Jump to content

Colours(Eloy album)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Colours
Studio albumby
ReleasedJune 1980[1][2]
RecordedSpring 1980[3]
StudioHorus Sound Studio,Hannover,Germany
GenreSpace rock,prog rock[4]
Length39:33
LabelHarvest/EMI Electrola
ProducerEloy
Eloychronology
Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes
(1979)
Colours
(1980)
Planets
(1981)
SinglesfromColours
  1. "Silhouette (single edit) / Horizons"
    Released: 1980[5]
Audio sample
"Horizons"
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
ArtRock[6]

Coloursis the eighth studio album by the GermanrockbandEloy,released in 1980.

It is the first non-conceptEloy album sinceFloating(1974), and the first to be supported by asingleand twomusic videos.

Since last year'sSilent Cries and Mighty Echoes,Eloy addedguitaristHannes Arkona to their lineup, while also replacingkeyboardistDetlev Schmidtchen anddrummerJürgen Rosenthalwith Hannes Folberth and Jim McGillivray.

Songs "Silhouette" and "Horizons" were released as a single,[5]while music videos were made for "Silhouette"[7]and "Illuminations".[8]

Background

[edit]

During the autumn of 1979, Hannes Arkona joined Eloy as a touring member, a second guitarist along the band's leaderFrank Bornemann.As personal tensions led to the departure of Detlev Schmidtchen and Jürgen Rosenthal, Bornemann decided to make Arkona a full-time member, and with the addition of Hannes Folberth and Jim McGillivray, the new Eloy lineup was completed by the spring of 1980.[9]Frank Bornemann also created his ownHorus Sound StudioinHannoverat the beginning of that year, which served as the band's new "base".[9]

Amidst those changes, the release of the next album and the following supporting tour was already scheduled for the autumn of 1980, thus new music had to be written in a very tight schedule.[9] With no time to create yet another concept album, Eloy chose shorter and tighter song forms, toning down theprog rockelement. They also decided to use "Child Migration", an unreleased single from 1979, which they heavily alternated and re-recorded.

Reception

[edit]

Shortly after its release,Coloursentered theGerman charts.It charted for 17 weeks straight (June–October 1980), peaking at the 28th position.[10]Its charting duration was a new record for Eloy at the time, surpassing last year'sSilent Cries and Mighty Echoes,which charted for 14 weeks straight.

Music press was positive towards Eloy for the first time, but the album sold fewer copies than the previous three, and the supportive tour that followed was less successful, too.[9]Songs fromColourswere fairly well received by the live crowds, but older songs like "The Apocalypse"or"Poseidon's Creation"certainly made fans more enthusiastic.[9] Convinced to follow the fans' will and not the music press' opinion, Bornemann decided to switch back to the concept album norm that made Eloy successful, this time in a more emphatic and grandiose way than ever before: a double concept album, comprising fromPlanetsandTime to Turn.[9]

Track listing

[edit]

Music by Eloy and lyrics by Jim McGillivray, except where noted.

No.TitleLyricsLength
1."Horizons"3:20
2."Illuminations"6:19
3."Giant"Sonja Brown6:05
4."Impressions"Sonja Brown3:06
5."Child Migration"7:23
6."Gallery"3:08
7."Silhouette"6:57
8."Sunset"3:15
Total length:39:33
2005 Remastered CD reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
9."Wings of Vision" (1980 A-Side single)4:14
10."Silhouette (single edit)" (1980 A-Side single)3:30

Personnel

[edit]

All information according to the album's liner notes.[4]

References

[edit]
  1. ^"Colours (Remastered 2005) - Eloy".Amazon Music.Amazon.Retrieved11 May2024.
  2. ^"Colours (Remastered 2005) - Eloy".Apple Music.Apple Inc.Retrieved11 May2024.
  3. ^"Eloy History: New Paths and Old Values - 1980 to 1984".Eloy official website.Retrieved4 June2024....the new »Colours« album was recorded there in Spring 1980
  4. ^ab"Eloy – Colours".Discogs.Zink Media, LLC.Retrieved4 June2024.
  5. ^ab"Eloy – Silhouette / Horizons".Discogs.Zink Media, LLC.Retrieved6 June2024.
  6. ^Horyszny, Paweł."Eloy — Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes".ArtRock.pl(in Polish).Retrieved5 June2024.
  7. ^"Eloy - Silhouette music video"(video).YouTube.Google.Retrieved6 June2024.
  8. ^"Eloy - Illuminations music video"(video).YouTube.Google.Retrieved6 June2024.
  9. ^abcdefKuinke, Volker.Eloy - Colours(booklet)(in German).Harvest Records-EMI Electrola.pp. 3–7.
  10. ^"Eloy - Ocean".Offizielle Deutsche Charts(in German).GfK Entertainment.Retrieved5 June2024.
[edit]
  • "Colours".Eloy official website.Retrieved5 June2024.