Dawn (Eloy album)

Dawn is the fifth studio album by German rock band Eloy, released in 1976.

It is a concept album conceived by Frank Bornemann and written by Jürgen Rosenthal, an abstract sequel to last year's Power and the Passion. Jamie, the protagonist, has now passed away, and his spirit travels through time and space in search for his beloved Jeanne and the ultimate salvation.

After the release of the previous Eloy album, the band broke up and reformed, with Bornemann as the only original and core member. The new version of Eloy consisted of Bornemann himself on guitar and vocals, Klaus-Peter Matziol on bass, Detlev Schmidtchen on keyboards, and Jürgen Rosenthal on percussion. Dawn is also the first Eloy album to feature a symphonic orchestra.

Synopsis
Rendition according to the album's lyrics, song titles stylized according to the album's liner notes.

Jamie has a metaphysical out-of-body experience realizing he is dead, and the divine light he sees awakes memories of his beloved Jeanne ("Awakening"). As his spirit travels through space and time, he balances between happiness and sadness, seeking her ("Between the Times"). He then has a fond flashback of the period he lived with Jeanne, and how happy he felt back then, in contrast with the present ("Memory Flash"). Suddenly, Jamie hears an irresistible voice calling him to follow it, for his own good ("Appearance of the VOICE" / "Return of the VOICE"). The voice is communicating with him cryptic, telling him he should "wait for the dawning" before he continues his cosmic journey ("The Sun-Song"). The enigmatic message worries Jamie, who wonders if he will be able to fulfill his goal of meeting Jeanne and escape into eternity, or if this daring venture will lead him to his ultimate doom ("The Dance in Doubt and Fear").

As he sinks into a cosmic spiral of negativity, Jamie fears he won't be able to fulfill his purpose ("LOST?! (Introduction)"). Suddenly, he feels like his spirit has returned into his injured body, in a delicate balance between life and death. Quickly regaining his strength, he throws himself back into battle ("LOST?? (The Decision)"). At first, he fights frantically during the night, feeling almost invincible, but he quickly realizes the futility of war and finally understands the advice of the voice to "wait for the dawning", considering dawn as his only hope. ("The Midnight Fight"). Having now attained a higher level of self-awareness, he realizes that his earthly life is indeed gone, but he is convinced that he will live again, now knowing that true power does not lie in hatred ("The Victory of Mental Force"). Finally, Jamie completely disconnects from his earthly form with one last nostalgic recollection of human senses, and surrenders to his cosmic existence of divine spirituality, assimilated by the heavenly light ("Gliding Into Light and Knowledge"), while enjoying the sunny eternity in a playful mood ("Le Réveil du Soleil/The Dawn").

Background
After the release of Power and the Passion last year, Frank Bornemann decided to break up Eloy in order to get rid of their manager Jay Partridge, with whom he had insurmountable disagreements. EMI Electrola supported him and encouraged him to reincarnate the band with new musicians in order to keep the Eloy brand under contract.

First, Bornemann recruited keyboardist Detlev Schmidtchen, whom he met at a music festival playing for a band called Getriebe. Second came bassist Klaus-Peter Matziol, whom Bornemann met as a customer in a music store he was working at for the short period Eloy were inactive. Matziol then suggested his old bandmate Jürgen Rosenthal as a drummer. Rosenthal was already famous as a Scorpions member, and he was trying to find his way back into the music industry after his mandatory military service. Their new manager was Bernd Gulkelberger, whom Bornemann describes as "independent and very professional".

With very good interpersonal relationships between those in and around the band, Eloy achieved new levels of successes (see Reception).

Influences
According to critics, Eloy were influenced by groups like Yes, Pink Floyd,  Emerson, Lake & Palmer and The Who, especially by the albums Tales from Topographic Oceans,  The Dark Side of the Moon, Tarkus and Tommy. Eloy evidently make lyrical references to The Who's "Pinball Wizard" in their song "The Dance in Doubt and Fear" with the lyric "Whose pinball-wizzard (sic) do I have to play", and to Yes' "Ritual (Nous Sommes du Soleil)" in their song "Le Réveil du Soleil/The Dawn", with the lyric "Nous sommes du soleil".

Reception
The immediate response to Dawn was positive, as the album sold more than 150,000 copies soon after its release, the supporting live tour was sold out driving Eloy to schedule additional dates to cover the demand, and they were invited to appear on TV for the first time.

Retrospectively, critics often question the album's lyrical quality,  while praising it's musical virtues. The Greek edition of Metal Hammer magazine highlighted Dawn as the best Eloy album of the 70s.

Track listing
Music by Eloy, lyrics by Jürgen Rosenthal.

Original track list
Titles stylized according to the album's liner notes.

1988 CD reissue track list
In the 1988 reissue, the "Between the Times" suite is divided into its four parts, resulting in a track list of twelve songs instead of nine. Although the titles of tracks 3-8 appear shuffled in between them, the actual tracks are not reordered and the original album flow is retained. An extra column with the proper song titles is added in the following track list, for clarification.

Personnel
All information according to the original album's liner notes.

Eloy
 * Frank Bornemann: lead vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar
 * Klaus-Peter Matziol: bass, vocals
 * Detlev Schmidtchen: Hammond organ, minimoog, Mellotron, piano, grand piano, RMI keyboard computer, guitar, vocals
 * Jürgen Rosenthal: drums, glockenspiel, gong, timbales, rototom, kettledrums, temple blocks, voices, steps sounds

Additional musicians
 * Symphonic orchestra arranged by Wolfgang Maus

Production
 * Eloy: arrangement, production
 * Georgi Nedeltschev: engineering

Artwork
 * Uli Handl: photography
 * Atelier Kochlowski: design