Eloy
Power And The Passion

THE REVIEW

The sound of an organ with an ancient flavor breaks the silence and takes over the room. I let myself surrender to the vibration, a journey back in time. “Power and the Passion” is precisely about this, a tormented love story that transcends time. But also about how human relationships, over the centuries, have not evolved at the same pace as technology.

An ingenious concept album perhaps in the lyrics, but decidedly valuable in content, both conceptual and musical. The year is 1975, and the Teutonic Eloy have reached their fourth work, completing the change in stylistic and expressive register started with “Inside.” Leaving behind the hard rock of their beginnings, the group approaches a symphonic prog characterized by extensive instrumental digressions. A music with a strong visionary impact. “Power and the Passion” is a dreamlike journey that unfolds between hypnotic bass lines and plentiful keyboards, with the Hammond always in great prominence. Essential atmospheres, almost fairy-tale-like, at times reminiscent of early Pink Floyd. Airy arrangements upon which the caressing melodies of guitars stand, rarely aggressive.

The notes flow like images from a film. From the sudden plunge into the past (“Journey into 1358”) to the suspended melodies of the splendid “Love Over Six Centuries,” with its engaging acted dialogues. A love that blossoms and strengthens, passing through stories of insurgency (“Mutiny”) and imprisonment (“Imprisonment”). But the desire to return to real life is great (“Thoughts of Home”) and its realization (“Back Into the Present”) is not as expected. The epilogue is, in fact, a song of disillusionment (“The Bells of Notre Dame”) and the protagonist finds himself bewildered in his own reality and prisoner of that sweet memory. No happy ending. We always reach the same crossroads: to let oneself be overcome by despair or to continue steadfastly on one's path? The protagonist's choice in this story we will probably never know. We do know, however, that Eloy is still active today. An almost forty-year career, always lived in the underground yet characterized by commendable works. Theirs is indeed a story of stubborn passion.