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"If the sympathy rating around "Visionary" was mainly due to the pleasure of finding a band that we thought was extinct, this new album is a new milestone in Eloy's discography."
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5/5
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He had been dreaming about it for decades, and it is in the twilight of his favorite band's career that Frank Bornemann finally manages to realize his great project, that of putting in music the one for whom he devoted a part of his life to study the history, the one that fascinates him for a very long time and of which the fans of Eloy had already been able to receive some elements under the form of two titles released in the 90s on "Destination" and "The Tides Return Forever". Joan of Arc is thus honored in the form of a concept in two parts, the second that will be released in 2018.
Following the chronology of History, the album opens very logically with an evocation of the Hundred Years' War, and the first notes of 'The Age of the Hundred Year's War' will immediately reassure the fans of the German band: after a rather unspectacular "Visionary", the great Eloy is undoubtedly back, and the rest of the program will only amplify this impression. For sure, nothing revolutionary compared to the usual music of the band, but the compositions are intelligently constructed and especially, they stick perfectly to the atmosphere of the themes evoked in each of the tracks. 'Chinon', the longest and most progressive track of the album, takes us in a medieval atmosphere, reinforced by a trio of flutes judiciously integrated in the composition.
The whole sounds like a synthesis of all the albums composing the very long discography of the group. The most accomplished example of this impression? The track 'The Prophecy', in which we find cosmic keyboards in the style of Tangerine Dream, crystalline female voices, sharp guitars in the style of "Performance", children's choirs, and then of course the formidable bass of Klaus Peter Matziol. This one is once again the cornerstone of the album, and the real melodist of the band. The listener is of course on familiar ground, all the more so as Eloy skilfully reuses the theme of 'Joan of Arc' (from "Destination") on 'Early Signs', as well as the choruses of 'In the Company of Angels' (from "The Tides Return Forever") in the excellent 'The Sword ...', the latter even offering odd rhythms that will satisfy the most demanding of the progressive fans! And these choirs which conclude the album would even evoke a certain 'Child in Time'!
But the whole is sufficiently homogeneous and so well conceived that there is never any boredom, on the contrary, including in the few narrative parts which are scattered throughout the album, usual weak points of this kind of realization, which here are really accompanied by a music all but anecdotal, the second part of 'The Call' and its formidable bass line being the best example.
If the sympathy rating around "Visionary" was mainly due to the pleasure of finding a band that we thought was extinct, this new album comes to set a new milestone in Eloy's discography which, considering the advanced age of its main inspirer, probably risks to end with the second part of the concept. - Official website
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TRACK LISTING:
01. The Age Of The Hundred Years' War
02. Domremy On The 6th Of January 1412
03. Early Signs ... From A Longed For Miracle
04. Autumn 1428 At Home
05. The Call
06. Vaucouleurs
07. The Ride By Night ... Towards The Predestined Fate
08. Chinon
09. The Prophecy
10. The Sword
11. Orléans
12. Les Tourelles
13. Why?
LINEUP:
Bodo Schopf: Batterie
Frank Bornemann: Chant / Guitares / Claviers
Hannes Folberth: Claviers
Klaus-Peter Matziol: Basse
Michael Gerlach: Claviers
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READERS
4.4/5 (5 view(s))
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STAFF:
5/5 (1 view(s))
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IN RELATION WITH ELOY
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