The Vision, the Sword and the Pyre – Part I

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

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]

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
UK Progressive Albums (OCC)[21]	27