Unitron Eloy's a band that has gone through many phases, and I love a lot of their stuff. Their 80's blend of new wave, hard arena rock, and pop of Performance and Metromania have grown to become favorites of mine, but the heavy psych/space metal of Floating will always remain my absolute favorite from the band and one of my top albums of the 70's.

This album showed me how far subtle atmospheric touches can go in creating a journey in album form. Even in a loud album with roaring guitars, swinging organ, and a gargantuan rhythm section, the ways they create atmosphere are keeping with the intensity of the instruments. What sounds like palm-muted riffing is used to create strange spacey sounds with the guitars/bass, the organ is given time to play quiet melodies in the background, vocals sometimes echo, and guitar harmonies can play short otherworldly notes. Castle in the Air, which might be my all time favorite Eloy song, is a perfect example of these touches. During the bridge, the guitar is still aggressive, but quieter with that spacey effect. I haven't heard anything like it in any other album, but damn does it sound perfect.

Aside from the unique sound, both the ear for guitar melodies and the rhythm section makes this album. Castle in the Air's opening riff just instantly hooks with its fantastic melody. Bassist Luitjen Jansen and drummer Fritz Randow are playing with the energy of a thousand men, even with the whole band being incredibly energetic already. The finale of Madhouse (No relation to Anthrax's) gallops and shreds like no other and has one of the craziest drum solos I've ever heard outside of a live context. No wonder Randow would go on to play for Saxon on a couple of their heaviest albums.

Simply a classic in my book.

Modrigue Hard rock psychedelia

"Floating" is one of the most underrated or forgotten album of ELOY. The music here is simply a top-notch combination of early heavy metal psychedelia and space rock ! Few vocals, very catchy melodies and energetic guitar playing. It ressembles by moments to a fight between DEEP PURPLE (due to Manfred Wieczorke's organ solos) and PINK FLOYD, but, of course, with the German's band own style and spirit. . Furthermore, "Floating" is very consistent, the listener never loses his attention on the music.

The record opens with the title song, a true easy rider ballad to space. The tune is very powerful, vocals are trippy. This is an excellent introduction which lets you expect more... and this arrives with the 15 minutes magic epic "The Light From Deep Darkness". The beginning is very mysterious, in the vein of "Land Of No Body", then the rhythm changes suddenly and gets angrier, but always in a mystical feel. Alternating peaceful and powerful passages with efficient guitar improvisations and special sound effects, the song is evolving, enchanting, stoning, and announces ELOY's future direction towards space rock.

The next track, "Castle In The Air", is much more rock- oriented, very melancholic to become surprisingly trippy and rocky, in the spirit of GONG's "You" (released the same year). Mindblowing! The calm comes back with the delicate melody of "Plastic Girl", before putting you in a galaxy far away with Bornemann's powerful solos. The disc finishes with "Madhouse", which at first glance ressembles to a classical 70s' heavy metal tune. But this is without counting on the talent of the German space rockers, who summon planet collisions and sonic deflagrations with their instruments. An excellent spacey conclusion which will let you in the sky.

Compared to other ELOY's albums, "Floating" is not often cited and its tracks were not often played at concerts. However it's one of their best records, although not representative of their style and a bit lacking personality. Less symphonic than their future albums, the songs are the rockiest composed by the band. The music is very refreshing, never outdated and will appeal energetic space rock as well as early 70's heavy metal fans!

Warthur Floating follows the same space rock model as Eloy's previous album, Inside, but shows a great deal more confidence on the part of the band. This results in them tackling longer songs, such as The Light From Deep Darkness, which is miles better than anything on their previous two releases. Luitjen Janssen, the band's new bassist, might enjoy some of the credit for them tightening up their act, since the rhythm section this time around attains the compelling, hypnotic intensity that the likes of Hawkwind were enjoying at the time. It's still nothing revolutionary, but fans of space rock are likely to find it a decent example of the form.