WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.319 Have you ever tried to change your personal brand 00:00:03.319 --> 00:00:06.099 or your style and realized almost immediately 00:00:06.099 --> 00:00:08.839 that it completely alienated the people who know 00:00:08.839 --> 00:00:11.640 you best? Oh, that is such a brutal realization. 00:00:11.980 --> 00:00:14.560 Right. You take a swing, you try something outside 00:00:14.560 --> 00:00:16.679 of your, you know, your comfort zone, and the 00:00:16.679 --> 00:00:19.859 reaction from your core supporters is just crickets. 00:00:20.100 --> 00:00:22.800 Or even worse, open disappointment. Exactly. 00:00:23.039 --> 00:00:25.239 And when you find yourself in that precarious 00:00:25.239 --> 00:00:27.039 situation, you really only have two choices. 00:00:27.359 --> 00:00:30.920 You can quietly retreat, apologize, and go back 00:00:30.920 --> 00:00:32.899 to the established formula. Play it safe? Yeah, 00:00:33.000 --> 00:00:35.820 play it safe. Or you can decide that the only 00:00:35.820 --> 00:00:38.880 way to recover is to return to what you do best, 00:00:39.000 --> 00:00:42.460 but dial it up to 11. You go so conceptually 00:00:42.460 --> 00:00:45.960 deep and execute with such extreme ambition that 00:00:45.960 --> 00:00:48.299 no one can possibly doubt your commitment to 00:00:48.299 --> 00:00:50.700 your craft. It's the ultimate double down strategy. 00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:53.320 And looking at the visual backdrop we have going 00:00:53.320 --> 00:00:57.520 on today, these intricate 1980s style star charts 00:00:57.520 --> 00:01:01.520 and this sprawling neon lit cosmic sci -fi skyline, 00:01:01.619 --> 00:01:03.880 I think it is safe to say we are examining artists 00:01:03.880 --> 00:01:06.120 who chose that second option. They absolutely 00:01:06.120 --> 00:01:08.180 decided to escalate their vision rather than 00:01:08.180 --> 00:01:10.719 compromise it. Today, the mission of our deep 00:01:10.719 --> 00:01:13.560 dive is to explore the German rock band Eloy 00:01:13.560 --> 00:01:17.140 and their 1981 space rock and progressive rock 00:01:17.140 --> 00:01:20.650 project, the album Planets. We are pulling from 00:01:20.650 --> 00:01:22.349 the album's historical and background records 00:01:22.349 --> 00:01:24.609 to uncover this really fascinating narrative. 00:01:24.870 --> 00:01:26.689 It really is a wild ride. We are going to look 00:01:26.689 --> 00:01:29.409 at how a band rebounds from a creative misstep, 00:01:29.569 --> 00:01:32.230 the extreme lengths they will go to execute a 00:01:32.230 --> 00:01:34.670 grand science fiction vision, and how the exact 00:01:34.670 --> 00:01:37.030 same piece of art can be viewed as a commercial 00:01:37.030 --> 00:01:40.349 disappointment in one country. But heralded as 00:01:40.349 --> 00:01:43.129 a masterpiece in another. Right. OK, let's unpack 00:01:43.129 --> 00:01:46.250 this. What exactly necessitated this extreme 00:01:46.250 --> 00:01:48.450 course correction for Eloy in the first place? 00:01:48.650 --> 00:01:50.930 So to understand the ambition driving planets, 00:01:51.129 --> 00:01:52.870 you have to understand the specific artistic 00:01:52.870 --> 00:01:55.230 crisis the band was facing just one year prior 00:01:55.230 --> 00:01:58.370 in 1980. They had released an album called Colors. 00:01:58.469 --> 00:02:01.709 OK, Colors. Now, for a band known for a sprawling, 00:02:01.709 --> 00:02:04.950 atmospheric, progressive sound, Colors was widely 00:02:04.950 --> 00:02:07.689 viewed by their core audience as a significant 00:02:07.689 --> 00:02:10.719 departure from Eloy's musical identity. What 00:02:10.719 --> 00:02:12.740 kind of departure are we talking about here? 00:02:12.819 --> 00:02:15.259 Because, you know, progressive rock fans are 00:02:15.259 --> 00:02:17.800 notoriously protective of their genre's complex 00:02:17.800 --> 00:02:20.879 arrangements. Did the band simplify their sound 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:23.659 too much? They did, yeah. Yeah. It was perceived 00:02:23.659 --> 00:02:26.500 as a stylistic shift that simply didn't resonate 00:02:26.500 --> 00:02:29.639 with their established foundation. The fans felt 00:02:29.639 --> 00:02:32.099 the band had drifted from the intricate, conceptual 00:02:32.099 --> 00:02:35.139 landscapes that defined their earlier, highly 00:02:35.139 --> 00:02:37.500 celebrated work. So they basically lost their 00:02:37.500 --> 00:02:40.259 core identity. Exactly. So the band's leader, 00:02:40.360 --> 00:02:42.860 Frank Bornman, found himself standing at a really 00:02:42.860 --> 00:02:45.759 critical crossroads. He knew they needed to course 00:02:45.759 --> 00:02:47.960 correct to win back their audience. So what does 00:02:47.960 --> 00:02:50.039 he do? Well, instead of just putting out a safe 00:02:50.039 --> 00:02:52.020 middle -of -the -road record to appease the critics, 00:02:52.340 --> 00:02:55.620 Bornman envisioned an emphatic return to their 00:02:55.620 --> 00:02:57.979 conceptual roots. He decided they weren't just 00:02:57.979 --> 00:02:59.919 going to make an album. They were going to record 00:02:59.919 --> 00:03:03.120 a double -concept album. Wow, a double -concept 00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:06.120 album. Yeah. Planets would be part one, and it 00:03:06.120 --> 00:03:07.620 would eventually be followed by the second part, 00:03:07.800 --> 00:03:10.150 Time to Turn. The stakes there are astronomical. 00:03:10.169 --> 00:03:12.669 I mean, the financial and creative risk of committing 00:03:12.669 --> 00:03:15.449 to a two -part rock opera immediately after a 00:03:15.449 --> 00:03:18.550 project that alienated your base, that is a substantial 00:03:18.550 --> 00:03:21.229 gamble. It is a profound risk. Because if you 00:03:21.229 --> 00:03:23.669 miss the mark twice in a row, it can end a career. 00:03:23.849 --> 00:03:26.270 Absolutely. And the narrative Born Men developed 00:03:26.270 --> 00:03:30.060 for Planets is a sprawling sci -fi epic. It follows 00:03:30.060 --> 00:03:33.139 a character named Ion. Ion. Right, an inhabitant 00:03:33.139 --> 00:03:35.620 of the planet Salta. The core of the story revolves 00:03:35.620 --> 00:03:38.039 around Ion desperately trying to fight against 00:03:38.039 --> 00:03:42.080 negative forces in an age of utter chaos. When 00:03:42.080 --> 00:03:44.099 you listen to the record, the goal is to transport 00:03:44.099 --> 00:03:47.000 you into a rich, textured universe where the 00:03:47.000 --> 00:03:49.639 survival of a civilization facing darkness is 00:03:49.639 --> 00:03:52.520 on the line. But isn't a dense, esoteric space 00:03:52.520 --> 00:03:55.479 opera exactly the kind of thing that might alienate 00:03:55.479 --> 00:03:58.120 a mainstream rock audience even further? How 00:03:58.120 --> 00:04:00.599 does the story of an alien named Ion from Salta 00:04:00.599 --> 00:04:03.680 connect to you, a listener in 1981 who just wants 00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:06.280 a solid, progressive rock album? That is the 00:04:06.280 --> 00:04:08.460 crucial distinction. In the grand tradition of 00:04:08.460 --> 00:04:10.719 Speculia fiction, it is never merely about distance. 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:13.400 planets. The story of Salta is deeply metaphorical. 00:04:13.960 --> 00:04:16.759 Salta and Ion actually represent the Earth and 00:04:16.759 --> 00:04:20.040 humankind. The narrative is a direct reflection 00:04:20.040 --> 00:04:23.279 of humanity having to fight to improve its own 00:04:23.279 --> 00:04:26.100 future, pushing back against the negative forces 00:04:26.100 --> 00:04:29.420 and chaos of our own reality. What's fascinating 00:04:29.420 --> 00:04:31.800 here is the sheer level of commitment Bornman 00:04:31.800 --> 00:04:34.829 had to this concept. How committed are we talking? 00:04:35.089 --> 00:04:37.829 He actually wrote a prologue of more than 1 ,000 00:04:37.829 --> 00:04:40.029 words to establish this continuous universe. 00:04:40.110 --> 00:04:42.389 It was printed right there on the gatefold of 00:04:42.389 --> 00:04:43.910 the album. Wait, let me challenge that for a 00:04:43.910 --> 00:04:46.680 second. Over a thousand words. If you are a fan 00:04:46.680 --> 00:04:49.600 buying this vinyl record, you open up the gatefold 00:04:49.600 --> 00:04:51.759 and you're confronted with a literal sci -fi 00:04:51.759 --> 00:04:54.300 short story before you even hear a note. It is 00:04:54.300 --> 00:04:56.579 a lot of text. Isn't that somewhat self -indulgent? 00:04:56.600 --> 00:04:59.660 A rock album is fundamentally an auditory experience, 00:04:59.759 --> 00:05:02.399 not a novel. It feels like it could be a massive 00:05:02.399 --> 00:05:04.839 barrier to entry. It certainly borders on self 00:05:04.839 --> 00:05:08.160 -indulgence, sure. But it also signals intense 00:05:08.160 --> 00:05:11.379 artistic rigor. It demands your attention before 00:05:11.379 --> 00:05:13.860 the needle even drops. It sets a highly theatrical 00:05:13.860 --> 00:05:17.160 stage. And that literary depth didn't just materialize 00:05:17.160 --> 00:05:19.060 out of thin air either. Where did it come from? 00:05:19.300 --> 00:05:21.579 Boardman was heavily influenced by a specific 00:05:21.579 --> 00:05:24.319 piece of literature while conceptualizing this 00:05:24.319 --> 00:05:27.920 story. It was a book called Nach uns die Zukunft, 00:05:28.339 --> 00:05:32.180 which translates to After Us, the Future. After 00:05:32.180 --> 00:05:35.819 Us, the Future. Written by Hans A. Pesteluzzi. 00:05:36.420 --> 00:05:38.680 And Boardman didn't just borrow a few themes 00:05:38.680 --> 00:05:41.259 from the book. He reached out and arranged two 00:05:41.259 --> 00:05:44.139 separate face -to -face meetings with Pestalozzi 00:05:44.139 --> 00:05:46.920 during the creation of the album to exchange 00:05:46.920 --> 00:05:49.879 ideas. He wanted to ensure the philosophical 00:05:49.879 --> 00:05:53.319 underpinning of this space opera was structurally 00:05:53.319 --> 00:05:56.459 sound before committing it to tape. That degree 00:05:56.459 --> 00:05:59.519 of philosophical consultation is incredibly rare 00:05:59.519 --> 00:06:02.819 for a rock record, but that intense conceptual 00:06:02.819 --> 00:06:05.699 framework immediately presents a practical hurdle. 00:06:06.240 --> 00:06:09.540 Eloy is a German band, and Born Men was conceptualizing 00:06:09.540 --> 00:06:12.120 and writing this nuanced sci -fi epic in German. 00:06:12.259 --> 00:06:14.600 Right. But to reach their desired global audience 00:06:14.600 --> 00:06:16.800 and to fit the sonic profile of the progressive 00:06:16.800 --> 00:06:19.660 rock landscape, the album needed to be sung in 00:06:19.660 --> 00:06:22.720 English. And the language barrier was a formidable 00:06:22.720 --> 00:06:25.399 challenge. Translating progressive rock lyrics 00:06:25.399 --> 00:06:27.439 isn't a straightforward process. Because it has 00:06:27.439 --> 00:06:30.339 to actually sound good musically. Exactly. You're 00:06:30.339 --> 00:06:33.360 dealing with complex vocal melodies, specific 00:06:33.360 --> 00:06:36.199 rhythmic meters, and the inherent sibilance and 00:06:36.199 --> 00:06:39.399 vowel sounds of different languages. A direct 00:06:39.399 --> 00:06:41.980 literal translation of a philosophical space 00:06:41.980 --> 00:06:44.959 opera would completely destroy the musicality 00:06:44.959 --> 00:06:47.240 of the lyrics. The words wouldn't fit the downbeats. 00:06:47.399 --> 00:06:49.680 They wouldn't flow at all. So they brought in 00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:52.399 Sigi Hausen. She was an American woman with a 00:06:52.399 --> 00:06:54.839 deep, sophisticated knowledge of the German language, 00:06:55.000 --> 00:06:58.360 brought in specifically to bridge this gap. So 00:06:58.360 --> 00:07:00.160 it wasn't just a matter of swapping vocabulary. 00:07:00.680 --> 00:07:03.540 She had to meticulously adapt the rhythm and 00:07:03.540 --> 00:07:06.000 poetic weight of the German text into English 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:09.139 lyrics that a rock vocalist could actually perform 00:07:09.139 --> 00:07:12.300 without sounding clunky. Precisely. Bornemann 00:07:12.300 --> 00:07:14.079 would write the sprawling story and lyrics in 00:07:14.079 --> 00:07:16.500 German, and Hausen would work to translate and 00:07:16.500 --> 00:07:19.579 adapt those concepts. She had to ensure the metaphorical 00:07:19.579 --> 00:07:22.259 weight of Ion and the planet Salta remained intact 00:07:22.259 --> 00:07:24.899 while allowing the words to flow naturally over 00:07:24.899 --> 00:07:27.560 complex time signatures. With the lyrics adapted, 00:07:27.879 --> 00:07:29.939 they had to ensure the instrumentation was just 00:07:29.939 --> 00:07:33.259 as cohesive. And the band took a very specific 00:07:33.259 --> 00:07:36.459 approach to the composition phase. You, the listener, 00:07:36.680 --> 00:07:38.680 might relate to this if you've ever had a looming 00:07:38.680 --> 00:07:41.279 deadline and realized the only way to get everyone 00:07:41.279 --> 00:07:43.360 aligned is to just isolate yourselves together. 00:07:43.639 --> 00:07:46.699 The startup grindhouse approach. Basically. Frank 00:07:46.699 --> 00:07:49.420 Borman, Hannes Arcona, Klaus -Peter Matziol, 00:07:49.480 --> 00:07:51.819 Hannes Vollberth, and Jim McGillivray packed 00:07:51.819 --> 00:07:53.699 up and moved into a rented apartment together. 00:07:54.040 --> 00:07:57.040 The roommate strategy. It creates a really intense 00:07:57.040 --> 00:07:59.759 environment. You remove all outside distractions. 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:03.120 You are living out of suitcases. And you deliberately 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:05.319 blur the lines between your personal life and 00:08:05.319 --> 00:08:07.160 your creative work. I feel like for a lot of 00:08:07.160 --> 00:08:08.959 bands, that pressure cooker environment just 00:08:08.959 --> 00:08:11.220 leads to fractured relationships. Oh, it destroys 00:08:11.220 --> 00:08:14.199 bands all the time. But for Eloy, there was a 00:08:14.199 --> 00:08:16.839 historical precedent. They had used this exact 00:08:16.839 --> 00:08:19.939 same living arrangement back in 1974 when they 00:08:19.939 --> 00:08:22.199 were composing their album Floating. And clearly, 00:08:22.279 --> 00:08:24.300 they felt the creative synergy outweighed the 00:08:24.300 --> 00:08:26.879 psychological toll of never escaping your coworkers. 00:08:27.319 --> 00:08:30.360 They did. And the strategy paid off immensely 00:08:30.360 --> 00:08:33.460 for the composition phase of Planets. The band 00:08:33.460 --> 00:08:35.919 reported being highly satisfied. Living together 00:08:35.919 --> 00:08:37.919 allowed them to produce a substantial amount 00:08:37.919 --> 00:08:40.299 of material quickly. The quantity was there. 00:08:40.480 --> 00:08:42.779 Both the quantity and the quality. They felt 00:08:42.779 --> 00:08:45.740 the cohesiveness of the music truly met the lofty 00:08:45.740 --> 00:08:48.600 demands of the grand sci -fi concept they were 00:08:48.600 --> 00:08:50.759 building. Here's where it gets really interesting, 00:08:50.840 --> 00:08:53.429 though. Writing the music in an apartment with 00:08:53.429 --> 00:08:56.710 your bandmates is a controlled environment. Executing 00:08:56.710 --> 00:08:59.169 it in a professional recording studio where every 00:08:59.169 --> 00:09:01.950 hour costs a significant amount of money changes 00:09:01.950 --> 00:09:04.389 the dynamic entirely. The pressure is completely 00:09:04.389 --> 00:09:06.850 different. They took their texts, their concept, 00:09:07.009 --> 00:09:09.690 and their newly composed music to Horace Sound 00:09:09.690 --> 00:09:12.309 Studio in Hanover, Germany, working with engineer 00:09:12.309 --> 00:09:15.409 Jan Nemec. And that warm, collaborative roommate 00:09:15.409 --> 00:09:18.490 camaraderie completely fractured upon entering 00:09:18.490 --> 00:09:21.399 the studio. It fell apart. It really did. The 00:09:21.399 --> 00:09:23.460 tension centered entirely around their drummer, 00:09:23.639 --> 00:09:26.240 Jim McGillivray. Recording a progressive rock 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:29.039 album, especially a 42 -minute concept piece, 00:09:29.259 --> 00:09:32.179 with intricate time signatures, complex dynamic 00:09:32.179 --> 00:09:35.600 shifts, and atmospheric pauses, it requires the 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:37.960 rhythm section be operating flawlessly. Right. 00:09:38.100 --> 00:09:40.580 There is no room for error. But McGillivray arrived 00:09:40.580 --> 00:09:43.120 at Horace Sound Studio poorly prepared. Poorly 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:45.100 prepared in what sense? Was he just forgetting 00:09:45.100 --> 00:09:48.360 parts, or was it a deeper technical issue? His 00:09:48.360 --> 00:09:51.100 actual performance behind the kit was significantly 00:09:51.100 --> 00:09:54.220 under par. He wasn't delivering the complex rhythm. 00:09:54.250 --> 00:10:08.149 And you cannot easily patch those mistakes in 00:10:08.149 --> 00:10:10.009 an era before digital editing. You can't just 00:10:10.009 --> 00:10:12.649 copy -paste a drum loop in 1981. No, you have 00:10:12.649 --> 00:10:14.669 to play it right. The emotional stakes there 00:10:14.669 --> 00:10:18.049 must have been agonizing. You spent months building 00:10:18.049 --> 00:10:20.769 the lore, consulting authors, translating lyrics, 00:10:20.889 --> 00:10:23.639 and living together to perfect the sound. Now 00:10:23.639 --> 00:10:25.960 the tape is rolling, the studio clock is ticking, 00:10:26.139 --> 00:10:28.759 and the rhythmic heartbeat of the band is failing 00:10:28.759 --> 00:10:32.259 to execute the vision. It highlights the unforgiving 00:10:32.259 --> 00:10:35.820 reality of high -stakes creative projects. When 00:10:35.820 --> 00:10:38.779 a vision is this grand, there is no room for 00:10:38.779 --> 00:10:41.899 underperformance. McGillivray's lack of preparation 00:10:41.899 --> 00:10:44.779 left the band with a brutal choice. They had 00:10:44.779 --> 00:10:46.899 to do something. Right there, in the middle of 00:10:46.899 --> 00:10:49.600 recording the album, Jim McGillivray was expelled 00:10:49.600 --> 00:10:52.559 from Eloy. He was fired. with his drum parts 00:10:52.559 --> 00:10:55.120 left completely unfinished. Firing a core member 00:10:55.120 --> 00:10:57.519 mid -session is a drastic maneuver. It leaves 00:10:57.519 --> 00:10:59.639 the entire production in jeopardy. How did they 00:10:59.639 --> 00:11:02.860 possibly recover a 42 -minute, eight -track progressive 00:11:02.860 --> 00:11:05.580 rock production without a drummer? They had to 00:11:05.580 --> 00:11:07.779 bring in a session drummer, Olaf Gustafsson, 00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:10.360 to step into the void. Gustafsson had to learn 00:11:10.360 --> 00:11:12.919 these intricate tracks on the fly, lock into 00:11:12.919 --> 00:11:14.740 the established tempo, and complete the drum 00:11:14.740 --> 00:11:17.259 recordings. Talk about pressure. His contribution 00:11:17.259 --> 00:11:19.519 was crucial to salvaging the rhythm section and 00:11:19.519 --> 00:11:21.909 keeping the project alive. He essentially had 00:11:21.909 --> 00:11:23.789 to drop in and learn the percussive language 00:11:23.789 --> 00:11:26.850 of Salta overnight. And it wasn't just the core 00:11:26.850 --> 00:11:28.669 rock instruments requiring careful management 00:11:28.669 --> 00:11:31.110 during these sessions either. No, the production 00:11:31.110 --> 00:11:33.929 of Planets was vast. They also brought in Wolfgang 00:11:33.929 --> 00:11:37.169 Deer to conduct and arrange strings for the album. 00:11:37.509 --> 00:11:40.769 Strings too? Yes. The engineering required to 00:11:40.769 --> 00:11:43.389 weave Deer's sweeping string arrangements with 00:11:43.389 --> 00:11:46.070 the era -specific synthesizers, the soaring guitars, 00:11:46.429 --> 00:11:49.289 and Gustafsson's rescue drumming. was a monumental 00:11:49.289 --> 00:11:51.889 undertaking. It sounds massive. You can hear 00:11:51.889 --> 00:11:53.889 the scale of this effort across the track list. 00:11:54.289 --> 00:11:57.429 Songs like Queen of the Night, Sphinx, and Carried 00:11:57.429 --> 00:12:00.169 by Cosmic Winds utilize these diverse elements 00:12:00.169 --> 00:12:02.929 to build a really immersive atmospheric space 00:12:02.929 --> 00:12:05.570 rock journey. So consider the totality of this 00:12:05.570 --> 00:12:08.309 effort. They endured the critical backlash of 00:12:08.309 --> 00:12:11.250 colors, drafted a thousand word prologue, held 00:12:11.250 --> 00:12:14.090 philosophical consultations with an author, managed 00:12:14.090 --> 00:12:17.049 a complex German to English translation, survived 00:12:17.049 --> 00:12:19.610 the apartment composition phase, fired their 00:12:19.610 --> 00:12:22.090 drummer mid -session, integrated a session player, 00:12:22.289 --> 00:12:24.730 and orchestrated strings. It is a staggering 00:12:24.730 --> 00:12:27.649 amount of work. After all that exertion, the 00:12:27.649 --> 00:12:31.049 album finally dropped in June of 1981, featuring 00:12:31.049 --> 00:12:34.129 original artwork by Winfried Reinbacher. They 00:12:34.129 --> 00:12:36.929 poured everything into this redemption arc, and 00:12:36.929 --> 00:12:39.769 it bombed in their home country. It is a stark 00:12:39.769 --> 00:12:42.909 reminder that artistic dedication does not guarantee 00:12:42.909 --> 00:12:45.169 immediate commercial validation. It must have 00:12:45.169 --> 00:12:48.169 hurt. The German music press was highly negative 00:12:48.169 --> 00:12:51.330 towards Planets. The critics did not connect 00:12:51.330 --> 00:12:54.360 with the dense sci -fi execution. or the ambitious 00:12:54.360 --> 00:12:57.440 scale of the work. Did the fans share the critics' 00:12:57.600 --> 00:12:59.820 sentiment? You would think the core audience 00:12:59.820 --> 00:13:02.639 that demanded a return to conceptual rock would 00:13:02.639 --> 00:13:04.860 have supported the effort. Whether they agreed 00:13:04.860 --> 00:13:07.019 with the critics or simply failed to connect 00:13:07.019 --> 00:13:09.539 with the material, the fans did not show up at 00:13:09.539 --> 00:13:12.080 the record stores. Planets became the very first 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:14.720 Eloy album since Dawn to completely miss the 00:13:14.720 --> 00:13:17.500 German charts. Wow. Not churning at all. The 00:13:17.500 --> 00:13:19.779 sequel album they had planned, Time to Turn, 00:13:19.960 --> 00:13:22.960 eventually charted in Germany. But this crucial 00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:25.620 first part of the epic, the grand reintroduction 00:13:25.620 --> 00:13:28.299 of Eloy's conceptual identity, it was completely 00:13:28.299 --> 00:13:30.759 rejected on their home turf. The psychological 00:13:30.759 --> 00:13:33.799 blow of that rejection, after taking such a calculated 00:13:33.799 --> 00:13:37.500 risk, must have been devastating. But, listener, 00:13:37.679 --> 00:13:40.399 the story of planets does not end in the summer 00:13:40.399 --> 00:13:43.740 of 1981. A substantial twist in the narrative 00:13:43.740 --> 00:13:46.259 occurs a whole year later across the English 00:13:46.259 --> 00:13:48.639 Channel. If we connect this to the bigger picture, 00:13:48.840 --> 00:13:51.440 the trajectory of Planets becomes a fascinating 00:13:51.440 --> 00:13:54.500 case study in how audiences perceive art differently 00:13:54.500 --> 00:13:57.740 depending on timing, geography, and presentation. 00:13:58.059 --> 00:14:02.059 So what happened in the UK? In 1982, Planets 00:14:02.059 --> 00:14:03.960 received its first release in the United Kingdom 00:14:03.960 --> 00:14:07.340 via a label called Heavy Metal Worldwide. However, 00:14:07.580 --> 00:14:09.740 the label altered the release strategy. Oh, so? 00:14:10.120 --> 00:14:11.799 Instead of releasing the first part in isolation, 00:14:12.159 --> 00:14:14.360 they dropped Planets simultaneously with its 00:14:14.360 --> 00:14:16.860 sequel. Time to turn. Oh, that is smart. The 00:14:16.860 --> 00:14:18.960 UK audience received the complete double album 00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:21.700 project as a singular experience. Furthermore, 00:14:21.940 --> 00:14:24.100 it was packaged with brand new alternative artwork 00:14:24.100 --> 00:14:26.720 designed by the prominent fantasy artist Rodney 00:14:26.720 --> 00:14:29.039 Matthews. How much of a difference could a simultaneous 00:14:29.039 --> 00:14:32.440 release and a new cover make? I mean, it doesn't 00:14:32.440 --> 00:14:34.620 actually change the way the music sounds. It 00:14:34.620 --> 00:14:37.220 doesn't change the audio, but it fundamentally 00:14:37.220 --> 00:14:39.740 changes the context in which the music is consumed. 00:14:40.330 --> 00:14:43.129 Rodney Matthews brought a specific fantasy pedigree 00:14:43.129 --> 00:14:45.970 to the visual presentation, and having both albums 00:14:45.970 --> 00:14:48.509 available meant listeners could digest the entire 00:14:48.509 --> 00:14:51.509 arc of Ion and Salta without waiting. They got 00:14:51.509 --> 00:14:54.309 the full story at once. The British fans and 00:14:54.309 --> 00:14:56.789 the British music press responded enthusiastically 00:14:56.789 --> 00:14:59.950 to the complete double album project. The sweeping 00:14:59.950 --> 00:15:02.629 narrative really resonated with them. The reception 00:15:02.629 --> 00:15:05.210 was so strong that the British press actually 00:15:05.210 --> 00:15:08.250 began favorably comparing Eloy's work to Peter 00:15:08.250 --> 00:15:11.120 Gabriel. That is a significant parallel. Peter 00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:13.159 Gabriel was highly respected for his theatrical, 00:15:13.379 --> 00:15:16.139 conceptual approach to rock at that time, blending 00:15:16.139 --> 00:15:19.000 deep psychological themes with intricate instrumentation. 00:15:19.059 --> 00:15:21.440 It was a massive compliment. To draw that comparison 00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:24.659 in 1982 meant the UK press viewed Eloy not just 00:15:24.659 --> 00:15:27.779 as competent musicians, but as serious, boundary 00:15:27.779 --> 00:15:31.230 -pushing artists. Exactly. The same musical notes, 00:15:31.389 --> 00:15:34.110 the same meticulously translated lyrics, and 00:15:34.110 --> 00:15:36.250 the same dramatic studio sessions rejected in 00:15:36.250 --> 00:15:39.169 one country, yet hailed as a triumph worthy of 00:15:39.169 --> 00:15:41.610 Peter Gabriel comparisons in another, simply 00:15:41.610 --> 00:15:43.990 by shifting the context and delivering the complete 00:15:43.990 --> 00:15:47.870 vision. So what does this all mean? When we evaluate 00:15:47.870 --> 00:15:50.649 the legacy of Eloy's Planets, there are a couple 00:15:50.649 --> 00:15:53.250 of profound takeaways for you, the listener, 00:15:53.450 --> 00:15:56.350 especially if you navigate creative or professional 00:15:56.350 --> 00:15:59.269 setbacks. There's a lot to learn here. First, 00:15:59.370 --> 00:16:01.149 it demonstrates that when you make a misstep 00:16:01.149 --> 00:16:03.629 that alienates your audience, as the band felt 00:16:03.629 --> 00:16:06.330 they did with Colors, the safest route isn't 00:16:06.330 --> 00:16:09.250 always the most effective. Sometimes the path 00:16:09.250 --> 00:16:11.610 forward requires leaning heavily into your most 00:16:11.610 --> 00:16:14.529 ambitious, uncompromising visions. Write the 00:16:14.529 --> 00:16:16.629 sprawling prologue, consult the philosophers, 00:16:16.929 --> 00:16:19.730 take the calculated risk. The second takeaway 00:16:19.730 --> 00:16:21.570 revolves around the subjectivity of perception. 00:16:22.140 --> 00:16:24.759 The stark contrast between the initial German 00:16:24.759 --> 00:16:27.279 release and the subsequent UK release proves 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:29.799 that a lack of appreciation in one specific market 00:16:29.799 --> 00:16:31.860 does not invalidate the work itself. It really 00:16:31.860 --> 00:16:35.340 doesn't. Sometimes the art simply needs to travel. 00:16:35.720 --> 00:16:38.320 It may require a different context, a modified 00:16:38.320 --> 00:16:41.139 presentation, or an entirely different demographic 00:16:41.139 --> 00:16:43.820 ready to engage with the material. A project 00:16:43.820 --> 00:16:46.120 might just be waiting for its Rodney Matthews 00:16:46.120 --> 00:16:48.919 artwork and a fresh audience to truly resonate. 00:16:49.179 --> 00:16:51.559 This raises an important question, bringing our 00:16:51.559 --> 00:16:53.799 discussion back to the core concept of the album. 00:16:53.980 --> 00:16:56.700 We explored the metaphor of Ion from the planet 00:16:56.700 --> 00:17:00.210 Salta. An outsider observing and battling negative 00:17:00.210 --> 00:17:04.069 forces in an age of chaos representing humanity's 00:17:04.069 --> 00:17:06.410 broader struggle. Right, the metaphorical weight 00:17:06.410 --> 00:17:08.329 of it all. So, I'll leave you with a thought 00:17:08.329 --> 00:17:11.250 experiment. If an alien observer, someone exactly 00:17:11.250 --> 00:17:14.650 like Ion, were to land here today and was tasked 00:17:14.650 --> 00:17:17.509 with writing a 1 ,000 -word concept piece about 00:17:17.509 --> 00:17:20.509 your world, what would that narrative sound like? 00:17:20.609 --> 00:17:23.089 That is a fascinating angle. What are the specific 00:17:23.089 --> 00:17:25.450 negative forces you observe in your own environment? 00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:28.039 And more importantly, if you were positioned 00:17:28.039 --> 00:17:30.819 as the protagonist of that story, what concrete 00:17:30.819 --> 00:17:33.279 actions would you take tomorrow to advocate for 00:17:33.279 --> 00:17:36.220 a better future? That is a heavy conceptual thought 00:17:36.220 --> 00:17:38.839 to process. Put on a pair of good headphones, 00:17:39.200 --> 00:17:42.500 queue up carried by cosmic winds, and carefully 00:17:42.500 --> 00:17:45.380 consider what your own thousand -word prologue 00:17:45.380 --> 00:17:47.740 would entail. We want to warmly thank you for 00:17:47.740 --> 00:17:49.799 joining us on this deep dive into the cosmic, 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:52.799 chaotic, and ultimately triumphant creation of 00:17:52.799 --> 00:17:55.180 Eloy's planets. It has been an incredible journey 00:17:55.180 --> 00:17:57.400 to explore. We hope this narrative encourages 00:17:57.400 --> 00:17:59.980 you to remain steadfast in your own ambitious 00:17:59.980 --> 00:18:02.980 pursuits. As always, keep exploring the vast 00:18:02.980 --> 00:18:05.599 and intricate universe of music on your own until 00:18:05.599 --> 00:18:06.099 next time.