''Power and the Passion'' is the fourth studio album by German
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
concept album
A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...
conceived by
Frank Bornemann
Frank Bornemann (born 27 April 1945) is a German guitarist and vocalist best known as part of the German progressive rock band Eloy. He is also the founder of the Horus Sound Studios in Hannover, Germany where he worked until 2014.Floating'' album, with the addition of Detlef "Pitter" Schwaar on guitar.
EMI Electrola
Electrola is a German record label and subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Based in Munich, its roster has included Chumbawamba, Matthias Reim, Helene Fischer, Brings, Höhner and Santiano.
History
On 8 May 1925, the British Gramophone Compa ...
producer Richard Smith wrote lyrics with Bornemann as he did on ''Floating'', credited again under the alias "Gordon Bennit". Smith also voiced the character "Zany Magician", with his wife Mary Davis-Smith acting as the character "Jeanne".
The front cover of the album introduced the band's renowned logo with the 3D calligraphic letters, a mainstay throughout their career since then.
Synopsis
''Rendition according to the album's lyrics''
Jamie, the son of a scientist, wonders about his unfulfilling life while sitting on his own in his father's lab. Suddenly, he has a surrealistic experience that feels like he is traveling to the distant past ("Journey into 1358"). He soon realizes that he actually time-traveled to Paris in April 1358, where he meets a girl named Jeanne, and they begin to explain their stories to each other. Jamie, obviously confused, says that he probably consumed some of the "time-eroding drugs" his father was experimenting with, resulting in his time traveling. Jeanne is the daughter of a cruel landlord, and she is supposed to marry a rich man against her will. Jamie offers to smoke with her some
psychoactive drug
A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, mind-altering drug, consciousness-altering drug, psychoactive substance, or psychotropic substance is a chemical substance that alters psychological functioning by modulating central nervous system acti ...
he had with him, and the two fall in love as they experience the effects ("Love Over Six Centuries").
Jeanne's father allows Jamie to stay with them in exchange for his futuristic knowledge, as the cruel man fights to suppress a peasants' mutiny against him. Jamie morally supports the rebels, but he is forced to obey the landlord in order to stay with his beloved Jeanne ("Mutiny"). As the battle rages on, Jamie is captured and imprisoned by the peasants, feeling guilty for fighting them against his morals and praying to God for his freedom ("Imprisonment").
Free again, Jamie cherishes the sun and nature he missed while he was chained ("Daylight"). He then decides to visit a magician he heard of, hoping he will be able to send Jamie back home, along with Jeanne ("Thoughts of Home"). The magician welcomes him and serves him a potion, promising it will send him back to the present, erasing all the memories from his time traveling ("The Zany Magician").
Eventually, Jamie returns alone, and his memories remain. He compares 1358 with the present and realizes that conflicts among mankind are intensifying as the years go by, rather than subsiding. He also decides to share his story with his friends, but they don't believe him ("Back Into the Present"). Struggling to fully grasp the dream-like experience he had, Jamie visits
Notre-Dame de Paris
Notre-Dame de Paris ( ; meaning "Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris"), often referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a Medieval architecture, medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the River Seine), in the 4th arrondissemen ...
, where the peal of the bells reminds him of his journey in time and how much he is missing Jeanne ("The Bells of Notre Dame").
Background
''Power and the Passion'' was a commercial success, selling more than 30,000 copies soon after its release, but Eloy quickly broke-up. The reason was their insurmountable disagreements with their manager Jay Partridge, who had significant financial and creative influence over the band during the album's creation. Eloy's leader Frank Bornemann intended to release the album in a
double LP
A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...
format and with a different approach on
production
Production may refer to:
Economics and business
* Production (economics)
* Production, the act of manufacturing goods
* Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services)
* Production as a stat ...
, but Partridge imposed his own will, to Bornemann's disappointment and frustration.
In order to escape the turbulence, Bornemann decided to resign, effectively breaking up the band. When he announced the break-up to EMI Electrola, they advised him to recreate Eloy with new musicians in order to keep the Eloy brand under contract. Shortly after, Bornemann found new collaborators and Eloy were reformed, creating and releasing ''
Dawn
Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the diffuse sky radiation, appearance of indirect sunlight being Rayleigh scattering, scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc ha ...
'' in October 1976.
Track listing
Music by Eloy, lyrics by Frank Bornemann and Gordon Bennit.
Personnel
Eloy
*
Frank Bornemann
Frank Bornemann (born 27 April 1945) is a German guitarist and vocalist best known as part of the German progressive rock band Eloy. He is also the founder of the Horus Sound Studios in Hannover, Germany where he worked until 2014.vocals
Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...
,
guitar
The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
,
voice acting
Voice acting is the art of performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animated, off-stage, off-sc ...
as "Jamie" on track 3
*Detlef "Pitter" Schwaar: guitar
*Manfred Wieczorke:
organ
Organ and organs may refer to:
Biology
* Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function
* Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body.
Musical instruments
...
mellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which causes a length of magnetic tape to contact a Capstan (tape recorder), capstan, which pulls i ...
,
electric piano
An electric piano is a musical instrument that has a piano-style musical keyboard, where sound is produced by means of mechanical hammers striking metal strings or reeds or wire tines, which leads to vibrations which are then converted into ele ...
,
grand piano
A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
*Luitjen Janssen:
bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Wood
* Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...
*Fritz Randow:
drums
The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...
Voice acting
*Mary Davis-Smith: "Jeanne" on track 3
*Gordon Bennit: "Zany Magician" on track 8
Production
*Jay Partridge:
production
Production may refer to:
Economics and business
* Production (economics)
* Production, the act of manufacturing goods
* Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services)
* Production as a stat ...
*Eloy: production
*Wolfgang Thierbach:
engineering
Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...
Artwork
*Roman Rybnikar:
art direction
Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games.
It is the charge of a sole art director to super ...
*Atelier Kochlowski:
design
A design is the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...