Metromania

Metromania is the twelfth studio album by the German rock band Eloy, released in 1984.

It is a concept album, telling the sci-fi story of a futuristic dystopia, controlled and oppressed by artificial intelligence. The protagonist tries to find hope and prospect by writing music and lyrics on a rooftop.

The term "metromania" (Greek: μετρομανία) means a mania for writing poetry, especially doggerel.

The artwork is a Rodney Matthews creation, as were the United Kingdom-exclusive artworks of the project Planets / Time to Turn.

Synopsis
Rendition according to the album's lyrics

Surrounded by oppressive machines and clueless people, the protagonist feels trapped and without perspective, but hope begins to grow within him, and he finds motivation to fight for escape. ("Escape to the Heights", "Seeds Of Creation"). Experiencing a spiritual uplift, he feels an unprecedented connection with nature, which guides him to express himself through poetry ("All Life is One).

His creativity is expressed by singing one of his songs in front of a crowd. People are mesmerized and believe that he might be the messiah they are hoping for, but he categorically denies it ("The Stranger"). As a magical light fills his soul, it drives him to rouse the people towards a revolution against the oppression of man and the destruction of the environment by machines ("Follow The Light").

Some renegade police officers organized into motorcycle-riding squads patrol during the night, terrorizing the citizens as the protagonist watches from his roof ("Nightriders"). While on the roof, he realizes that the only way to escape, the means to overcome all fear and doubt, and the path to his freedom, is intensive writing ("Metromania").

Background
After the moderate success of Performance, Eloy decided to return to their prog rock roots, while trying to keep the 80s vibe in their music. According to the band's leader Frank Bornemann, audio engineer Harald Lepschies, who had previously worked with renown musicians like Herbert Grönemeyer, played a key role in Eloy achieving the exact sound they had in mind.

As the album was on its final mixing stage, Eloy were invited to play a show at the famous Marquee Club in London. The show was sold-out, and Eloy were asked to play a second night in a row, this time with BBC Radio broadcasting the concert live. The second show was sold-out too, and amongst those impressed were Marillion, who invited Eloy to join them on their Fugazi supporting tour. Eloy decided to decline the offer, as Bornemann had to work on Metromania's final mixing, while Arkona, Folberth and Matziol were working on the Code Name: Wild Geese soundtrack.

Reception
Metromania failed to enter the German charts, being the second Eloy album to do so since Ocean first entered the charts in February 1978. According to Bornemann, sales were not as bad as indicated by its non-charting status, but they were still disappointing.

Tensions returned within the band, as they seemed unable to catch the pulse of the times and at the same time maintain, at least partially, their prog rock musical identity. Exhausted and burdened with constant debates surrounding artistic positions and the band's future, they failed to find a common ground. Frank Bornemann took the responsibility to break up the band for a third time in late 1984, with the hiatus lasting until 1988.

Track listing
Music by Eloy, lyrics by Martine Ryan and Andrew Ward, except where noted.

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

Eloy
 * Frank Bornemann: guitar, lead vocals
 * Hannes Arkona: guitar, keyboards, vocoder, syncussion
 * Klaus-Peter Matziol: bass
 * Hannes Folberth: keyboards
 * Fritz Randow: drums

Additional Vocalists (In liner notes order)
 * Sabine Matziol
 * "Janie" Jane James
 * Romy Singh
 * Kalle Bösel
 * Monica
 * Susanne
 * Michael "Flexe" Flexig
 * Rainer Przywara

Production
 * Frank Bornemann: production
 * Harald Lepschies: engineering, recording, mixing on all tracks except "Follow the Light"
 * Bernd Jost: mixing on "Follow the Light"
 * Jan Nemec: engineering on basic tracks
 * Thomas Stiehler: engineering on basic tracks

Artwork
 * Rodney Matthews: painting