Ocean (album)
| Ocean | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Eloy | ||||
|
Publication |
||||
| Label (s) | Harvest Records | |||
|
Format (s) |
||||
|
Title (number) |
4th |
|||
|
running time |
44:05 |
|||
| occupation |
|
|||
|
Georgi Nedeltschev |
||||
|
Studio (s) |
Soundstudio N, Cologne |
|||
|
||||
Ocean is the sixth and most commercially successful album by the band Eloy . It is a conceptual work about the mythical city of Atlantis and its fall, intended as a pointer to the threatening situation of all of humanity.
Emergence
Much of the music was created in the band's rehearsal room, a bunker from the Second World War . Due to increasing business obligations, however, Frank Bornemann did not take part in the rehearsals to the usual extent . Some ideas like the choir at the end of Poseidon's Creation were born in the studio; Detlev Schmidtchen is said to have composed the first half of Atlantis Agony ... in a single morning.
For the content-related statements, they again fell back on Jürgen Rosenthal, who had already brought the title of the album into play. Rosenthal worked with great effort into his desired topic, but persistently kept silent about the other band members. He was allowed to do it, with the result that no texts were fixed at the beginning of the studio work. The writing of the texts was therefore reserved for nightly overtime, the introduction into the almost finished instrumental recordings took place with the proverbial hot needle (quote from Frank Bornemann: "As soon as the ink was dry, I had to sing").
The album was recorded in September and October 1977 in Soundstudio N in Cologne . Georgi Nedeltschev worked again as a sound engineer for the band. He contributed a lot of creative ideas for sound effects and is often referred to as the fifth member of the cast at that time because of the intensive and very friendly cooperation .
Speakers for the songs "Incarnation of Logos" and "Atlantis' Agony at June 5th - 8498, 13 pm Gregorian Earthtime" were taken over by Detlev Schmidtchen and Jürgen Rosenthal.
The album was released on record and compact cassette in December 1977, and on CD in 1988. In 2004 a remastered CD was released.
Furthermore, an album by the band was released in 1998 under the title " Ocean II - The Answer ", which has the character of a sequel to the concept of the album.
Cover
The album cover consists of a painting by the Polish painter Wojtek Siudmak entitled "The Tempest" (based on the play of the same name by William Shakespeare ).
It shows a muscular male torso wearing a chlamys and carrying a scepter with a skull on top. The neck and head cannot be seen; instead, the body breaks down into small tiles at the base of the neck, the fragments of which take the form of a spiral galaxy floating above the body . In the background you can see the atmosphere of a planet with clouds. The figure is enthroned gigantically on a rocky island in the middle of the sea where a sailing ship was shipwrecked.
Klaus-Peter Matziol and Jürgen Rosenthal discovered the painting in an art book and suggested it as a cover because of the obvious proximity of the image motif and the album concept.
It was also used as the cover for the later compilation "Wings of Vision" (EMI Canada ST-6482, 1980). A painting by Wojtek Siudmak was also used for the cover of “Ocean II - The Answer”, this time a picture painted in 1974 with the title “Amour éternel”.
Track list
- Poseidon's Creation (11:42)
- Incarnation of Logos (8:25)
- Decay of Logos (8:17)
- Atlantis' Agony at June 5th - 8498, 13 pm Gregorian Earthtime (15:38)
The music was composed by all band members, all lyrics were written by Jürgen Rosenthal. But there is also the hint that Frank Bornemann was only significantly involved in the composition of the first and third titles (because of the frequent business obligations already mentioned).
Poseidon's Creation is considered the Eloy classic and was recorded again in 1993 for the compilation "Chronicles I" (but without Rosenthal / Schmidtchen).
concept
Jürgen Rosenthal explained his concept in a specially written prologue . Very briefly, one could say that the inhabitants of Atlantis were doomed in spite of the very best conditions, when selfishness and greed began to determine their lives more and more, and that all of humanity is on the very best path to suffer this fate again. The conviction that the end of the world was approaching (during his own lifetime) was also expressed several times later, most recently in the booklet accompanying the compilation “Timeless Passages” from 2003.
In the booklet of the new CD edition from 2004, Jürgen Rosenthal is quoted as follows about the concept of the album:
“It was primarily about drawing a comparison between Atlantis [...] and the present day. There is so much that is inexplicable and undiscovered. [...] With "Ocean" I also wanted to express that the origin of all life comes from the water, whereas Atlantis sank in the sea. "
The concept is also expressed in the caption of the extended record cover, which reads:
“ Prologue
worlds atomize and oceans evaporate in eternity!
man erects out of the darkness,
laughs into the glimmering light and disappears ... "
“ Prologue
Worlds disintegrate into atoms and oceans evaporate forever!
The person rises from the darkness,
laughs in the glowing light and disappears ... "
The text of the opening song "Poseidon's Creation" sticks to the Atlantis texts handed down by Plato and, after a long instrumental opening, describes the nature of Atlantis, how the sea god Poseidon falls in love with the virgin Kleito who lives there and fathered ten children with her, who he makes rulers over the inhabitants of Atlantis.
The following “Incarnation of Logos” describes the arrival and spread of man on the continents of the earth, showing that man can only defy the hostile environment in groups. The text describes this coexistence as the cause of the development of structures of rule and oppression. The name “ Logos ” is the Greek word for reason .
“Decay of Logos” is then a rock-like song, in whose text an unspecified ruler is accused by his subjects of being selfish, power-hungry and fraudulent.
"Atlantis' Agony at June 5th - 8498, 13 pm Gregorian Earthtime" is opened by a spoken intro, in which the decision of the gods is presented to punish and destroy people who are now without reason. This is followed by a long section, carried by spherical keyboard sounds, in which it is reported that the “divine guided weapon” had been sent on its way. The following shows the perspective of people who have no memories of their trespasses, but watch how the “liquid fire” in the sky destroys their world. A note follows that the rocks of Atlantis have sunk through human actions, but could also rise again through human power and that all the relevant secrets would soon be revealed. Finally it is commented that humanity is like a particle in the ocean and must also show grace.
Criticism and reception
Immediately after the album was released, the band for “Ocean” received numerous bad reviews from the local trade press, while the reactions from abroad were more relaxed. Commercially, however, the album was very successful and, according to the band, sold around 200,000 copies in the first few months after its release, twice as often as its predecessor. In the album charts it reached a maximum of number 28 and was only surpassed in this respect by its successor "Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes", which reached number 17.
In April 1995 Eloy received a gold record for "Ocean". The number of records sold is said to have already exceeded 300,000 copies.
On the website of the “German Prog Encyclopedia” Baby Blue Pages , the album was highlighted as a formative work as part of a “guide” on the subject of “German Prog of the 70s”, but it was also controversially discussed in retrospect.
In most cases, the strong German accent was criticized by Bornemann and Rosenthal in the texts sung or spoken in English. The long introduction to "Atlantis' Agony at June 5th - 8498, 13 pm Gregorian Earthtime" , reminiscent of Pink Floyd , was also criticized:
"Perhaps the only downside is the overlong lead-in to" Atlantis' Agony .... ""
"Perhaps the only weak point is the lengthy introduction to" Atlantis' Agony .... ""
All in all, the album is very much appreciated by critics today:
"This is one of the two or three" must have "Eloy albums. Overall Rating: Excellent "
“This is one of those two or three Eloy albums that you absolutely have to have. Overall rating: Excellent "
Furthermore, the album achieved an average rating of 4.33 out of 5 possible points on the Prog Archives website with 103 ratings, which is the best average rating of an album by the band.
Trivia
"Poseidon's Creation" was used in part in the Tatort episode "Schussfahrt" (1980).
The band presented “Decay of Logos” in the ZDF program “Rockpop” (March 4, 1978, playback only ).
swell
- ↑ Photographs by Wojtek Siudmak
- ^ Eloy Fan Club Magazine, Issue 8, p. 18
- ^ Songbook Planets / Time to turn , 1982, ISBN 3-88393-126-8 , p. 84
- ↑ http://www.gomah.de/eloy/ocean_prolog.html Prolog-Ocean (German)
- ↑ Search for "Eloy" at charts-surfer.de
- ↑ Guide: German Prog of the 70s on the baby blue pages
- ↑ a b Eloy discography on the page of the Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock
- ^ Eloy discography at the Prog Archives
Web links
- Reviews of Ocean on the baby blue pages