Eloy (DE)

About

Frank Bornemann founded Eloy in Hannover in 1969, drawing the band's name from the futurist human race in H.G. Wells' The Time Machine. His reasoning was pointed: German bands of the era were largely stuck playing covers and were treated as second class acts in their own country, so naming the group after a species making a fresh start felt fitting. Bornemann has been the one constant through countless lineup changes, steering the band from its early hard rock and blues rock roots into the progressive, symphonic and space rock territory that became their signature. Eloy built a devoted following in Germany but never cracked the American market. The 1977 album Ocean is widely considered their high watermark, and 1998's Ocean 2 marked a welcome return to that symphonic prog sound after a more commercial detour in the 1980s. A 40th anniversary reunion in 2009 produced the album Visionary, and Bornemann kept the momentum going with a two part concept album inspired by the legend of Jeanne d'Arc, released across 2017 and 2019.