Ra

Ra Artist: Eloy
Label: Spv Germany
Category: Music


Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Format: Import
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1
EAN: 4001617480229
ASIN: B000006YGZ


Release Date: 1995-04-05

Ra


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General General
Categories | Rock | Styles | Music
Progressive Rock Progressive Rock
Categories | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music
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Tracks:

  1. Voyager of the Future Race
  2. Sensations
  3. Dreams
  4. Invasion of a Megaforce
  5. Rainbow
  6. Hero

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Album Description

1988 album by the German prog rock outfit. Six tracks.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Not a classic, but rather good.......2006-02-07

Ra is the first album since the splitting up in 1984 after releasing Metromania. It is clear that technology and the fact that this is the first album in four years make Ra a kind of a shifting sound album.

When I first listened to it I was a bit disappointed but when I started to listen to the cd more often it became clear to me that this is not a bad album at all. It's just Eloy walking into a different era.

Voyager of the future Race is a very strong track, good intro with lots of atmospheres and synths. Then the song turns into a guitar driven composition with some good riffs. However, Keyboards and synths are not overly present.

Sensations and Rainbow are more poppy tunes. The First one being a heavy, guitar driven track with catchy chorus. The second one beong a balad with some nice harmonies and a beautiful chorus.

Dreams is a more atmospheric song. There is a lot of keyboard and synth work. The track is quite long and features a lot of changes. It's a nice mid tempo track but lacking power here and there.

Invasion of a Megaforce is a classic. A dynamic string intro sets the scene for the band to kick in at all speed. There are quite a few changes before Frank starts to sing. The chorus is quite catchy again. The middle section is the best instrumental passage of the whole album. Excellent rhythm section, flying synth work, heavy riffs and a lot of changes. Then the band repeats the initial theme to end the song the first way it started.

Hero is quite an experimental track, especially regarding percussion and drums. It features a beautiful melody, excellent soloing by Frank and a very original outro.

At first I rated the album 4 stars out of five but the production is not the best we've heard from Frank. The mix is quite flat and guitars lack power due to this. I didn't like machine drums or synth bass very much (especially when Klaus Peter Matziol was a long time member) Due to this I took another star away.

But taking into consideration that Eloy was one of the very few progressive acts of the 70s releasing quality music (or at least solid stuff) at the time and that Frank was strong enough to reform a band that seemed dead like Triumvirat or Gentle Giant I put the star right back. Besides the cover is really beautiful.

However, a Ra remastered or re-recorded release (with real bass playing and real drums) would not be a bad idea.

3 out of 5 stars RABORN..........2005-07-03

This was their last album from the 80s.some good tunes in here.Hero really blows though...not one of their most memorable albums but half of the album is above good so that helps! baby it s spacy once again... doh!

5 out of 5 stars Eloy are Still Original.......2003-10-13

RA is the most misunderstood and underrated record Eloy has ever made,and being an avid fan for more than twenty years I would like to make the following observations,
RA should be reviewed and heard with a much larger context in mind:
The time and circumstances of its release.
The record was released in late eighties, the worst period for progressive rock, where many bands floundered,while the very few who stuck to the genre had to alter their sound and go more commercial (a prime example being Jethro Tull with Under Wraps, now you can not go more commercial than that!)
The music establishment and industry had their knives out for this kind of music!
To still produce and write a new progressive rock record in this not so favorable market and atmosphere was a great achievement and a credit to the genuis of Frank Bornemann and his dedication to writing decent quality music.
Fans had to wait four years to be surprised by a new Eloy output, since Metromania was very much thought to be the band's last after the '80 line up that had brilliant classics to its name (Planets, Colours, and Time to Turn) disbanded.
But Frank Bornemann the driving force behind the band, held to Eloy's name and returned with a new line up (made primarily of keyboardist Michael Gerlach, joined later by the return of the excellent Klaus Peter Matziol on bass, one of the best in rock music).The result of this return was RA.
In a way, you can consider RA as a new shift in Eloy's sound, yet remaining faithfully in the progressive rock tradition, a heavier and darker sound, one that would remain audible on their next two records, especially on Destination,(tracks like Call of the Wild and Prisoner in Mind are very much in the spirit of RA).
One of the main criticism of RA is the reliance on drum machine, something considered blasphemous to most fans!, but again you have to judge this in the context of the circumstances of the record. Having said that, the quality of the melody and the writing was never compromised!If you just listen to the powerful opening of Voyager of The Future Race (it blew my mind!) or the haunting melodies of Dreams and Hero,(underrated all time masterpieces and in a way more progressive and complex than any track on Metromania),you will realize just how great that record is, and you can excuse Bornemann for going more commercial with tracks like Sensations and Rainbow (for me personally Eloy's weakest track).
So RA is a record that should be reassessed, listened to again carefully, and I am sure you will too discover the original and creative song writing process on it, and the joy that this wonderful band has provided its fans for three decades.

2 out of 5 stars

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