Probably no other decade polarizes musically as much as the 1980s. It was the decade in which pop music, having already become big business in the 70s, found its commercial flowering, performed in full awareness of its potential to captivate the masses. A decade of strange clothes, synthetic sounds, but also of ironic play with the meaning of pop itself, in which numerous styles cross-fertilized each other and new paths were taken. In a multi-part series, we remember a time that was more complex and multilayered than many remember.

It is a triumphant comeback, which Neil Young celebrates with his band Crazy Horse and the new joint album "Colorado". Everything is different, and yet somehow everything remains the same. What more do we want?!

50 years ago Neil Young, previously celebrated singer and guitarist of the hippie group Buffalo Springfield, founded a completely new musical concept with the trash band Crazy Horse. On the whitecap of virtuosity madness he was simply concerned with energy. The partnership between Young and the band certainly has some holes in it, and yet there are few projects where the old poet is as convincing as with Crazy Horse.

It's not easy getting Roine Stolt on the phone. The busy 63-year-old is too busy with his various bands and projects. Most recently he recorded new pieces with Transatlantic. When the phone call finally comes through, he is - of course - in his studio in Stockholm.

eclipsed: Can you announce anything new from Transatlantic yet?

Stolt: It's not quite certain yet. But we hope that we will have a new album in about a year.

eclipsed: You have so many bands and projects. You know, when you get up, it's usually just about what's on that day

Stolt: Not really. Today, for example, I had a long phone call with the record company about Transatlantic. Then we had a talk with the promoters of the Flower Kings about our upcoming Japan tour. And now we're talking on the phone.

eclipsed: Then let's get to "Waiting For Miracles". It's a double album.

According to the "German Dictionary" of the Brothers Grimm, "Gebrösel" or "Brösel" in the Lower Rhine refers to vegetables cooked in a mess. However, the name of the folk herb prog-whatever-you-can-get formation Crumble Machine, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2018 with the box set "It Was 50 Years Ago Today", owes its name to a cannabis crusher. After the Duisburg cult band had only given concerts sporadically between 1985 and 2005, they have been much more active again in recent years and with "Elegy" 2019 they have presented perhaps the strongest work in their long history.

Peter Bursch, known through his books as the "Guitar Teacher of the Nation", is the last remaining founding member of the Breadcrumb Machine, which was founded in 1968. In the interview he talks about the band's latest activities and the joys of age.

In August and September 1977 the space probes Voyager 1 and 2 started their missions to explore the outer planets of the solar system. Also on board: one gold-plated copper data plate each with analogue image and sound information, including classical and ethnic music, pieces by Chuck Berry and Louis Armstrong, which are intended to provide information about human culture to possible alien discoverers in the distant future. As early as 1971, ELP created a milestone in prog based on Modest Mussorgski's piano cycle, which repeatedly inspired musicians to rework their music with their live album "Pictures At An Exhibition". Famous examples are Maurice Ravel with his orchestral version (1922) or Isao Tomita with his version for electronic instruments (1975). The German fusion project Voyager IV, for its part, was prompted by Keith Emerson to make his own arrangement of Mussorgsky's work. Keyboarder Marcus Schinkel and singer Johannes Kuchta explain the background.

Since 1982 - with a break between 1997 and 2010 - Michael Gira and his band SWANS stand for experimental noise rock at deafening volumes. But on the 15th studio album "Leaving Meaning" the 65-year-old suddenly strikes a very quiet, restrained note - a change of heart for which he has a simple explanation.

It's his second spring: Since Jeff Lynnes' big live shows have triggered an ELO renaissance of unexpected proportions, the multi-instrumentalist has also started to produce new albums of his project again. After "Alone In The Universe" 2015, "Out Of Nowhere" followed in November 2019, on which the man in the sunglasses acts almost as a one-man orchestra. Even if the music is less symphonically opulent than in the 70s, the ELO sound again invites you to go into space.

After the controversial summer open-airs, Dream Theater will return to Europe for indoor concerts at the beginning of 2020 to finally present the opulent three-hour "Scenes From A Memory" shows on the old continent. In January/February the Progmetal-Kings want to take the opportunity to reconcile their fan community at seven concerts in German-speaking countries. We talked to singer James LaBrie in advance.

eclipsed: James, let's start with the negative. Many fans had assumed that you would already come to Europe this summer with the "Scenes From A Memory" show. We at eclipsed also jumped on this information in the beginning.