ELOY — Colours (review)

ELOY — Colours album cover Album · 1980 · Non-Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
Modrigue
ELOY is mutating

New decade, new line-up. Frank Bornemann and bassist Klaus-Peter Matziol are the only ones remaining and recruit three new members. New decade, new musical evolution. Although keeping its personality, the style is now more concise and accessible. No more long epics and soli, the songs are shortened. More oriented into fantasy and sci-fi, due to the increasing presence of keyboards, ELOY reinvents itself and is now freed from its PINK FLOYD influences. Good point. Once said, "Colours" is a transition album, thus trying new directions and a little unequal. After their seminal two previous albums, the shock can be hard at first listen.

"Horizons" is a soft decent introduction, while "Illuminations" is good direct space-rock song, with a few variations. The following track, "Giant", is rather flat and uninspired. Not to be confounded with the track of the same name on "Rarities", "Child Migration" is clearly the highlight of the album. A spacey synth opening unveiling a heavy rock riff and a a catchy melody. Wow! ELOY hadn't' been this ferocious since "The Zany Magician", five years ago. "Impressions" and "Gallery" are rather odd and cheesy, as well as quite unusual for the German band. On the contrary, despite its classical piano overture, "Silhouette" is more typical of them. The record ends with "Sunset", a pleasant ending track with a spacey western melody.

A short and uneven opus, with very good songs and weaker passages. "Colours" is certainly not the best transition album ever made. However ELOY shouldn't be blamed, and for several reasons. First, at the dawn of the 80's, whereas most 70's progressive bands have collapsed, the musicians manage to offer some original compositions. Second, ELOY tried to renew its style, to better embrace the new decade. Finally, as the FLOYD already mutated at the time, the space-rock genre do not have many representatives anymore, thus leaving the field open for Frank Bornemann and co. to develop their own fantasy-space-prog. This new direct style may not be appreciated by all 70's purists, but it's here.

For these reasons, "Colours" deserves a listen. This is just the beginning of an unexpected second life for ELOY...
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Asbestos Tiles Hardcore Punk
SUNDOWNER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Lysergic Ritual Sludge Metal
SUNDOWNER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Terra Preta Sludge Metal
TITANOBOA
Buy this album from MMA partners
Endless Suffering Sludge Metal
LØV
Buy this album from MMA partners
Beyond The Shed Sludge Metal
SINICYST
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Agremorta - Adrocitas (Official Lyric Video)
AGREMORTA
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Agremorta - Ploratus Umbra (Official Lyric Video)
AGREMORTA
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Agremorta - Vertex Membrana (Official Lyric Video)
AGREMORTA
Bosh66· 1 day ago
HAIL SPIRIT NOIR - The Temple Of Curved Space (Official Track Stream)
HAIL SPIRIT NOIR
adg211288· 1 day ago
In Sulfur - The Gate (OFFICIAL VIDEO) 2022
IN SULFUR
Bosh66· 1 day ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed