Eloy - Dawn (1976)

Ya hemos traído a Eloy pero la verdad es una de nuestras grandes bandas rezagadas, neckwringer nos trae a "Dawn", salido a la luz un año antes que "Ocean", que tambièn es considerado de lo mejor de su larga discografía, un verdadero discazo como para empezar el día. Absolutamente imperdible; imaginativo, creativo, melodioso, otro de los grandes discos que ha dado la historia del rock progresivo. Otra vez los fastuosos y fabulosos alemanes en otro trabajo maravilloso que tiene que estar en el blog cabezón.

Su sonido tiene mucho más en común con los grupos ingleses de rock progresivo como Pink Floyd, King Crimson y Yes que con la vertiente alemana y siempre se los consideró  como los "Floyd alemanes" debido a su sonido paralelo al de los británicos. Es verdad que a veces suenan parecidos, pero los alemanes tienen su sonido particular, mezclando space rock con aires sinfónicos memorables.
Quizás una de las bandas progresivas más representativas de Alemania, y con un caudal musical de casi 30 álbumes, estos germanos fueron el gérmen de todo un movimiento que vino después, ellos supieron plasmar en su música mucho del estilo de la época, Pink Floyd como base, y de allí supieron darle su propio sello.

El presente disco es uno de los mejores de la banda segun la crítica especializada junto a "Ocean", un trabajo prolijo, con mucho vuelo musical, con excelentes arreglos y con toda la carga del progresivo de aquel entonces.
Otro progresivo que llega para quedarse, grupazo alemán que siempre que se hace historia contemporánea figura y seguirá figurando como uno de los más importantes de la movida germana.

Este es un disco fundamental, no hay desperdicio, no hay baches, todo suena atractivo. Frank Bornemann es el conductor y líder de esta formación, cantante y mayoritariamente compositor de los temas de sus álbumes.

Este disco era en realidad, la continuación de su disco anterior, Power and the Passion, en el, continua con la historia de Jamie, esta vez al regresar a su tiempo.
Frank Bornemann, se enfrenta a la desbandada de su grupo, los cuales querían seguir haciendo una música similar a la de sus tres primeros discos, y no discos conceptuales y sinfónicos, como pretende el. Los nuevos componentes que sustituyen a los anteriores, son Klaus-Peter Matziol al bajo, Detlev Schmidtchen a los teclados y Jurgen Rosenthal, a la batería, ademas de la inclusión de una orquesta dirigida por Wolfgang Maus, que le dan un sonido diferente, aunque manteniendo el sello Eloy.
En el disco anterior, Power and the Passion, dejamos a Jamie desconsolado en l a catedral de Notre Damme, en este, el tema trata del sufrimiento interior, por la ausencia de su amada, que le llevará hasta el suicidio, es por ello, que no hay ninguna canción alegre, intentan transmitir la lucha entre la razón y la locura, haciendo un símil con el día y la noche, en la que al final, como en el ocaso, vence la oscuridad, con la esperanza de tener un nuevo amanecer.
El disco completo, es una maravilla, un derroche de creatividad, en el que todos los temas tienen una continuación en el siguiente, y a su vez son uno solo, con unos arreglos orquestales, que no desentonan con la música del grupo, muy al contrario, le transmiten mucha mas fuerza, pero si tuviese que destacar algún tema, serian The Sun-Song, y LOST?? (The Decision).

Joselu Bornerman

"Dawn" representó un nuevo comienzo para Eloy, un renacer donde se convertirían en su mejor versión. A medida que la banda anterior se desintegraba debido a las diferencias que surgen de la definición del sonido de la banda, de las cenizas surgió una nueva banda con Frank Bornemann como único superviviente y cabeza creativa. Con esta incorporación de sangre nueva y las nuevas ideas vino la nueva dirección musical, han desaparecido los prolongados ejercicios y jams rockeros y psicodélicos, así como las improvisaciones en solitario de otrora, para ser reemplazados por arreglos cuidadosamente orquestados y estructurados. Menos Space rock y más rock sinfónico "convencional" (por llamarlo de algún modo). Las guitarras y teclados están más integrados, a menudo se fusionan para formar una pared de sonido, formando duetos o complementándose, con un amplio uso del sintetizador, aportando momentos increíbles y mágicos, siendo este el núcleo musical del álbum, con efectos envolventes de guitarra, un bajo poderoso y batería aplastante.
Aunque los elementos psicodélicos y espaciales no se eliminan totalmente, y eso es una de las cosas que les da a Eloy ese sonido propio y definido.

Este es uno de los álbumes más fuertes de Eloy, si tomamos en cuenta a sus discos anteriores, noto dos mejoras, una es un tanto ajena a ellos y tiene que ver con la producción: en esta se mejora muchísimo esa faceta, que fue bastante pobre hasta el disco anterior, la otra mejora los muestra mejorados en sus habilidades de composición, así como en su dominio con los instrumentos. El álbum es muy sinfónico, es muy homogéneo y tiene cohesión entre tema y tema, siendo un "todo", mientras que las influencias Pink Floyd son menos evidentes que en discos anteriores, dando una sensación más fresca. Esta maestría compositiva se puede notar principalmente en el primer conjunto de canciones, cortas, que se conectan entre sí, formando una mini-suite épica que comienza con un arreglo de cuerdas que es seguido por un pomposo rock prog pero con bastante sonido de rock espacial. Y desde allí continúa la epopeya musical de Eloy, con un montón de buenos momentos, mucho vuelo de medianoche es un buen rocker largo con riffing memorable, pero este sitio web tiene una versión mucho mejor de ella en las muestras. La última epopeya, bastos paisajes musicales logran un clímax que pocos discos consiguen.

El álbum fluye sin esfuerzo desde una tormenta inicial con exuberantes cadenas orquestales, y desde allí se va desplegando en una verdadera expedición sinfónica que sufre varios cambios de ánimo antes de terminar en una melodía orquestral maravillosa; en un disco que funciona como una progresión evocadora que le cantan una majestuosa canción al Rey Sol.
Pero tengamos en cuenta, sobretodo, que es a partir de este disco que decidieron romper con su etapa psicodélica y aventurarse en una música más trabajada y profunda dentro de lo sinfónico y progresivo.

El álbum es fascinante desde el principio, pero también hay que reconocer que el disco ha tenido muchas críticas relacionadas con la voz y tengo que decir que es cierto, no sólo por lo desafortunado de su garganta sino, principalmente, porque a pesar de ser un grupo alemán decidieron cantar en inglés y es aquí donde esta unos de los pocos fallos del disco, ya que el inglés de Frank Bornemann no es muy bueno que digamos.

Los nuevos miembros de Eloy, ademas de Bornemann, son Klaus-Peter Matziol al bajo, Detlev Schmidtchen a los teclados y Jurgen Rosenthal, ex-Scorpions, a la bateria. A pesar de tantos cambios el sonido del grupo continua siendo mas o menos el mismo que en el anterior disco, ni siquiera la ausencia de una pieza tan importante como Manfred Wieczorcke incide en la calidad del grupo, el cambio mas notable seguramente es el estilo peculiar de Jurgen Rosenthal en la bateria, un hombre que ademas se encargaria de ser el letrista del grupo, algo asi como Neil Peart en Rush, a quien curiosamente se parece en su estilo de tocar. Podriamos considerar a esta, la formacion clasica del grupo, aunque no duro mucho, por que fue la que nos ofrecio los mejores discos. En Dawn, a diferencia de los demas discos de Eloy, podemos encontrar arreglos orquestales en buena parte del disco, que a mi parecer enriquecen el sonido y no molestan en ningun momento, en definitiva, todo un acierto por parte del grupo, que luego repetiria en parte del disco Planets. Este disco quiere ser una continuacion del anterior, mas que nada por la similitud de las portadas, pero para mi lo supera. Se trata de una obra conceptual como The Power and the Pasion, pero mejorado, si tuviera que quedarme con un disco de Eloy, Dawn seria el elegido. Algunos temas son magistrales y estremecedores como Memory Flash, Lost?? (the Decision), The Midnight Flight, Gliding Into Light and Knowledge, The Sun Song o Return of the Voice, llenos de sinfonismo, fantasia , melodias y solos de guitarra con gran sentimiento mas abundantes que en el anterior disco, pasajes atmosfericos, aires espaciales y de ciencia ficcion, algunas partes mas ritmicas y energicas, y algunas influencias de Pink Floyd aunque el sonido es totalmente Eloy, en fin, una delicia. De todo un poco para este disco que no deberia faltar en ninguna coleccion que se precie. Imprescindible.

Ferran Lizana

Ellos atravesaron, como grupo, por la problemática de no ser apreciados en su propio país, hasta llegar a ser una de las leyendas alemanas vivientes más sobresalientes de la escena progresiva mundial. La creatividad era creciente, coincidentemente con la repercusión, esto hace que rápidamente se embarcaran en un nuevo proyecto adicionándole más potencia rockera, que daría como resultado el tremendo "Ocean", continuando la evolución del sonido de Eloy hacia atmósferas más sinfónicas y espaciales. Sus arreglos orquestales interpretados por un ensamble de cuerdas, sus grandes pasajes sinfónicos, en el marco de otra obra de concepto, empezaron a dar sus frutos y "Dawn" comenzó a tener un reconocimiento, buenas críticas y buenas ventas.
Al fin, Eloy estaba encontrando su estilo y entrando en su mejor momento.

Estamos frente a una banda consciente de todo su potencial que trata y logra liberarlo, hacerlo rodar, ponerlo en marcha, desplegar toda su imaginación. Los movimientos orquestales entran en juego y ayudan a encontrar el lugar adecuado desde donde la banda se tiene que desplegar. Acompañado de un excelente trabajo en la batería, maravillosamente equilibrado con el bajo y por supuesto el teclado omnipresente soportado por esa guitarra con aires espaciales, el disco se va convirtiendo, en cada uno de sus pasos u de sus temas en una auténtica obra de arte.
Seguramente muchos cabezones conocen a la banda, pero muchos de los pibes quizás ni los sintieron nombrar nunca. Así es que si quieres descubrir a una gran banda alemana, te presentamos a Eloy, realmente se merecen estar en el podio de los mejores (sino el mejor) grupo germano.

Y ahora les copio varios comentarios en inglés, por si es que hace falta. Pero este trabajo reboza de excelentes comentarios, todos van a decir que les encantó, pero igual les dejo unos cuantos reviews...

Well, with all the potential "Power and the Passion" demonstrated, the band disintegrated because they found their manager Jay Partridge quite unbearable (to the point where I don't seem to find any info that he dealt with any future band after ELOY fired him), not to mention some of the band members didn't quite go for the concept album. But since EMI noticed that the album was selling well enough (30,000 copies sold in Germany), they gave Frank Bornemann a second chance and allowed him to reassemble a new ELOY. New members included Detlev Schmidtchen on keyboards and additional guitar, Klaus-Peter Matziol on bass, and ex-SCORPIONS drummer Jürgen Rosenthal (who appeared on "Fly to the Rainbow", which was produced by Frank Bornemann, although uncredited).
The production on "Dawn" is such a vast improvement, it's hard to believe how bad the production of their previous album was and it was just released the year before. ELOY was going off the deep-end here by adding on strings to many of the cuts as well. The opening cut, "Awakening" starts off with the sound of thunder, an orchestra, before the guitar and vocals come in. "Between the Times" is a heavier piece, showing that Detlev Schmidtchen was probably playing guitar here, rather than keyboards. There is a lot of spoken dialog on this piece as well. "The Sun Song" is a spacy ballad, with the synthesizers finally kicking in. "The Dance in Doubt and Fear" is another great spacy piece with lot of male and female spoken dialog. "Lost!?? (Introduction)" consists of a bunch of Moog solos, while "Lost!?? (The Decision)" more consists of actual music here. The next couple of pieces, "The Midnight-Fight" and "The Victory of Mental Force" has some good ideas, but a few parts seem to fall flat, in my book. "Gliding in to Light and Knowledge" is a stunning spacy ballad that ends with "Le Reveil du Soleil/The Dawn", which consists of the most impressive Moog soloing the band gave on this album.
The band is certainly headed for more great things, as their next album, "Ocean" clearly demonstrates. Personally I find "Ocean" the better album so go for that album first.

Ben Miler

And so Eloy came out with Dawn. An important improvement from the previous (excellent) record Power and the Passion. The addition of the symphonic orchestra was really a good idea as the stormy atmospheric introduction... a more elaborate and complex climax than the predecessor. The classic Eloy's line up is here: along with the mastermind Frank Bornemann on vocals and guitars, Klaus-Peter Matziol on bass, Detlev Schmidtchen on hammond organ, mini-moog, mellotron, piano, grand piano, rmi keyboard computer, and Jurgen Rosenthal on drums (he also wrote the lyrics as for the Ocean album).
The album's atmosphere is so warm and spacey. Very different from that of their following most famous record, though. I think Dawn is superior than Ocean musically, even though not at the same level as a suggesting conceptual opus. A more "terrestrial" record than the ethereal Ocean. I recommend you to buy these two plus the 1979 wonderful Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes as the perfect trilogy on space-rock albums. Thesis, antithesis and synthesis all released between 1976 and 1979.
Back to Dawn, now. The album's progression is impressive: "Between the Times", "The Sun Song" and "The Dance of Doubt and Fear". No one can seriously not falling in love with. Keyboards above all with a very strong bass guitar. Mellotron to give us the opportunity to fly far, far away... male and female voices and choruses to deepen the vast horizons.
Are we in front of a band conscious of all his potential who tries and manages to free it. Orchestral movements erupt very often and are a distinctive trade mark, not to be found in the next two records above mentioned. You have to wait until Planets (1981) to listen to a similar powerful orchestra. Only a song, though: "Queen of the Night".
Finally its' the turn of the fabulous gem "The Midnight Fight - The Victory of Mental Force". What an inceasing job on drums! Wonderfully played and balanced with bass and keyboards. The song' running time is just over 8 minutes and is the most varied track of the album. A real piece of art!! If you are interested, please check the free sample in the Eloy's page.
This is where to start, if you want to discover this great german band! Let's hope Eloy will increase their reputation in Progarchives, They really deserve it!
P.S. With my great surprise, Dawn's sample was deleted and isn't anymore...

Andrea Cortese

After their last record "The Power And The Passion" the band broke up, so Frank Bornemann had to hire all new band members. ELOY has so many beautiful album covers, but this is my favourite. The overall feel of this record to me is very spacey and melodic.
"Between The Times" is a great song with an amazing beat that flows into "The Sun-Song" a spacey and atmospheric tune. Another highlight is "The Dance In Doubt And Fear" opening with a cool rhythm of drums and guitar that are joined by synths. This song has a great melody and there is the added waves of mellotron that help make this a relaxing and dreamy tune. "Lost !? (introduction)" has the same melody although it does change a little. Some terrific drum work on this one, and more mellotron.
"Lost??(the decision)" opens with organ and synths, and the spacey, floating synths dominate this song. As many have mentioned, Frank's vocals aren't for everyone.They have grown on me, from being a distraction to being ok. The next tune "The Midnight-Flight/ The Victory Of Mental Force" is uptempo for the most part, in contrast to the following song "Gliding Into Light And Knowledge" a slower spacey piece. Both are really good songs, although the final tune "Le Reveil Du Soleil/ The Dawn" may be the best on this record. A great melody that finally has some guitar more upfront, and again some fantastic drumming and more beautiful spacey synths.
This is an easy record to recommend, especially to those who like Psychedelic music.

John Davie

Symphonic, majestic and epic, ELOY's Dawn is the conceptual sequel of Power and the Passion, and a vast improvement on the band's sound. Unlike its companion PatP, Dawn doesn't have mediocre parts, it's all very carefully and creatively done. The space rock found here is the born of ELOY's new style, and the final break of their true hard-rock roots. On Ocean, this style will be much more developed, in a more pretentious (but in a good way) and consistent form, with more atmospheric passages and much fewer "hooks", making the sound harder to grasp but better in terms of being more challenging, and not FLOYDian derivative as "misinformed" or "mislistened" people will try to convince you. On Dawn we have a lot of tracks, if compared to the track lists on other albums, but they actually are parts of 4 epics that surround disc. Each one of them plays an important role on the concept, and they don't sound the same at all. They have their own faces, and i'll try to describe them below.
The first epic consists of four tracks. "Awakening" is the intro, with its rain sounds making it a powerful begining. There's a very catchy melody, as well as a moving guitar playing, leading to "Between the Times", the first rocker here. "Memory Flash" has a great guitar solo. The sisters "...of the Voice" feature a wild female vocal, and close this album's first chapter. From now on, things just

Bruno Éttori

The only frustrating aspect to Eloy's "Dawn" is how the track listing has been edited and re-invented in each re-release and compilation, to the point where, especially early in the proceedings, it is nigh impossible to tell which track is which. Other than that, this is one of the finest examples of symphonic space rock ever released. It is also one of the few Eloy albums that does not specifically idolize earlier bands, but largely forges its own style.
One of the impressive aspects of Dawn is how this is now the third formation of Eloy, who appeared to be floundering after 2 weak releases, "Floating" and "Power and the Passion". In fact, of their first 4 albums, only the brilliant "Inside" was actually better than average, so one might have been excused for writing them off after yet another implosion. But the addition of Detlev Schmidtchen on keyboards and Jurgen Rosenthal on drums proved the needed boost. It was also Rosenthal's songwriting prowess which, love it or hate it, gave Eloy some lyrical material to work with. Bornemann could no longer get away with freaked out vocals, and this is when we really start to notice that his accent is problematic. Over the years he would work on it, but at times here it is pretty raw, even if it has a pleasant timbre to my ears.
In vinyl terms, the first side is particularly powerful as it moves from one brief track to another with aplomb, some spacey, some hard rocking, some both. The variation in the pace and in the ballad vs rocker quotient is also inspired. Bornemann wisely concedes top spot to the cosmic keyboards, which range from mellotron to moog, with some judicious use of orchestra, but his guitars still play an important supportive role, as does the bass of new member Klaus-Peter Matziol. Curiously, this approach would not return until the 1980s with Planets. He does put forth a certain jangly, almost acoustic styled electric guitar in many places, which would become his trademark going forward. Apart from the aforementioned difficulty in singling out particular tracks with any degree of certainty, the album is really a unified work in which each piece builds on all that came before, and it is meant to be listened to in its entirety. The band makes this easy by including only top notch material.
From the perspective of composition, arranging, instrumental prowess, melodic instinct, and ability to rock out with subtlety and power, I believe that "Dawn" simply humbles the contemporary competition. It also marked the dawn of Eloy's golden age.

Keneth Levine

Eloy is a legendary band which was established in 1969 by guitarist Frank Bornemann in Hannover, started with the debut self-titled album (Philips, 1971) which contained as eight-minute epic "Something Yellow". Bornemann then had to deal with continuous changes of line-up and never quite returned to the sound of the first album. He became the lead vocalist of the band on "Inside" (EMI, 1973), continued with Floating (EMI, 1974), although the most accomplished composition was probably the shorter Castle In The Air. The concept album "Power and the Passion" (EMI, 1975) was the critical milestone of the band.
After Power and the Passion, Eloy broke up. Some members wanted the new concept album direction that guitarist/vocalist Frank Bornemann obviously wanted, and others didn't, preferring the old format like "Inside" and "Floating". EMI/Harvest gave Frank Bornemann a second chance to continue Eloy. So he found some musicians in his hometown of Hannover: drummer Jürgen Rosenthal (ex-Scorpions), bassist Klaus-Peter Matziol, and Detlev Schmidtchen, who at the time was more of a guitarist, but also a keyboardist. With this new line-up, the band recorded "Dawn". This album remarked the golden age of Eloy. Detlev Schmidtchen provided the symphonic arrangements that Bornemann desired, and Bornemann himself refined his vocal style to resemble David Gilmour. Not surprisingly, the resulting sound was a mixture of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of The Moon".
The production has improved significantly over their previous albums. An orchestra has been included on some of the cuts. Awakening kicks off with the stormy nuance, orchestra, then eventually the music kicks in with acoustic guitar and vocals. Between the Times is a rocker from the band. Appearance of the Voice, Return of the Voice and The Dance in Doubt represent the music that sounds like their previous albums. There are lots of string synthesizer and Mini Moog.
Overall, this is an excellent addition to any prog music collection. Keep on proggin' ..!

Gatot Widayanto

One of the hugest, most unapologetic symphonic onslaughts of all time. Pure and simple. On Dawn Eloy creates such a swelling, rich and constant flow of music it borders the unbearable at times.
Being a bastard child of the open and more repetitive structure of space/psych prog and the classical aspirations of symphonic prog (augmented by the use of an actual orchestra on this album), Dawn often walk on familiar paths and rarely surprises with any real invention. Instead it focuses on fan service; it is overblown, pompous, dynamic and...just a greasy musical burger. But as such it's also precisely what a hungry classic prog fan need now and then.
Yes, the combination of space and symphonic is a successful one indeed. The drawn-out, pseudo-jammy feel created by slowly progressing synth waves and a strong, often quite simple and highly effective bass create a lofty, suspended and timeless atmospheric skeleton which is fleshed-out by a number of different methods. Eloy manages to do this in quite a few different ways, and it's mostly that fact that makes Dawn such an interesting album. Chunky rock riffing, the balanced but noteworthy use of orchestral arrangements or efficient, clear noodling from the guitar or an array of swirly effects and percussion. And yet its identity of mysterious transcendence is maintained by the strong spacey atmosphere that permeates all the songs.
The band obviously likes to suck on motifs and themes, giving them a lot of time to mature, slowly shifting in layering and detail and rarely disturbing a lyrical delivery by drowning it in sound. They stick to this high-viscous approach for most of the album, making it disturbingly uniform when not giving it proper attention. Interludes such as orchestral crescendos, a sudden shift to nothing but guitar chord work or a whirling Celtic passage help shed more light to the variety, but the basic rule is to enjoy the music as its delivered, if that makes any sense to you.
Dawn can be a powerful spiritual journey when you're in your most perceptive state of mind, but just a tad too overpowering and pretentious when you're not. It's still filled with quality music though, and I recommend it to all fans of classic 70s prog.
3.5 stars, but it qualifies for a 4 on ProgArchives.

Linus W.

While there are a couple of pieces on the subsequent album that I much prefer (the mighty "Poseidon's Creation" being chief among them), I find this to be an all-around more consistent album, full of flavor and beauty. It should please fans of the genre as well as those who enjoy down-to-earth compositions that are given a galactic edge due to spacey synthesizers.
"Awakening" A gorgeous way to begin the album, this prelude of sorts has rain, gentle guitars, and delicate strings.
"Between the Times" Carrying right on from the previous track, this has distant piano but is a bit heavier, with chewy electric guitar and busy drum fills. A feminine and almost electronic voice speaks as the strings reappear. It is a complex track, but very satisfying.
"The Sun Song" With the synthesizers in place, creating a majestic atmosphere, this comes closer to pure symphonic magic.
"The Dance in Doubt and Fear" A steady bass riff is pounded out as the spacey synthesizer returns. Some spoken word occurs over all this.
"Lost!? (Introduction)" This evokes images of ancient tribes and rituals, with the strange vocals and percussion. However, a wicked little synthesizer is the highlight of the piece. More water and lovely strings make for a second highlight.
"Lost?? (The Decision)" The introduction to this is kind of a rip-off of that well known passage from The Phantom of the Opera. This piece tends to be a bit repetitive, with a delicate guitar and synthesizer passage disrupted by drums and bass.
"The Midnight Fight/The Victory of Mental Force" Punctuating bass jumps in as the singer sings rapid and echoing phrases that are (due to the German accent as well as the effects) difficult to understand. Probably my favorite part of the album comes directly after, however, with a great bass riff, hasty drumming, and a great synthesizer excursion. During the vocal segment that follows, strings add some subtle touches. The bass work is at its most creative during the second half; while it's nothing technically challenging or inventive, it does exactly what it's supposed to do.
"Gliding into Light and Knowledge/The Dawn" High frequency noises gives way to lovely yet haunting guitar, bass, and square lead. The second half has an intriguing yet simplistic guitar and bass riff, with various airier sounds layered on top of it. In a way, it reminds me of the middle section of "Awaken" by Yes. This instrumental passage explodes into a synthesizer and lead guitar duet. Beautiful strings, spoken word, and a lone drum finish the piece.

Robert W. Brown, Jr.

Awaken at the Dawn
Following a quartet of ever improving releases recorded by a substantially stable line up, Eloy appeared to have the world at their feet. All the indications were that the following albums would bring the breakthrough the band deserved. Unfortunately, it was at this point the the band imploded. Much of the blame for this appears to have been placed with the band's manager Jay Partridge, who is alleged to have pulled them apart. Whether Partridge should be held solely responsible is a matter for conjecture, and we must assume that he merely exacerbated existing difficulties between the members.
Whatever the true facts are, one fact remains. Frank Bornemann found himself to be the sole remaining member of Eloy when all the others who recorded "The power and the passion" downed tools and left.
To his credit, Bornemann did not simply throw in the towel. He sought the help of Eloy's record label to assemble a new line up, and set about recording "Dawn". Thematically, the album appears to be a sort of continuation of "The power and the passion", but the story here is much more obscure (if there is one!). This can perhaps be attributed to the fact that while Bornemann is credited with the story, new boy Jurgen Rosenthal actually wrote all the lyrics.
In another first for the band, the string section of an orchestra is added to several tracks, enhancing Eloy's symphonic credentials. The liberal use of mellotron though means that the effect of the strings is limited though.
After the short but credible "Awakening", we enter the four part "Between the times". With the track lasting just over 6 minutes, the constituent sections are brief. The conversation aspect of the male female vocals harks back to "The power and the passion".
"The sun song" is an undoubted highlight of the album, with swirling mellotron supporting a powerful vocal and symphonic prog effects. Those who crave all things mellotron should seek out this track alone as one of the finest examples of its use. The following "Dance of doubt and fear" continues the mellotron dominance, but a heavier beat and obscure spoken word combine with some fine organ work to make for a more complex arrangement. For reasons not obvious, the title of the two "LOST!?" tracks is in capital letters. The first part, "Introduction" features some synthesised choral vocals and a synth solo. It is the most adventurous track recorded by the band thus far, and a good indicator or what was to come. The latter part of the track sees the strings take over, playing a sad but melodic classically tinged refrain. The second "LOST??" (note the two question marks) is subtitled "The decision". The organ intro is a sort of variation on a well known Bach piece, but the main tune soon takes us in a different direction. Musical dramatics are used to fine effect here, before an orthodox vocal section rounds off the track.
"The midnight fight/The victory of mental force" is the longest track on the album. Here, all the dramatics and orchestration scattered throughout the album are brought together with a frantic beat in a cacophony of controlled aggression. This track, more than the others, harks back to the rock roots of the band, but this time the overall sound is so much more sophisticated and refined. "Gliding into light and knowledge" returns us to the majestic mellotron soaked symphonic prog on which the album is largely based. The album closes with the mostly instrumental "Le reveil du soleil/The dawn", which includes the line "Nous sommes du soleil" There are certainly some Yes references in the track, but they are much more "Awaken" in origin.
In all, despite the enormous challenges faced by Frank Bornemann, he and his new colleagues manage to take Eloy to new heights with this album. Musically, there are still some rough edges here, but in terms of overall quality, this is a milestone recording for the band.
By the way, unlike preceding album, the remastered CD release contains no additional material.

Bob McBeath

Space and Pride.
What more could be said? It's a very good album. Yes, behind a cheesy cover that looks like the health card of the Quebec Province rests an album full of grandeur, making hard to believe this is only a four-piece band. As usual, stellar hypnotic Gibson Flying V solos, inventive bass lines (so good) and the Deutch accent so thick, even light cannot escape from it.
Starts with a huge rainstorm and ends with grace, the band will reach perfection with Ocean; so think of this album like almost-perfection. Yes, there is a little filling in the end, but just a little. One thing I particulary like is the voice acting in Eloy. It takes more space this time, with a temptress that sounds like Dalbello (or a young Geddy Lee!) and my favorite: the God voice. I simply ADORE this Yaweh-type of divine intervention in a song. It's creates the set of space perfectly! Once again, fans of Frank Frazetta or Jim Burns fantasy drawings will be served!
Considering the level of Ocean or Mighty Echoes (like 7 stars out of 5), this is a 5 hands down.
Let the geek in you soar.

Jonathan Payeur

Every symphonic prog band in the 70s has released at least one album with a Symphonic Orchestra. This is a case in which the effort of the orchestra is barely perceivable here and there. Probably it could have been used better.
This is more evident in the second track: a six minutes long divided in four parts below two minutes on which there's no room for the instrumental effort of an orchestra. On my vinyl version they are effectively 4 separate tracks.
The music inside is no longer inspired to Uriah Heep. The harder parts remind more to Deep Purple, specially on "The Dance Of Doubt and Fear" that has something of Child in Time (and seems to have inspired later the soundtrack of Tomb Raider) but in general the album is a mix of Floydian and rock moments with a guitar that sounds a bit Krautrock when is not making a solo and the inconfondible German accent of Bornemann. Even if his accent can be sometimes disturbing, it's a sort of trademark of the band.
The highlight of this album is "Lost" (both the two parts). The instrumental part in the frist two minutes is very good even if the breaks made by the "oooh" choir are still too related to the first albums of Uriah Heep. It's on this track that the orchestra can give his effort with a very symphonic moment. Unfortunately just a moment as it lasts for no more than two minutes.
In the second part (The Decision) the organ reminds to Bach's fugue in D minor, then the bass in foreground and the orchestra behind sound similar to the Renaissance who were making a similar thing (Live at Carnegie Hall) in the same year. I'd like to imagine Annie Haslam singing here instead of Bornemann.
The closing track starts with winds and Bass like Pink Floyd's "One of these days" but when Bornemann sings his voioce takes a Jethro Tull flavour. The instrumental part which follows driven by bass and keyboards is excellent and property of Eloy only. This band has never been too "original", but in the end they had a very recognizable sound.
Not a masterpiece also this, but even if I have underlined the bads more than the goods, I'm not ashamed of rating it with four stars. A bit more instrumental parts with more room for the orchestra and more original things like in the last 3 tracks is everything it would have needed to be a masterpiece.

Luca

What a terrific improvement over their previous efford The Power and The Passion! And even more so if you remember that the band broke up after that record (according to leader Frank Bornemann because of bad manangment and musical differences between band members). He almost call it quits after that. But Bornemann´s resilience paid off since the new line up would be probably Eloy´s best ever, with ex Scorpions drummer Jürgen Rosenthal stepping in, plus Klaus-Peter Matziol (bass) and Detlev Schmidtchen (keyboards, guitar). The group was also allowed to use a full orquestra for the first time. The results are simply stunning.
While this conceptual album is basicly a sequence of the story told on the Power And The Passion CD, this is a far better work, both on the instrumental parts and on the lyrics department. It´s hard to believe this is the first album with the new personel since the performances are great. The songs merge one into the other giving it a cohesive whole, like a long suite and not just a mere collection of tunes. While all other Eloy´s records have fine moments (specially their second one, Inside), Dawn was the first one that can be really be seen as a total success and the beginning (or dawning) of their very own sound. The psychedelic/space rock flavor is still there (Pink Floyd was definitly an influence), but now we have greater symphonic prog feel on it.
I always hear this CD from beginning to end without skipping a single track. The orchestral arrangements are beautiful and enhance the strong songwriting, and the fine performances of all band members. I just loved Matziol´s fine bass runs and Bornemann´s improved (yet never flashy)) guitar lines. It is really a pity that they would never use an orchestra as an integral part of the record´s sound for their future CDs. Even Bornemann is much more convincing as a singer (despite his heavy german accent), although he had not mature his personal style yet. . His voice would get better eventually, but this is his best delivering so far. And the lyrics are way better too. This point is much helped by the fact that newcomer drummer Rosenthal provided the words for all the songs: his poetry proved far more subtle, intriguing and interesting than the mediocre, naive ones featured on The Power And The Passion.
Conclusion: Dawn is definitly one of my favorite Eloy´s albums of all time. And the first of a string of great ones they would eventually produce over the next few years. A very good starting point if you want to get to know for this classic prog band of the 70´s. Rating: something between 4 and 4.5 stars. Highly recommended!

Tarcisio Moura

A crash of thunder, rain and storm clouds of orchestra strings opens up the magnificent "Dawn" by Eloy. Bornemann's familiar vocals soon come in and a beautiful acoustic flourish on 'Awakening'. The concept album was a huge drawcard to album listeners in the 70s and Eloy always delivered some of the best conceptual masterworks. The music with lengthy jamming instrumental was always designed for the conceptual link between songs and Eloy delighted listeners with lengthy complex compositions with reflective lyrics. The combination of virtuoso musicianship and high concept lyrical themes is an irresistible force and 1976 was at the peak of prog. Bands could get away with virtually anything and were free to express their own ideas through music no matter how outlandish.
"Dawn" is a complex album with some huge ideas put to very impressive musical themes. The tracks run together almost seamlessly as one and there are multi movement suites that encompass several songs such as 'Between The Times' in 3 sections with a variety of styles and time signatures, with inventive musical breaks.
These moments are definitely highlights and at times the music is uplifting and very emotionally charged such as the beautiful melancholia of 'The Sun Song.' The stirring majestic orchestral score at the end of this track is stunning; as good as the symphonic material on The Moody Blues "Days of Future Passed".
The majesty continues on 'The Dance in Doubt and Fear', with organic keyboards that glide over a strong percussive hook and pulsing bassline. Bornemann narrates the ideas and the music is allowed to flow along on beautiful key pads. The music soars to the stratosphere and is perhaps some of the loveliest musicianship from Eloy.
'LOST!?' in 2 parts is next beginning with 'Introduction', made up of deep chanting and synthlines. The bass and drums hook into a moderate tempo and a keyboard solo follows. After a passage of vocals ad uplifting music, the sound of waves crashing is heard followed by gorgeous emotional violins.
The second section is 'The Decision' beginning with cathedral organ in the vein of Sky's 'Toccata'. The currents of guitar lines flow on a river of synthesizer. It slowly ebbs meandering until Hammond and bass crash in. This is mesmirising music and it builds so gradually until Bornemann's vocals return like an old friend. The wall of synth is so effervescent and ethereal, and at the end a howling wind emanates.
'The Midnight-fight/ the Victory of Mental Force', an 8 minute prog feast, begins with a fast vocal delivery and an off beat bass heartbeat. The fast tempo drums are outstanding and later there are powerful string eruptions to augment the atmosphere of a battle in the heavenlies. The interlude is full of heavy Hammond shimmers and some dynamic percussion and bass. The lyrics are excellent too with effective rhyming phrases following the intricate musicianship. An echoed guitar stabs as violin strings ooze over gliding down over the melodies. The signature shifts again into a frenetic pace and some incredible keyboard, guitar strikes and jazzy percussion dominates.
'Gliding into Light and Knowledge' opens with weird bird calls and an acoustic layer. The ambience is joined with an accordion sound along a rhythmical figure. Bornemann sings phrases such as "where is the sun", "I'm gliding into light and knowledge and crossing everlasting pastures", "we live in here we suffered here", "into the everlasting future".
'Le Reveil du Soleil/ the Dawn' closes the album with a bass intro and some spacey synths and chimes. A spoken word is heard before an elongated passage of music with some angelic choral voices. The mood is like the dawning of a new day. A gong resounds and some vibrant percussion metrical figures before a loud synth takes over. The album ends on a majestic uplifting note as if dawn is closing in and the world is again at peace. The album has been a breathtaking momentous work of innovation.
"Dawn" is a stunning achievement; conceptually masterful with some of the most incredible musicianship of the mid 70s when prog was flourishing. The album stands out as another landmark for Eloy, along with "Ocean" and "Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes". A symphonic work of beauty, it is a diamond studded jewel in the treasure chest of progressive milestones.

Scott Tuffnell

For the fifth album "Dawn" Frank Bornemann practically reinvented the band - himself being the only remaining member from earlier line-ups - and perfected the sound production, which as a result had the first "classic" ELOY album. Again a conceptual work - following a story of a dead man's soul travelling back and forth between universes and settling in the rising Sun, or something like that? - "Dawn" presents a truly consistent effort, which means there are fewer ups and downs; the album flows seemlessly from one song to another, and is really an enjoyable listening experience. Apart from a few heavy guitar riffs in "Between the Times", the music is now largely confined to the genre mixing of symphonic prog and space rock. Beautifully performed rhythm section, with lots of drumming breaks using tympani or tom toms and pulsating melodic bass patterns, is accompanied with dominant sound of electronic keyboards, creating a lush atmosphere sometimes reminiscent of early 1970s work by PINK FLOYD. "Symphonic" nature of the album is also demonstrated by the inclusion of a string orchestra and what sounds like a choir. Yet, these elements do not work well in all cases, as was the situation with many famous "rock meets symphony" collaborations in the past. ELOY's vocal department was never their strong point and Bornemann's heavily German-accentuated English singing is again an issue here, especially if you have not acquired a taste for it. Overall, "Dawn" was the best ELOY album to date and it is recommended as a starting point for newcomers, but due to some missteps with vocals and strings/choir elements I am reluctant to pronounce it a masterpiece. Four and a half stars are dawning...

Sead S. Fetahagic

I just read all the previous reviews. Good reviews everybody! I read about the band's problems with their manager, about how Frank Bornemman started again the band from scratch, I also read many things about how the instruments are been played in this record, about the intro with the storm, etc etc... One thing I didn't read though. How you FEEL when you listen to this record! Because music (and especially Prog) is not just plain analysis of the songs and the instruments. Prog is feelings! Prog is pictures!
Forgive me, but I'm not a musician. I have been to musician's companies when they were analysing records and songs and I wanted to die of boredom! (Listening for example a specific 10 seconds part of a solo for 5 times and then talking about it for half hour!) For me music is something different. I love Progressive Rock because it makes me feel things. It makes me want to close my eyes, sit back and let my mind travel. And that is something this record does very well. It travels your mind!
Another very important parameter is the time you listen a record for the first time. For example many of the records that I adore, are the ones I really grew up with. And 'Dawn' is one of them. First it happened to listen 'Power & Passion', and it was a great album! After listened this record for 50 times within a month, I found 'Dawn'. And that was it! I stuck there! After it was 'Ocean'. Another very good album. But it was not 'Dawn'. I have spend over one decade worshiping this record! I first bought it on vinyl. Then it was seriously damaged from the many hours of playing, so I bought it again. After a while I found a German copy (I think the original one), with the gatefold and the lyrics, so I bought it for the 3rd time! But the next year it was the cd's explosion. You know... Clear sound and all the rubbish they were telling us back then. 'Dawn' it was my first cd. And I don't remember now why, but I bought it again a second time in cd. Total: 5 times I bought this record. Am I insane? Maybe!
Another very important thing I believe is Frank Bornemman's funny English accent. I'm not English or American or Canadian etc, so for me his accent is not so weird. Yes, I understand how funny it is, but I'm used to it and you believe it or not, I like it! If one day Eloy release an album that someone will sing with a great English accent, it will be terrible for me!
Anyway... Trying to become a little objective here, I really believe that Eloy is maybe the greatest German Prog-Rock band, and this record is one of their best works. If I had to propose one more record to someone, that would be 'Eloy Live'. Because is a live record that contains songs from their best 3 albums, Power & Passion, Dawn, & Ocean, in very good versions. As for the rating? I will put 5 stars on this one!
I hope I didn't make you yawn from boredom... Thank you for reading this... :)

George The Jester

I love this band and "Dawn" is their best album. I recently bought the remastered CD (9 tracks) and it sounds beautiful. I own this record from the early 80's and listening to it again is a pure pleasure. IMO this is the most complete and got-together album. A true concept album that listening to it must be in one time from start to end. No songs should/can be skipped. I think that Eloy got their own sound and direction in this album which made them unique in the progressive rock scene. the German accent only add to its uniqueness. 5 stars without hesitating! As Proarchive defines: "Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music"

Eli Sagie

This is in the string of Eloy's best collection of albums, spanning from 1976-1982. With the new lineup, Frank could truely express himself with the music he was meant to play. It's much stronger than the previous album because the new memebers have much more musical talent, though the orchestra sometimes holds the sound back, its such a flavorful experience to listen to this album. It's a concept album, so I am going to grade it as one.
The opening is excellent. With beautiful orchestra, its the least of the other parts of the album because it seems a bit weak, though its perfect for this kind of album. The sections to this album are definatly very well fitting for most of the time, with the best guitar parts performed by a man named Frank, and some of the best basslines are definatly on this album. Klaus is a very good bassist, let me tell you. His thunderbird is definatly very well heard in the mix, and not too bottom end like much of the other bands at the time, but other prog bassists such as Geddy Lee, and Chris Squire were well in the mix with Klaus. Now, to one of the best keyboardists ever, Detlev plays some great piano parts, and is very good at what he does on this album. Jurgen is another amazing drummer, much different from others I have heard because of his overall style. There are only a few parts of this album that I do not like, "Lost (Introduction)" is meaningless to me, but the rest of the album is excellent.
This album you have to get by Eloy because its in the string of amazing albums, 1976-1982. The album is obviously a masterpiece, so I give it a 5 stars because you need to get your hands on it and listen.

Vaughn

Marvels from Marbels ....... Thanks to EMI we've got the new remastered CD in 2004 . This release was really exceptional back in 1976 . By following the impact of ELOY'S releases between 1971 & 1984 , in the major european cities & the major music stores available at that period , i witness the most challenging move from Germany towards the international market of progressive rock . It was really surprising for me as a middle eastern to hear such a band competing with FLOYD'S mania as it was between 1971 & 1981 . In my humble opinion as a progressive rock fan , it's a must to witness for the future about ELOY , the German band competing with Pinf Floyd -- Genesis -- Yes -- E.L.P -- in approximatlly most of European countries. So far my knowledge they haven't got any remarkable activities outside their native country , with some limited live concerts in Scandinavian cities , and Belgium . I was really trying hard to witness this giants musicians ( Borneman -- shmidtchen -- Rosenthal ) in any live act around Europe. But, unfortunatly i was unlucky . All their releases since 1970 are always subject to run , either on my CDplayer or my turntable . Gliding into light & knowledge , the midnight fight & memory flash are really impressing tracks , full of meaning & enjoyable music crafted in a professional way from the trio. Dawn, in addition to Ocean , Floating , Inside , Power & the passion & Silent cries are the most essential releases in your progarchieves . The best it can be created in the world of Symphonic progressive space rock . I'm sure that all of you brothers & sisters proggers from all around the world agree with my opinion about such beauty. Dawn is a must not only essential.

Tracks Toni

Eloy in greece are very popular even more Pink Floyd! Weii, Dawn is maybe my best. The atmospheres and the songs are great runs as one piece in parts.There is something mystical and romantic,and thats the point with Eloy.There is also a great mellotron sound.

ILIAKIS1982

Dawn is Eloy at their prime. The moody mellotron and German accented lead guitarist/singer Bornemann takes you on a passage of time well spent. Caught between the Power and Passion and Ocean, 'Dawn' presents progish keyboards with intense drumming juxtaposed in a sea of fantasy. Yet it is the subtle melodies that lead one to stretch the imagination and swim in the aura that is Eloy.

Say

With this one, they have taken the "concept album" concept a notch higher to produce a wonderfully rich album. The music and the playing are simply stunning. One of their best albums, along with Colours. One drawback: Meaningless "cosmic" lyrics that nobody understands ; other drawback is the terrible english accent. OK that makes two drawbacks. But still; 5 / 5 stars.

Naji Chmayssani

An absolute MASTERPIECE of Symphonic Progressive Rock and my personal favourite album of all time.

Very unusual, unique and well thought-of song structures and forms, a highly creative rhythm section that incorporates strict arrangement playing as well as improvisation, magical synthesizer sounds, passionate and commanding voices in addition to a unique and excellent production, place Dawn on the top of the list of German Progressive Rock albums and certainly position ELOY amongst the best Progressive bands worldwide.
I would recommend that one listens to this album with headphones and under low lights or no light, so as to soak-in the amount of details (particularly the percussion overdubs) and allow your senses to be guided by the music, the lyrics and the various characters of the story. It is certainly a journey as the lyrics clearly imply.
Most highly recommended!

seirios

Podría traer muchos otros comentarios pero es al pedo, al que no le gusta este disco es marciano... Un disco maravilloso, sin vueltas.



Artista: Eloy

Álbum: Dawn
Año: 1976
Género: Space rock sinfónico
Duración: 47:10
Nacionalidad: Alemania

Lista de Temas:
1. Awakening
2. Between The Times
- a) Between The Times
- b) Memory Flash
- c) Appearance Of The Voice
- d) Return Of The Voice
3. The Sun-Song
4. The Dance In Doubt And Fear
5. Lost!? (Introduction)
6. Lost?? (The Decision)
7. The Midnight-Fight / The Victory Of Mental Force
8. Gliding Into Light And Knowledge
9. Le Réveil Du Soleil / The Dawn

Alineación:
- Fank Bornemann / lead vocals, electric & acoustic guitars
- Detlev Schmidtchen / piano, Hammond, Mellotron, MiniMoog, RMI keyboard computer, guitar, backing vocals
- Klaus-Peter Matziol / bass, backing vocals
- Jürgen Rosenthal / drums, percussion (gong, timbales, kettle drum, temple blocks, roto toms), glockenspiel, voices
With:
- Symphonic Orchestra arranged & conducted by Wolfgang Maus