Eloy: Ocean 2 – The Answer (1998)

It seems like in the 1990s, many prog rock artists have been recording sequels to their classic albums that were released in the 1970s. For example, Mike Oldfield giving us Tubular Bells in 1973, and then in 1992 giving us Tubular Bells II and in 1998 giving us Tubular Bells III. Rick Wakeman gave us Journey to the Centre of the Earth in 1974, and in 1999 gave us Return to the Centre of the Earth. Apparently many of these prog artists were going through some rather difficult times in the 1980s and 1990s, with albums that didn’t sell too well, or weren’t too well liked by fans. Apparently Eloy fell in that trap as well. The band broke up in 1984 after the release of Metromania, only to return in 1988. Only this time around, Eloy consisted of just guitarist/vocalist Frank Bornemann and new keyboardist Michael Gerlach, with anonymous session musicians filling in the rest. The resulting albums, Ra (1988), Destination (1992), and to a lesser extent, The Tides Return Forever (1994) had received only so-so reactions from Eloy fans. So in 1997 to 1998, the band decided to work on a sequel on their classic 1977 album, Ocean, which was released in October 1998. By this point the band was consisting of Frank Bornemann, Michael Gerlach, ex-Michael Schenker Group drummer Bodo Schopf and bassist Klaus-Peter Matziol (who was on all the Eloy albums released from 1976 to 1984, and guested on Destination and returned full-time beginning with The Tides Return Forever). Basically Eloy was working as a full band for the first time since 1984. The results for Ocean 2 is really not that bad, it’s nice to know a band like Eloy not embarassing themselves. With album like the original Ocean, that’s a lot of baggage for the band to put on themselves, especially with an album like that, and over 20 years later recording that sequel. No I wasn’t expecting it to sound like a clone of the 1977 original, and you shouldn’t either. The album does have a more modern production, but instead of plastering your ears with lots of digital synthesizers, analog synthesizers dominate, with Mini Moog, ARP, string synths, and so on. This is one of the few albums with a modern production and sound that I actually like (especially because of the use of analog synths on a 1998 recording). Perhaps my favorites songs here include “Paralysed Civilization”, “Serenity” and “Waves of Intuition”. “Waves of Intuiation” reminds me a lot of Pink Floyd’s The Wall. The 12 minute “Reflections From the Sphere Beyond” featues some totally killer use of vocoder, before giving us a nice analog synth solo. The only real complaint I have of this CD is the last song, “The Answer”, it seems too repetitive and doesn’t seem to have a lot going on, besides the use of choir. It’s quite a worthy sequel, if you like the original Ocean and you don’t mind a more modern sound, then get this sequel.