The Vision, the Sword and the Pyre – Part I

The Vision, the Sword and the Pyre – Part I
Studio album by Eloy
Released	25 August 2017[1][2]
Studio	Artist Station, Hanover Horus Sound, Hanover Art of Music, Garlstorf
Genre	Prog rock[3][4]
Length	62:30
Label	Artist Station
Producer	Frank Bornemann
Eloy chronology
Reincarnation on Stage (2014) The Vision, the Sword and the Pyre – Part I (2017) The Vision, the Sword and the Pyre – Part II (2019)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
ArtRock	[5]
Background Magazine	[6]
Get Ready to Rock!	[7]
Hellfire	Favorable[8]
Musik Reviews	[3]
PowerMetal.de	[4]
progVisions	[9]
Progwereld	Favorable[10]
Rock Hard	[11]
Rocking.gr	Favorable[12]
Rockmachine	Unfavorable[13]
Sea of Tranquility	[14]

The Vision, the Sword and the Pyre – Part I is the eighteenth studio album by German rock band Eloy, released in 2017.

It is the first part of a rock opera about the life of Jeanne d'Arc, the realization of which had been a wish of frontman Frank Bornemann's since the 1990s.^[15] The second and final^[16] part of the concept was released in 2019.

Bornemann described the research that led to the rock opera's realization as follows: "I actually really did invest a lot of time in getting this work off the ground. There were many conversations with qualified historians to get the details of her story and I read countless works of literature, even the documents on the legal process in order to get a profound knowledge. Naturally, I visited all the locations and places of significance to her story -and that really inspired me and gave me deep insight into the events, which can't be gained from reading books alone."^[17]

Practical proof that Bornemann's interest in Jeanne d'Arc dates back to the 90s is that she had already appeared in Eloy's music twice during that decade: firstly in Destination with the song "Jeanne d'Arc", and secondly in The Tides Return Forever, where the song "Company of Angels" is dedicated to her.^[18]

Track listing

All lyrics and music by Frank Bornemann.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Age of the Hundred Years' War"	4:17
2.	"Domremy on 6 January 1412"	1:48
3.	"Early Signs... from a Longed for Miracle"	4:13
4.	"Autumn 1428 at Home"	0:55
5.	"The Call"	5:51
6.	"Vaucouleurs"	4:35
7.	"The Ride by Night... Towards the Predestined Fate" (Instrumental)	3:30
8.	"Chinon"	9:46
9.	"The Prophecy"	4:40
10.	"The Sword"	5:54
11.	"Orléans"	4:26
12.	"Les Tourelles"	7:24
13.	"Why?"	5:11

Personnel

All information according to the album's liner notes, numbers in parentheses indicate specific tracks.

Eloy Frank Bornemann: vocals, guitar, additional keyboards Klaus-Peter Matziol: bass Michael Gerlach: keyboards Hannes Folberth: keyboards Kristof Hinz: drums, percussion Guest musicians Julian Göke: bass, vocals (1) Isgaard Marke: vocals (9) Jessy Martens: vocals (13) Anke Renner: backing vocals (3, 5, 6, 11) Alexandra Seubert: backing vocals (3, 9, 11) Simon Moskon: backing vocals (3, 9) Sven-Arne Zinnke: backing vocals (5) Lisa Laage-Smidt: backing vocals (6) Simon Moskon: backing vocals (8) The Children's Choir of the Marktkirche Hannover: chorus vocals (9) Lisa Laage-Smidt: choir director (9) Jens Lück: keyboards (1, 5) Niklas Fischer: keyboards (3, 8) Artur Kühfuß: keyboards (5, 8) Christoph Van Hal: strings (1, 10) Volker Kuinke: recorder and flute (3, 6, 8, 10) Johannes Berger: bass viol (9) Kim Hutchinson: spoken voice (2) Kai Ritter: spoken voice (2, 4) Alice Merton: spoken voice (5, 6, 8) Bick Buttchereit: spoken voice (8) Eric Pulverich: spoken voice (8) Leon Kaack: spoken voice (8) Steve Mann: spoken voice (8)

Production Frank Bornemann: production, mixing Hans-Jörg Maucksch: mastering Niklas Fisher: engineering, mixing Martin Steidl: engineering, additional mixing Marten Berger: engineering Helge Preuss: engineering Mirko Hofmann: engineering Michael Gerlach: engineering Oliver Wiebe: engineering Jens Luekc: additional recordings Artwork Michael Narten: graphic design

Charts

Chart (2017)	Peak position
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[19]	22
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[20]	46

References

1. "Reincarnation on Stage – Eloy". Amazon Music. Amazon. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
2. "Reincarnation on Stage – Eloy". Apple Music. Apple Inc. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
3. Schiffmann, Andreas. "Eloy: The Vision, The Sword And The Pyre (Review)". musikreviews.de (in German). Retrieved 3 September 2024.
4. Backes, Björn. "ELOY – The Vision, The Sword And The Pyre – Part 1". powermetal.de (in German). Retrieved 3 September 2024.
5. Horyszny, Paweł (1 September 2017). "Eloy — The Vision, The Sword and the Pyre, Part I". ArtRock.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 3 September 2024.
6. van Os, Erik. "Eloy – The Vision, The Sword And The Pyre (Part 1)". Background Magazine. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
7. Geesin, Joe (17 August 2017). "Album review: ELOY – The Vision, The Sword and The Pyre (Part 1)". Get Ready to Rock!. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
8. Sieger, Gernot. "Eloy – The Vision, The Sword And The Pyre (Part 1)". Hellfire-Magazin (in German). Retrieved 3 September 2024.
9. Fledderus, Douwe (September 2017). "Eloy – The Vision, The Sword and The Pyre (Part 1) – 2017". progVisions. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
10. Goossensen, Maarten. "Eloy – The Vision, The Sword And The Pyre". Progwereld.org (in Dutch). Retrieved 3 September 2024.
11. "ELOY – The Vision, The Sword And The Pyre – Part I". Rock Hard (in German). Holger Stratmann. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
12. Koukas, Spyros (10 January 2018). "Eloy – The Vision, The Sword And The Pyre (Part I)". Rocking.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 3 September 2024.
13. Richardos, Alexandros. "ΑΚΟΥΓΟΝΤΑΣ ΤΟ ΚΑΙΝΟΥΡΓΙΟ ΑΛΜΠΟΥΜ ΤΩΝ ELOY". Rockmachine (in Greek). Retrieved 3 September 2024.
14. Pardo, Pete (20 January 2018). "Eloy: The Vision, the Sword and the Pyre (Part 1)". Sea of Tranquility. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
15. "Eloy | MIG". Mig. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
16. Fatouros, Dimitrios (21 October 2019). "Home / Interviews / Eloy". Grande Rock. Retrieved 9 September 2024. part 2 of "The Vision the Sword and the Pyre" completes the work
17. Buzzetta, Tomm. "Interviews 2: Frank Bornemann". Creative Tech Nerds. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
18. Bornemann, Frank (August 2023). "Eloy – Biography". German Rock e.V. (in German). Retrieved 30 August 2024.
19. "Offiziellecharts.de – Eloy – The Vision, the Sword and the Pyre – Part I" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts.
20. "Swisscharts.com – Eloy – The Vision, the Sword and the Pyre – Part I". Hung Medien.

External links

• "The Vision, the Sword and the Pyre I". Eloy official website. Retrieved 9 September 2024.