the Passion is the best Conceptual progressive rock album.Period.
By one of the best progressive rock bands in the world, and certainly the most underrated, Power and Passion is a masterpiece of melodic creativity, a classic album for all ages and times.
Eloy, have had a very interesting career, held together and survived to this day by the genuis of its guitarist and leader Frank Bornemann. They have undergone many musical changes, yet always within the progressive rock genre.
Power and the Passion tells a love and time travel story, but what makes the album different from all other conceptual progressive work, is the music. I have yet to hear a music that complements the story so perfectly..The development of the story, is so well expressed musically..from hard to meditative to joyful to reflective all with many brilliant time changes, great keyboards, powerful drumming, (in all their albums, you feel that Eloy write for the drums as well, and is not just an accompanying beat), ending the story with The Bells of Notre Dame, one of the best progressive rock songs ever written, with a fine solo by Bornemann.
Eloy were see as a Pink Floyd off shoot,and it has to be the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard, because listening to Eloy,you would soon discover how original, and most importantly how consistant that band is..
Many are put off by Bornemann's accent and voice..In high pitch, it is that kind of voice that is very unique, while in low pitch, his voice has a lot of beauty and warmth. As for the accent, well..he sings in English, much better to hear it in a song than German, and besides, you should hear some of the Italian, Spanish and German progressive bands singing in English!!
So Power and the Passion is a masterpiece by a very talented band that should receive proper recognition."

Eloy changes directions

BENJAMIN MILER | Veneta, Oregon | 12/03/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"After the guitar/Hammond organ driven format found on Inside and Floating had ran out of steam, they decided to move to a more synth-oriented spacy symphonic direction, as found here on Power and the Passion and vastly improved upon the next three releases. The first couple of cuts starts off sounding not too far from the Inside and Floating format, but it's with "Love Over Six Centuries" that really demonstrates the new direction of the band, lots of string synths and Mini Moog, in fact this sound like a precursor to my favorite Eloy album, Ocean. Manfred Wieczorke is credited to playing Mellotron but I don't notice any. "Imprisonment" is another good example of this new direction the band was moving to. "Daylight" is one of the last times the band tried to sound like Jethro Tull. "Back in to the Present" actually sounds a lot like Kansas circa Song For America minus the violin. Power And the Passion also marks their first concept album, but their concepts get better after this. Of course this album is not perfect, could have used better production, and some of the music needed a little more punch. Plus I know several better Eloy albums, among them Ocean and Silent Cries & Mighty Echoes. But if you're a fan of those two albums and you want to know the origin of Eloy's late '70s sound, look no further than Power & the Passion."

Synthesizers become an integral part of the Eloy sound

Jeffrey J.Park | Massachusetts, USA | 02/09/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I really got hooked on this band several years ago and snapped up their albums obsessively it seemed. I think that it was the blending of Pink Floyd-like atmospherics and progressive rock that really drew me in, along with their generally "cosmic" aura. This 1975 album finds Eloy turning away from the hard edged psychedelic rock of Inside (1973) and Floating (1974) and moving towards their spacey, synthesizer heavy sound that was perfected on albums like Dawn (1976) and especially Ocean (1977).



The lineup at this point included band leader Frank Bornemann (lead vocals; electric guitar); Manfred Weiczorke (Hammond organ; mini moog synthesizer; mellotron; electric piano; and grand piano); Detlev Schwaar (electric guitar); Luitjen Jansen (electric bass); and Fritz Randow (drums and percussion). The guys are all pretty good musicians and there is some decent playing throughout - especially by Fritz. Frank Bornemann sings in English but with a heavy German accent - it does not bother me in the least.



The ten tracks on the album range in length from 1'05" to 10'09". The hard edged guitar work of earlier albums is present, but most noticeably, synthesizers are used all over the place, lending the music that spacey feel that drew me to band in the first place. Overall, I think it is a nice mix. There are some silly moments that detract a bit from the album (The Zany Magician for example) but these moments are far and few between so the listening experience is not completely ruined.



This remastered album by EMI is just fantastic and boasts great sound quality, restored cover art, and loads of band photos with liner notes in German.



All in all, this is a good album by Eloy that should be of interest to most prog fans. Recommended along with Dawn, Ocean, and Silent Cries, Mighty Echoes (1979)."