| Emerson, Lake And Palmer | review #2 | 1970 |
| Tarkus | review #2 | review #3 | 1971 |
| Pictures At An Exhibition (live) | 1971 |
| Trilogy | review #2 | review #3 | review #4 | 1972 |
| Brain Salad Surgery | review #2 | 1973 |
| Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends (live) | 1974 |
| Works Vol. 1 | 1977 |
| Works Vol. 2 | 1977 |
| Love Beach | 1978 |
| The Best Of Emerson, Lake And Palmer (compilation) | 1980 |
| Black Moon | 1992 |
| The Atlantic Years (compilation) | 1993 |
| Live At Royal Albert Hall | 1993 |
| Works Live | 1993 |
| The Return Of The Manticore (boxed set) | 1993 |
| In The Hot Seat | 1994 |
| The King Biscuit Flower Hour (live) | 1997 |
There are very few bands that come to mind that I'm divided about as much as this one. On one hand, I really respect Emerson, Lake And Palmer quite a lot for their profound influence on the prog scene - they really defined the idea of a technically flawless supergroup in the genre (they were the first of their kind, in fact, with each member coming from three established bands, The Nice, King Crimson and Atomic Rooster respectively), and boy were their instrumental skills ever something. They were the very definition of pompous and bombastic rock, centering around huge classical reworkings centering around the keyboards and ultra-long epics about armadillo tanks and computer battles with a singer whose phenomenal vocal chords could perfectly bring those subjects to life. Their best songs are some of the finest examples of the genre. But...
Unfortunately, these guys are often a sheer model for inconsistency - in fact, they practically define it. And the main culprit I'm pointing to, of course, is keyboardist Keith Emerson. Don't get me wrong - the guy was certainly the real virtuoso of the band, and arguably the most technically mindblowing player at his instrument imaginable. Sometimes, while listening to these albums, one just has to wonder over how he was actually able to play some of this insane stuff with impossible accuracy, and at his best, like on several moments in the "Tarkus" epic, he is an absolute thrill to hear. But the main drawback is that since he was the center of the band's sound, an unfortunate portion of the songs are often swallowed up by long Emerson wankfests that are technically mindblowing but don't really have a whole lot of restraint or structure. So at his best, he's enthralling - at his worst, completely boring.
There's also the matter of Greg Lake, whose bass playing (although certainly quite good) was pretty muted, but his singing talents? Yikes - as already proved by King Crimson's debut where he began his career, he was undoubtedly one of the finest vocalists of the late 60's and early 70's. Like Jon Anderson of Yes, I really believe him to be one of the masters of making ridiculous, sometimes overly pompous lyrics come to life, and that's really a key element in appreciating these guys. And of course, in between all the classical reworkings, wankfests, and epics, he once had a great talent for writing nice ballads with gorgeous melodies, and they provided a powerful diversion on the classic ELP records. Of course, it was inevitable that when both his melodical skills and vocals were on the decline, he became kind of a weak link, but that happens.
Meanwhile, I won't really have much to say about Carl Palmer, cause I'm not the kind of reviewer that goes on and on about the technicality of drummers, but I will say that he was certainly a great player, as was required by the definition of classic prog, and in the sphere of early-mid 70's rock, I can only think of a few others that definitely thrill me more, if only because their playing personalities were more out there. Put it this way: as long as he's not playing wankfests himself like "Tank", I very much enjoy listening to his work. And that's your band - this was certainly not a consistent one, but in order to understand prog rock, at all, at least a couple of their classic albums are heavily recommended listening for you. What can I say? ELP were unique. They had quite a few great songs. And a bit of crap to mess things up. But they shouldn't be hated like they are.
--Nick Karn
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COMMENTS
ELP ELP ELP. well to tell you the truth i do heard of them in 2000 . lucky i turned the radio on and there was a song with a spacey synth! it shouts WELCOME BACK MY FRIENDS TO THE SHOW THAT NEVER ENDS! GODAMN! IF I DID NOT KNOW ANY BETTER I'D SAY THIS IS SO FUCKING COOL I 'D THOUGHT WHO THE HELL IS THAT BAND??????
they began as the nice before they transformed into emerson lake and palmer it begins with a debut album with the big hit lucky man! it was the best rock album of 1970!!! 1971 was a big year for the band playing a lot of shows like the isle of wright!
elp spend six days recording the concept album tarkus! the battle between a armadillo and a band of animals wage war is a cult favorite to fans who love the story lines well that and some genesis epics! elp wanted to release the live album pictures at an exhibition but there was one problem for atlantic records! they refused to release it they said the record is so bloated and it will damage the careers! but they say fuck you and released the album anyway! it was a multi platinum hit! with the song nutrocker! elp's on a roll! elp toured in englad in 1972 and they went to puerto rico for the mar y sol festival with 30,000 people! in july 1972 they released trilogy! it has hoedown and bolero! they toured to 180 concerts! wow even in japan! they were the best live act also best live were the who elton john santana and the stones! the mother of all prog albums brain salad surgery was in 1973! all you prog fans take not! still you turn me on and karn evil 1st impression 2 become hits! the live triple album welcome back my friends to the show that never ends! was a hit! but england has punk rock! well it was not exploded until '76 the ramones! they did works 1 and 2 in 1977! but the worst for the band was love beach! hey i loved the album and they were gone ! but hey elp is now turing and this they never die! long live elp!
(Nick Karn's review)
HIGH POINTS: Lucky Man, The Barbarian, Knife Edge. LOW POINTS: The Three Fates, Tank.
It's hard to believe that in this day and age when ELP are one of the most dismissed bands out there (just like in the late 70's) that their debut was so popular at the time, but it was. And in many ways it rightfully should have been, as it marks the grand entrance of their unique style. This might not have as much of an epic side as later on, but in terms of the actual instrumental work, it's quite a defining album for them. It should be noted that half of these six tracks are purely instrumental compositions, and just as many are reworkings (i.e. a nice word for uncredited ripoffs) of classical compositions (an important part of their background). Not surprisingly, this results in a particularly Emerson-heavy album like usual, and the results of this are also mixed. But before I get into that, I'd rather concentrate on the bits of noteworthy stuff throughout this album, and there's certainly enough to recommend.
First off, the opening instrumental "The Barbarian" immediately comes out of the gates on a very dark and evil-sounding tone, and it pretty much rules - that organ-heavy vibe serves as a vehicle for unbelievably tight and fierce band playing, and more importantly, they keep it at a normal length 4-1/2 minutes or so, which works perfectly. It's hard to imagine a more appropriate track to start off their career with. I'm also a big fan of at least portions of the first vocal number, "Take A Pebble" - an extremely gorgeous piano ballad where the listener gets their first taste of Greg Lake's wonderful voice to carry a simply beautiful majestic melody and atmosphere (props to Keith here!!). It's almost like you're being carried away on a river in some peaceful place. Of course, the piano jamming really, really gets excessive after awhile, breaking off the flow and making the song seem so overlong, but the vocal portions (and cool handclap section!) are definitely enough to save the song from collapsing under it.
Another notable classical ripoff here, meanwhile, would be in the form of the excellent apocalyptic "Knife Edge", where Lake really gives another vintage performance over a quite interesting and memorable vocal melody with some intriguing lyrical passages, plus a well thought out structure and jam portion. Speaking of vintage vocal performances, though, the most well-known and also best number here comes in the first and probably absolute greatest Lake ballad known to man in closing the album. "Lucky Man" boasts a beautifully melancholy mood with mournful lyrics for the main character of the song, gorgeous acoustic guitar touches, and of course, the best melody of the album, a powerfully moving chorus, and great Moog synth touches to end the song on an amazing fadeout.
Unfortunately, the remaining two 'songs' of the album are not so pleasurable, and they really drag down the quality here in preventing this from an easy 8. These two compositions are, predictably, in the form of lengthy instrumental wankfests that have the disadvantage of being right before "Lucky Man", so that song seems like a reward for sitting through this stuff. Emerson's three part piano piece "The Three Fates" is definitely the worst of the lot, as it's a prime example of all the bad sides of his showmanship I've complained about - astounding playing, but if I can't remember how it goes and there's not much structure to grab onto, then it loses me. And of course, "Tank" starts off as a synth-heavy piece that goes into a drum solo. Enough said. Carl Palmer's a fine player, but drum solos generally do nothing for me, and this one's no exception. These two tracks contribute to making the album a heavily inconsistent venture, but one well worth acquiring for the fantastic songs here. Give it a shot for the gems of Side 1 and "Lucky Man".
Not bad! Now here's a prog album that doesn't drag. Well, maybe a bit. But not much. I'm not much a fan of the opening cut "The Barbarian", excerpted from Bela Bartok's "Allegro Barbaro". Having not heard the original, I have nothing much to say about it. However, I am obliged to say lots and lots of things about the next one. "Take A Pebble" manages to create a slow, emotional feel in the beginning and ending verses, while placing interesting and engaging solos between the verses, even if Keith Emerson is a bit of a spotlight-hog here. I've heard this one compared to King Crimson's "Epitaph". Having never heard anything by King Crimson (yet), I can say nothing about it. "Knife-Edge" closes Side 1, another classical rip, of which I've not heard the original (Janacek "Sinfonietta"), but the ELP version is nice, with a haunting melody, sing by Mr. Balladeer, Greg Lake, and a snippet of what I think is a Bach prelude in Emerson's organ solo.
Side 2 starts with yet another "Emerson wankfest", as I've heard in soooooo many reviews of these guys. While these wankfests, for me, don't usually drag, this particular one, a three-part endeavour entitled "The Three Fates", seems to go on... and on and on... bleh. And the drum solo "Tank", while very entertaining near the end, is not much better. However, the acoustic number closing out the album, "Lucky Man", is 4:37 of pure bliss. The first of a series of Lake-penned acoustic numbers to be seen on later albums, has, like its followers, a catchy chorus and a little quirk at the end, in this case, a happy little synth number that turns sad at the end (a major key turning to minor, for the musicians out there), followed by three distinct drum hits that almost seem to say, "Okay we're done. Go home." Anyway, here's what I think: I like this album. But not as much as the ones that follow. They flow much better than this one. But considering this was their first record together, it's forgivable. Just this once though. Heh.
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(Nick Karn's review)
HIGH POINTS: the 'Mass', 'Stones Of Years', and 'Battlefield' portions of Tarkus, Are You Ready Eddy, Bitches Crystal. LOW POINTS: The Only Way, Infinite Space.
Although the band's debut had some excellent moments on it, its' excessive aspects made me a bit skeptical of the band. The approach they takes here, however, undoubtedly helped in making me get into their style a bit more. Apparently, the previous effort had made them a bit more confident in what they could possibly do with their sound, and since other prog rock bands at the time were using the sidelong format, ELP themselves figured, 'Why not?' But despite the disaster that might have potentially come from this idea, the way this piece and the rest of the album are structured are really clever enough to not drown in bombast. Sure, it certainly seems like most of the time writing and recording was spent on the 20 minute suite, but it's time well spent, and a lot of the album itself is a refreshing reminder that this band doesn't always take themselves too seriously.
Okay... "Tarkus", on first glance of the cover art and subtitles to the epic, might suggest extreme pretentious tendencies, but upon actually listening to the piece, it's actually a lot less serious than it appears. For one thing, the music chronicles the absolutely hilarious adventures of an 'armadillo tank' attacking on a huge battlefield, detailed in the pictures of the liner notes. I won't actually go into what happens here, as other reviewers have done it in an amusing enough way, but what I will say is that the structure is also considerably less overwhelming - the suite is in actuality a vehicle for Greg Lake's short pop numbers that are connected by complex, but not overlong and well-structured Emerson synth passages, which might actually be the man at his absolute peak. They range from the absolutely fantastic opening synth barrage of 'Eruption' to the great soloing transitions that either lead up to the poppier sections ('Iconoclast') or the battlefield portions ('Iconoclast'). Plus, that really weird synth march that ends the tune and includes reprises from the epic's most memorable themes ('Aquatarkus') might be an acquired taste because of its' tone, but once you acquire it, there's an extremely fun, quirky and engaging kind of quality to it.
As for the actual song oriented sections that are covered by Lake here, 'Stones Of Years' serves as a perfect way to emerge out of the blast of 'Eruption' - it's a great ballad portion featuring a highly beautiful melody (love the 'ahhhhhhhh's following the opening verse, too), and a nice, sparse bassline over nicely flowing keyboard parts. I should also mention that the lyrics themselves don't have much to do with the story of Tarkus, and that's especially apparent in the 'Mass' portion. That, however, doesn't matter at this point of the song, since the melody here is the catchiest moment of ELP's career, hands down. What an incredibly addictive hook that will stick in your head for hours on end, and it moves at such a great pace. And of course, the 'Battlefield' portion is sung with such conviction that you really might believe something earthshattering has happened with the silly armadillo tank destruction - it's great!
As much as the professional nature and epic tendencies of the "Tarkus" suite might make for the career highlight for the band, though, it also threatens to overshadow the whole second side of the album. On first listen, pretty much all of these tracks might completely pass by as harmless filler, but repeated listens show that they do have their own distinct melodies and interesting qualities. There are weak points, though - "The Only Way" and "Infinite Space" combine for a shorter mini-suite here, but this time, the effect is extremely dull. The former song is basically a hymn that features dreadfully ponderous and pointless anti-religion lyrics, and the latter is an extended piano instrumental that might as well have come from the debut, since it's about as boring and uninteresting as most of the similar material there.
The remainder of side two, though, I have basically no big problems with at all. "Bitches Crystal" sounds like an extension of "Tarkus" with its' lightning speed Emerson playing and energetic song structure, and "Jeremy Bender" is the first of their entertaining 'novelty tune' trilogy that would continue with the next two studio albums as a nicely brief saloon piano ditty about some young man who wants to become a nun. Finally, I guess "Time And A Place" is a pretty decent if not overly impressive, short rocking track, but "Are You Ready Eddy" closes the album on a hilarious note as a fabulous 50's styled rock 'n roll parody, proving that ELP was good at having fun after all (it's so fascinating hearing Lake sing this type of stuff on the same album as more bombastic stuff). In short, this is undoubtedly the band's greatest full length triumph, kept from a 9 only by those two bothersome fillers and a sometimes overly lightweight tendency of the other songs. And the title track is one of the finest, most influential prog sidelongs out there, so that alone should convince fans of this style to try the album out.
Hmm... What the frig is this? I mean, I know it was 1971 and all, but these guys were really frigged out. I mean REALLY. Anyway, the first time I heard the title track, I was not overly impressed, but since then "Tarkus" has really grown on me. Half of me was turned on to the short Lake contributions, such as the moody "Stones Of Years", the frantic "Mass", and the climax "Battlefield" which brings back the mood of "Stones". All three of these sections have solid melodies, if sometimes a bit jaunty (read: "Mass"), and a sense of urgency is there that only a huge armadillo tank could evoke. And then there's the Emerson interludes. Now there's originality. "Eruption" sounds like just that - an unsettled spurt of music that, despite the sheer pomposity of the idea, SOUNDS like the birth of a mechanical killing machine. Hoo yeah!
And "Iconoclast", despite being more of the same, really serves the purpose it was given, as a rhythmical reprise of "Eruption" and a segue into "Mass". Interestingly enough, this is also where the battle with the metal bird thingy takes place (see the inside sleeve); sure sounds like it at least! "Manticore" is a segue thingy, this time into "Battlefield". In "Battlefield", the deciding fight takes place between Mr. Armadillo and a... a... lion-bird-scorpion. Don't ask me, man. Apparently, Tarkus loses, being stung in the eye by Manitcore, so he pussies out and goes to the river to rest. His march is represented by "Aquatarkus". And then, of course, a big important reprise of "Eruption" and a bombastic ending. Hey, it's ELP; you knew THAT was coming.
Now, what do I think of all that? I LOVE it. Sure, it's pretentious and high-brow and seemingly inaccessible. And I've read a lot of reviews that justify it by saying it's not puffed up. It is very puffed up, but in one of the funniest ways. I mean, seriously, look at the story here. Fuck the lyrics; look at the painting that the MUSIC draws! It's not an epic depicting the rise of technology, a la "Karn Evil 9", or a collection of Lake pop songs, or a genius rock symphony; It's a 20 minute long song about A FUCKING ARMADILLO TANK!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! Fucking great shit. That's why these guys are my favorite. Or is Yes my favorite? Decisions, decisions...
Anyway, on to Side 2 (finally). The beginning of the ELP cabaret/Vaudeville phase, "Jeremy Bender", is hilarious, but you knew that already. "Bitches Crystal" is jazzy and all swing-y with phenominal piano work by Emerson and truly wicked Lake vocals. "The Only Way"/"Infinite Space", um, sucks ass. The melody sucks. The Bach prelude rip-off sucks. The lyrics REALLY suck. The Bach toccata intro, however, is very good, and there is a bit of catchy melody, I GUESS... "infinite spaaa-aaaa-aaace....". Ugh. "A Time and a Place" is "Knife Edge Part 2" but is okay in spite of that, I guess, and it has a bitchin' organ solo, so it's all good. And to polish it off, a little "Are You Ready Eddy?" is a whole lotta 50's rock'n'roll fun! "Bop me Eddy, bop me all night long..."
So, you mighta noticed that I concentrated on side 1, huh? Well, that's because "Tarkus" is one of the most enjoyable stretches of music I've come across. And because side 2... well... There's a couple good tunes on there, but a lot of it is just okay (and some of it SUCKS!). As great as "Tarkus", "Bitches Crystal" and "A Time and a Place" are, I just can't give it more than an 8. But hey! Because of the aforementioned three, and the fun atmosphere of "Jeremy" and "Eddy", I can't give it less than an 8, either! Like the other pre-Works studio albums, this is an essential, so, like, buy it, man! Or get it off the Internet. No wait! Don't do that! That's illegal...? Lars Ulrich, Dr. Dre, and all you pussies, give us a fucking break with the free music shit huh?! Rich pussy bastards. Get Tarkus!
The cover to Tarkus is the greatest album cover of all time. Yes, I know, to you it might just be Tarkus himself sitting on the cover, but to me it's so much more than that. No other cover gives off such a feeling of wonder, power, majesty, and humor all at the same time. Look at it. It's a picture of an armadillo tank. An armadillo tank! Doesn't that just crack you up? But look closer and you'll see that the way Tarkus takes up most of the cover with the huge shadow can make you realize that this isn't just an armadillo tank; this is a powerful armadillo tank. Now look beside Tarkus at the skeleton, and look back at the look in his eye. Now you can see that this isn't just a powerful armadillo tank; Tarkus is a tyrannical and powerful armadillo tank. Every time you look deeper into what might seem like a simple cover you'll learn something new about him. And when you open up the insert there are more pictures, but if I were to go into each and everyone of them I could be sitting here babbling on for hours.
I don't think I need to tell how cool the title track to this album is, but you might not know that the lyrics of the song have little to nothing to do with the story of Tarkus. What happens is that this evil monster named Tarkus hatches from an egg that pops out of a volcano, goes on a killing spree taking out creatures I can't even begin to describe, and finally prepares to do battle with a manticore. The battle is fought, and the manticore eventually wins by poking Tarkus in the eye with his sharp and pointy tail. Tarkus, completely crushed form the defeat in battle, can no longer live with himself and marches away to a river to commit suicide. But still his legend lives on, and none of the psychedelic animals will ever forget his name. And, while the lyrics have nothing to do with this story, the music sure does. Everything from his explosive birth to his sad march out to the water to kill himself, "Tarkus" is a masterpiece, most likely the best ELP song ever.
And then there's there much less exciting second side of the album. Yeah, these tunes are all neat little entries onto the album, but I find that there is only one (two, actually) that is a truly good song. You might be surprised that I would say this, as it seems most people hate "The Only Way/Infinite Space" songs, but I honestly don't see what's so bad about them. Sure the lyrics suck, but that's the only bad thing I can think of. Lake's bass line in the middle of "The Only Way" is possibly his best ever, and I find the whole song quite interesting. "Infinite Space" is a wonderful jam that never bores me, and I don't see why it bores everyone else.
The rest of the songs on the second side are just sort of there. Most of them are cool, especially "Time and a Place," but others aren't. "Are You Ready Eddy?" is especially stupid. While Lake's out of character vocals may be humorous to some, but I find them a complete waste of the man's amazing talent. On the other hand "Jeremy Bender" is somewhat out of character, but still fairly enjoyable. But that doesn't matter because Tarkus is worth it just for the title track and album cover. It might be the best ELP album ever, I'm not sure, I haven't heard them all. Still, any album with "Tarkus" on it would be tough to top.
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: The Sage, The Gnome. LOW POINTS: Nutrocker, The Great Gates Of Kiev, The Old Castle.
This one isn't the actual studio followup to Tarkus, but actually the band's first live record. It's not your ordinary concert experience, though, as this one features a piece that the band had been playing live in its' entirety for awhile on the tour - an adaptation of the well-known classical number by Mussorgsky from where the album gets its' name. It also easily ranks as the most controversial release the guys have ever put out, due in no small part to the idea that it supposedly butchers the original composition. For one thing, there's Keith Emerson synths, actual lyrics added on to certain already existing parts, and a couple other sections that are actually added to the original arrangement. Of course, not having heard the original "Pictures" yet, I'm in no position to be biased against ELP for what they did to the piece, and hey, I'm all for adaptations and rearrangements and whatnot in these cases.
The effect of this, unfortunately, is mixed. It's not even that I don't appreciate classical music and am bored to death by the piece itself or anything - the actual structure of it is just fine, with the three short "Promenade" sections (a rather nice portion of music, I might add) reprising themselves appropriately to help the listener catch their breath. They also do "The Gnome" portion of it fairly engagingly, with great organ and bass playing all over the place, enough to make it a highlight. Even the sections they add to the previously existing "Pictures" are good: one of them, the Greg Lake ballad "The Sage", I'd probably call the best on the album, as its' a fairly haunting acoustic number that somehow fits in perfectly with the rest of the material here (though that chord progression sounds extremely familiar). The jam "Blues Variation" is just that, but it's not a bad one, either.
But with the virtues, unfortunately, come the flaws. The actual music to most of this stuff isn't bad, but when quite a bit of it is driven by Emerson's synths, and his choice of tone is in places even more annoying than most of what Tony Banks has ever come up with (and I'm dead serious here), you've got problems. "The Old Castle" and the otherwise slightly epic and exciting "The Curse Of Baba Yaga" are made difficult to listen to because of that bothersome sound (and in the former's case, made nearly unlistenable). Not to mention the last two tracks completely suck. If there's an actual structure to "The Great Gates Of Kiev", please let me know, because that thing just rambles to death, and the way Lake throws in inappropriately pretentious lyrics and a weak melody doesn't help (though I'll admit the 'death... is... life...' ending is neat). And then they have the nerve to end the show with a really clumsy and ugly "Nutrocker" (yes, that "Nutrocker") as their encore. Ugh. Well, at least it's definitely not a 1 like Mark Prindle will tell you - there are numerous merits here that push Pictures somewhat above 'awful', but I'm also absolutely not going to call this 'underrated', either.
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(Nick Karn's review)
HIGH POINTS: Hoedown, The Sheriff. LOW POINTS: Living Sin.
Well, I guess Pictures Of An Exhibition's reviled live classical butchering excess really alienated listeners, so it's no surprise that their next studio effort would go for a more accessible (and diverse) direction than before. For some reason, it's also quite a favorite among fans, maybe because it puts their various sides on display effectively. Unfortunately, there are a few aspects of this album that make this one a bit weaker than what came before. While the songs individually aren't at all weak for the most part, a good part of them do have annoying flaws that keep them from being all the way successful. And taken as a whole, this album just doesn't have the flow and energy of the previous efforts, with several of the pieces suffering from unnecessarily dragged out song structures - somewhat bothersome sprawl, specifically. And there's also the fact that there's not much here that wasn't already done before, but oh well.
The opening "The Endless Enigma", for instance, is a good example of this album's flaws. It's a three part epic separated over the first three album tracks, with the pretty but insubstantial short piano portion "Fugue" separating the two main parts. The main verse melody and anthemic chorus is simply awesome, with the vocals helping to add a powerful epic feeling to it, but unfortunately, the overly simplified intro takes way too long to build and the entire piece, with mostly non-descript jamming throughout, becomes a nearly 11 minute sprawl that would have been a spectacular track at half that length. The same can be said for the nearly nine minute title track, whose opening despair is conveyed in a totally breathtaking fashion by the depressing piano laden parts and of course the vocals, with the initial bursts of jamming afterwards also being quite effective, but beyond that, the rambling song structure and weaker secondary melody later in the song completely loses me.
Likewise, there's also the closing "Abaddon's Bolero", which really has a cool premise - with its' simple, steady drumbeat and memorable synth line, sounds as if it's going to build up to something spectacular, and for a few minutes it's engaging in how they pile up varied instrumental parts onto it, but after a little over half of it's eight minute length the sheer repetitiveness of the structure causes me to yell, "Enough already!". Fortunately, "Living Sin" isn't half as long as those two numbers, but it's not any better either - the song is musically very captivating, but for whatever reason, Lake decides to use some sort of evil growling voice in his approach, which makes it sound extremely stupid. And I'm also not a huge fan of the big hit "From The Beginning". It's certainly quite a pleasant acoustic ballad with a nice melody to it and peaceful moog synths at the end, though it's also a bit overrated and simplistic - kinda gets tiring after awhile.
Fortunately for the album's quality, none of these tracks are start to finish weak songs (except maybe "Living Sin"), as they all have neat moments, but only two of them are true highlights all the way through. First, there's the sequel to the last album's "Jeremy Bender" in the lighthearted "The Sheriff", which may not be as funny lyrically, but it's somewhat catchy, and musically more interesting, with a short cool drum solo at the beginning and a burst of ragtime piano at the end for good measure. And finally, there's "Hoedown", a rendition of Copeland's universally recognized classical tune (think 'Beef... it's what's for dinner') done rocking ELP style, and it's really well performed, especially with the insanely fast and exciting keyboard work (again, some of Emerson's most vintage work) that push it over the top to make it the best song here. These two tracks among other nice moments help ensure that, despite the heavily flawed quality of the album, it's enjoyable more often than not.
Well, well. This one has got some cojones, eh? Right out of the gate, we get the "epic" of the record, the three-part "The Endless Enigma". Starting with "Part I", we have an avant-garde-sounding intro, moving through several styles, such as a semi-classical organ solo, into a jazzy lounge-esque organ solo, before settling down and giving us the 1st verse. I think the lyrics have to to with Greg Lake being pissed about hypocrites and people telling him what to do. But who cares? This is one damn catchy melody, especially the part where is quiets down and he sings, "Are you confused to the point in your mind though you're blind can't you see youre wrong..."
After the verses, we get some fast organ playing that kinda hits a wall, after which a few piano chords are the segue into the "Fugue" part. This can drag a bit for those who don't know what a fugue is. To them, it's just another mindless Emerson solo. But this one is more than just that. It really is a thinking man's solo. It gets really involved with Lake jumping in for some much-deserved guitar work, until it settles down again, moving us into the finale. "Part II" starts back in with six bombastic fanfare chords, moving into a trumpet-sounding synth solo. The last verse then plays, even more pretentious than before, erupting into Lake belting out, "Now that it's done, I've begun to see the reason why I'm heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere!" and the whole fucking house comes down with the final chords, and, *thump* with the bass drum closes it out. A LOT more interesting than "Take a Pebble", in my opinion.
Whew, what a number! What to do next? Well, in this case, the best thing to do would be follow up with an acoustic number. That's just what ELP did, tossing in "From the Beginning", a catchy number with a synth solo (what a surprise). Next, a short drum solo bring us into "The Sheriff", a bluesy story about Josie, some criminal-type guy, and the sheriff, who goes across the country looking for Josie. Actually, a nice little story with a little twist at the end. "Hoedown" follows, to close out Side 1. Every time I hear this one, I get hungry for beef. Wonder why?
Side 2 starts out with what is definitely my second-favorite ELP tune, "Trilogy". Lyrically, its an anti-love song, with the guy telling his bitch that they can't be together anymore, but musically, it's SO much more. Three distinct sections can be heard (hence the name "Trilogy"). Starting off with the piano-driven first part, we get some rather depressing Chopin-esque sound from Emerson, and Lake's voice, coupled with that melody (which will be heard throughout the piece) is sad enough to make a grown man cry. Then the piano moves the mood a bit, into an impressionistic little groove, then really jumping into light speed, coming down into what I consider Part 2, a very dissonant synth solo in 5/4 time. Several loud chords sound at the end of this, with the synth taking us into Part 3, now in 6/4 and a little more "happy" if you will. Mr. Lake sure sounds happier, reminding his ex-woman to remember the "happy" times. Fitting, huh?
Yet ANOTHER synth solo dominates the middle half of this part, until finally, Lake tells whoever this woman is that she will love again, and then the whole thing breaks down into a jazzy little closing section, and another decided thump from Palmer's bass drum closes it out. Niiice. As happy as the last tune was, the next, "Living Sin", is just as dark, almost a throwback to "Knife-Edge", but sexually connotated. And you know, you can never get enough sex, right? Whatever. Nice tune though. And to close this one out, "Abaddon's Bolero" plods along for EIGHT minimalistic minutes, with only minor changes in each part. The redeeming value of this one is, it really does creep up on you, and before you know it, you hear the "boom-boom-boomboom-boom-boom-boomboom-thump", signifying that they're done. Finito. No more bolero for ELP. They need a break, I guess. A breather, if you will. They just finished a very pretentious and bombastic album, and they should be loved for it. A readily deserved ten, but I think I'll save that one for the next album, which is to me the epitome of bombast. Read on for that one!
I'm going to have to be harsh here to begin with, but that's because most of the songs on this album strike me as shorter versions of "Tarkus." Everything from the mood to the keyboard sound just tires me. I don't want another "Tarkus," I want another Emerson, Lake and Palmer album. Is that too much to ask? Maybe some would argue that this was just ELP's style at the time. I can understand albums similar in style, but this one doesn't seem new to me at all. Maybe I'm just nuts. Well, anyway, I think that in spite of the all-too-familiar feel of the album, a few of the songs are really good. In fact, there are only little spots of the album that become boring at all. "Aboddon's Bolero" drags somewhat toward the end,.but for the most part it's an interesting entry into the album.
The two tracks entitled "The Endless Enigma" are neat as well, though I've always been the kind of person who thinks that it your going to have a reprise or a part two of a song or something, don't put it just two tracks away from the original. Spread it out a little. My favorite on the album, though is the extremely energetic "Hoedown," which flies through the original song with an incredible power that deserves a lot of praise. I could get up and dance to that song all day and night. Not that I like to dance... Oh, before I forget, though it might feel extremely boring on the first few listens, the title track is actually quite a great song. If you are the kind of person who finds it boring, then all I can say is listen to it again, and eventually something will click, and you'll love it as much as I do.
This is Emerson, Lake, And Palmer's most accessible offering, since it contains the acoustic hit "From The Beginning" which has some neat moog sounds when it fades out, and the crowd pleaser "Hoedown", a fast classical tune that contains some brilliant keyboard playing. The tightly arranged and short jazzy progressive tune, "The Sheriff", has an intriguing time signature and is a minor gem on here. The other short tune, the evil "Living Sin" is alright instrumentally, but the vocals on the verses are done in a fake scary voice, which makes them sound horrible. "Abaddon's Bolero" just plods along in it's eight minutes - it's marching drums are consistent with various synthesizers and keyboards added in as the song goes along. So it's a fairly boring song with hardly any musical ideas thrown in, but luckily it is, along with "Living Sin", located at the end of the album.
The most stunning song on here is the amazing title track; it starts off as a melancholy piano ballad, and at the two minute mark it turns into an intense tune with some driving synthesizer work. Their are tons of tricky time signatures, tuneful keyboard and moog solos, two assuring vocal spots, along with a surprising bluesy ending in this successful song. The three part "The Endless Enigma" has some great moments too, it's first part has a dynamic hymn-like arrangement, then it turns into a subtle and beautiful classical piano piece in "Fugue", and goes into it's grand finale with "the Endless Enigma - part 2". Although Trilogy is not the best they have, it is one of their most original and least pretentious albums.
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(Nick Karn's review)
HIGH POINTS: Karn Evil 9 1st Impression - Part 2, Toccata, Benny The Bouncer. LOW POINTS: Karn Evil 9 2nd Impression.
If one might have thought ELP were toning down their sound a bit on Trilogy (maybe for commercial purposes?), this one should have put all those fears to rest. This is very often considered the most fully realized work in their catalog, and while it has enough weak spots for me to disagree, one thing can't be denied - this is their single most bloated, overblown, pompous effort in their entire career (though Works Vol. 1 does match it in places, but not in the best way), with sheer bombast coming out of almost every song on here. On the surface, this is a package that seems to have everything - their most over the top classical and hymn renditions, an amazingly cool 3-D album cover on the vinyl and remastered CDs, and of course, a nearly half-hour long suite that swallows up around two thirds of the entire album. But I will get to the results of that monster later on here.
Like with Tarkus, the remaining tracks other than the epic have the potential to sound like serious afterthoughts, but thankfully, all four of them serve as quite good buildups for the main attraction, kicking off with a short rendition of an old British hymn "Jerusalem" - this one features heavily bombastic organ parts and vocals that immediately define the entirely unsubtle tone of the album. The best of these tracks then comes in the instrumental "Toccatta" (an adaptation of Ginastera's 1st Piano Concerto, 4th Movement - the first three were covered on Emerson's side of Works). What really makes this song is its' extremely interesting, space rock feel. Sure, Emerson is stealing the show here with this playing, but this piece also features great use of electronic drums (the first of their kind, maybe) from Carl Palmer that contribute really nicely to the atmosphere (especially in the middle).
In total contrast, especially to what comes later, are the two attempts at more 'lightweight' numbers, and despite being a bit short, they're still very worthy inclusions on here. The obligatory ballad from Greg Lake comes in the form of "Still... You Turn Me On", which has a fabulous yearning melody, more vintage acoustic work, and interesting 'porno' wah-wah guitar parts (as I've heard them described) in the chorus. And hey - "Benny The Bouncer" is quite possibly the best comedic number the band ever did, with Pete Sinfield's lyrics actually being hilarious for once. The main keyboard part that drives the song is a perfect foil for the really exaggerated vocals telling the story of Benny, who 'works for Jesus as the bouncer at St. Peter's Gate', and the melody is extremely catchy. Wonderful.
And then we have the huge, positively overwhelming "Karn Evil 9" centerpiece. The concept is certainly worthy of a 70's prog act's ambition - the world only existing in carnivals (with Greg Lake acting as the ringleader) is the premise of the first impression, and the world is taken over by computers by the entire piece's end. There are certainly some breathtaking moments in this suite (and nothing less than exceptional playing), but in all, my opinion of it is a bit mixed. The first impression has a neat ominous buildup in its' music, lyrics and atmosphere, with nice shifting 'I'll be there, I'll be there, I will be there...' lines for good measure, and then after a few moments of instrumental noodling, the tempo picks up, and a supremely catchy melody worthy of the 'Mass' section from "Tarkus" shows itself in all of its' serious entertainment, helped by Lake's grand introduction ('Roll up! Roll up! See the show!'), and that premise is continued at the start of the second side with 'First Impression - Part 2', the most well-known portion of the suite, and the best part of the album - the whole thing is just incredibly energetic and fun, as a song with a circus atmosphere should be.
Unfortunately, the 'Second Impression' is quite a drag compared to the first one, as it's basically a piano/synth wankfest by Keith Emerson that sounds technically impressive but sounds so isolated from the rest of the piece, and while not exactly awful, is too much of a chore to sit through. Plus, the third and final impression, while opening on a shattering melody that's extremely dramatic and powerful, is also dominated a little too much by unnecessary (synth led) sprawl jamming, while the computer 'voices' ('LOAD YOUR PROGRAM, I AM YOURSELF') are partially effective for the mood but can get irritating, and remind a bit too much of this album's bloatedness. Still a good epic, though, even if it may have been much better cut down 10 or 15 minutes. Still, this is a quintessential showcase of our favorite 'reviled' prog masters in action, which means the pretentiousness can be too much at times, but amongst it all you'll find quite a bit of rewarding music.
Update: Okay, the last two-thirds or so of the "Karn Evil 9" has reeeeaaaally grown off me recently, and seeing how that's a huge portion of the album, unfortunately the rating suffers a bit here. Sorry.
I am smiling. To bask in this ocean of bombast always puts a decided grin on my grill. Fond memories I have of hearing "Karn Evil 9 (1st Impression Part 2)" on the radio at work and just taking it all in. Curiousity led meto seek out the full album, and I am glad I did. So let's begin, shall we? "Jerusalem" is the boys' take on the standard British hymn of the same name.While not outstanding, it has it moments, and does display some restrained bombast, such as gong hits, and little drum fills here and there, and of course the Moog synth sounds that have become an ELP staple. Not a bad album opener, I guess. Next is the imitated, but never replicated "Toccata". Adapted from Ginastera's 1st Piano Concerto, this has more synth than you can shake a stick at. Even the fucking DRUMS are hooked up to little synthesizers that are used in the middle of the piece (this being the first time drums were electronically altered). The piece is hard to get into, but once you do, it is very very enjoyable, and not overlong, at only 7 minutes 23 seconds.
Next, almost like an apology for "Toccata", is "Still....You Turn Me On", the obligatory Lake acoustic number. While not quite a "Lucky Man", this one has its moments and is easily the moodiest of the three early acoustic songs ("Lucky Man", "From The Beginning", and "Still....You Turn Me On"), even with the, as Prindle would say, "corny wah-wah guitar" in the chorus. If anything's corny, it's the next number, "Benny the Bouncer". For this one, Lake employs a drunken-Brit voice. It's cute, but short enough to not be really annoying. Much like my nephews, really.
And now we move on to the main event, the magnum opus, "Karn Evil 9". It is written in the rather depressing key of G# minor (that's another one for you fellow musicians). If "Bolero" from "Trilogy" was a buildup song, the 1st Impression of "Karn Evil 9" is the mother of all buildups. Starting with just a little organ line, quickly joined by piano, drums and bass, and the Karnevil ringmaster, Lake himself. After a little while, it jumps to a major key in a synth-driven solo section. And before you know it, the meat of the song comes in. "Step inside! Hello! We've the most amazing show!...." The Carnival has begun, and Lake takes us on a tour of oddities and what not. After a little while, Lake gets a teeny-weeny guitar solo that quickly builds bigger and bigger, leading us into "1st Impression (Part 2)" at which point the record needs to be flipped over, unless of course, you have the CD, like me!!! Hehe.
Anyway, the buildup starts over, with a quiet organ/tambourine bridge right before the all-too-familiar "Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends" that originally hooked me onto this album. Without wasting too much time, Emerson brings himself in with a smoking organ solo, followed by Lake making himself known on the guitar, building up like before, this time leaving us with a drum solo and yet another buildup, this one being the loudest (probably because it's the last one), peaked with several dissonant chords, followed by a loud finale, capped with a loud "See the shoooooooooowwwwwwwwwww!!!" by Lake, and the whole thing comes down for "2nd Impression", which is essentially the obligatory Emerson wankfest. But this one is really, really fucking cool. Like a jazz-fusion chart, with synthesizers.
After "2nd Impresson" comes "3rd Impression" (duh), a nine-minute piece that serves as THE dividing line for people, a piece so bombastic, some think it's too pretentious for its own good. I, however, disagree. I love it to death. What it is is the final showdown between man and machine, set to very spacey music, with cool computer-voice overdubs. In the end, the computer wins, even though we are led to believe man wins, which really sucks for us, huh? Oh well. Lake's voice is at its peak in this section, dripping with bombast, as also Emerson's trumpet-like synth solos are. So much bombast!! But isn't this what prog is all about? Anyway, the piece is brought to a close with loud booming chords, which is to be expected from these guys, and in the wake of those chords a slow little synth-marimba sounding sequence begins, slowly gaining speed and volume, panning left and right and left again, louder and faster till That's it. It just stops! It hits a damned wall! HA!!!! ELP is good at ending their songs in dramatic fashion, and this is no exception. As a matter of fact, it's the most glaring display of this. And that's that.
Well, unless you have the 1996 reissue, which tacks on a interview/documentary section called "The Making of Brain Salad Surgery", which is a very interesting behind-the-scenes take on the album. Anyway, I think that's it. One final note: This, to me, is the most balanced ELP album, in that Emerson doesn't sit and solo for forever on this one! And Lake and Palmer get plenty of spotlight as well. All in all, a perfect band effort. An easy ten for this one. I'd give an 11 if I could, but that would go against all kinds of natural laws, so I'll just leave it at that. You NEED this album. That's all I have to say about that.
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(reviewed by John Sieber)
Well, don't have all that much to say about this one. The sound quality is not too bad, not as good as Kansas' Two For The Show, but hey, that's not for years to come! The musicians are smoking, as usual (both on their instruments and other things, I'm sure), however they are not as tight as I'd like em to be. Highlights: "Hoedown" moves faster than my ex-girlfriend (I'm usually against live speedups, but it's a good thing here). Same goes for "Karn Evil 9". "Take a Pebble" with its inclusions of acoustic Lake ballads of albums past ("Still..." and "Lucky Man") and piano wankfests. Also, Palmer's "Con Brio" drum solo in "Karn Evil 9" kicks it old-school. Lowlights: "Karn Evil 9" 1st Impression pt. 1 is played lower than on the studio version, but they comes back up to A flat when the Karnevil tour begins. "Tarkus" and Karn Evil 9" are really friggin' long tracks, making moving to an inner movement a pin in my bunghole. Plus, Lake's voice seems to kind of lose steam near then end of the album. But hey, it's a pretty fuckin' long setlist to sing! One last lowlight: the separation of "Pebble" into separate discs on the CD version. That was unneccessary, as there was enough room on #2 that the 11 extra minutes could have fit. Oh well. All in all, very nice! If you have not picked up all three of their studio albums and want the best of them, this is where to go! Enjoy!
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: Fanfare For The Common Man, Piano Concerto No. 1 (3rd Movement), L.A. Nights. LOW POINTS: Nobody Loves You Like I Do, Pirates, Hallowed Be Thy Name, Closer To Believing, Tank, Lend Your Love To Me Tonight.
Apparently, the members of ELP were really tiring of each other after a few years, and they all wanted to go their separate ways and release solo albums. The original plan for that was for the three of them to put them out simultaneously, but once they realized that only the really hardcore fans would buy them individually, the band came up with a better solution, and the result is this double album. This is, essentially, three half solo efforts and a side of group collaborations, each of these four portions taking up a side of the album. Of course, both Works volumes sold very poorly and contributed to breaking the band up for a long period the following year. But the material also reflects the decline of ELP's fortunes, as the album isn't particularly great overall. What it pretty much does is effectively display the weaknesses of each individual member, with some very poor results. While there is some good material throughout this set, a lot of it's drowned out in a sea of non-descript or awful tunes, making this undoubtedly the worst double album I've heard so far.
Surprisingly, however, the album actually does get off to a good start with the Keith Emerson side. Knowing my attitude toward a lot of his piano and keyboard wankings, you'd think I'd bash the heck out of his 18 minute sidelong, three movement, orchestral piece "Piano Concerto No. 1", but I like it, since I don't really mind pure classical music. It's not something I'd want to listen to every day necessarily, and it is a little boring in parts, but his playing blends very well with the orchestra (which has a very majestic sweep at points), and it creates a nice, peaceful, often beautiful mood that works somewhat effectively for background listening. The third movement is successful in particular, with some ominous piano in the beginning and several attention grabbing moments as it gradually builds up to its' powerful finale.
Unfortunately, the Greg Lake side is where things start to take a real nosedive - this is horrible. Okay, my complaints about how he doesn't sing enough on classic ELP albums in my next review don't apply here, since all of this stuff pretty much blows. Several of the songs on here are corny romantic ballads overwhelmed by orchestration, totally weak melodies, and crappy acoustic guitar sound ("Closer To Believing" and "Lend Your Love To Me Tonight" are good examples). They also boast some of the worst lyrics ever penned by Pete Sinfield (which is quite an accomplishment - check out the opening verse in "Nobody Loves You Like I Do" and the truly embarassing camp of the unbearable "Hallowed Be Thy Name"... ugh). The only one I can tolerate is the decently pretty and mildly dark "C'est La Vie", but even that one turns overly lifeless near the end and has a stupid accordian solo.
The Carl Palmer side isn't really that much of an improvement, though, since most of this material is basically instrumental jams that are well played, but there isn't all that much memorable or exciting to grab onto within the course of their running time. I can't tell you much about the horn-filled "Food For Your Soul", "New Orleans" and "The Enemy God Dances With The Black Spirits", or the little snippet of Bach ("Two Part Invention In D Minor"). Plus, he also gives us a remake of "Tank", which didn't interest me in the least when it was on the debut and it don't interest me here. There is one successful number here, though - "L.A. Nights" has a neat eerie vocal echo of the song's title and effective synth playing before it switches to a fun bouncy little groove that drives the remaining portion of it. It's a little overlong, but still exciting for the most part.
The group side, meanwhile, is by far the most uneven of the album. On one hand, the best song on the entire thing, the nearly 10 minute rendition of "Fanfare For The Common Man", is truly inspired - the synth playing and tone in the first few minutes of it is awesome and the groove is highly addictive enough to make it excellent, even if it does get a little overlong and repetitive. The closing 13 minute epic "Pirates", though, is certainly not - it does have a good mysterious intro and neat buildup, but there's way too much emphasis on the Hollywoodish atmosphere on this one, with overblown to the extreme orchestration, and more banal and pompous Sinfield crap. The melody isn't even very good to justify all that either. Ugh. So in all, if I were to grade each side of the album for my final opinion, I'd give the Emerson side a 7, the Lake side a 2, the Palmer side a 4, and the group side a 5, for an average of 4.5, but I rounded the rating down a bit cause it's hard to sit through all the way. Not too good.
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: Tiger In A Spotlight, When The Apple Blossoms Bloom In The Windmills Of Your Mind I'll Be Your Valentine, Watching Over You. LOW POINTS: So Far To Fall, Barrelhouse Shake-Down, Honky Tonk Train Blues.
While the first volume of the Works series showcased the talents of the individual members (or more accurately, weaknesses) with group compositions thrown in, the second volume takes a bit of a different approach. You know how the band always liked to include at least a couple very lighthearted numbers on all of their 'classic' records? Well, this is basically an album full of that kind of stuff, with an impressive diversity throughout. While it's nice to have practically no overbloatedness throughout the proceedings, several of these pieces (particularly the instrumentals) sound a bit too much like second-rate outtakes that are just there with no real purpose or direction. While half of this album is quite boring and pointless (and there is a rather awful misfire here that I'll get to later), the other half is at best very good and at worst pleasant to listen to.
It certainly starts off promising with the incredibly catchy boogie woogie of "Tiger In A Spotlight", which boasts a simply awesome groove and vocal melody, with Lake's voice in top form. Speaking of top form vocals, the acoustic ballad "Watching Over You" is extremely pretty due in no small part to them, lifting the slightly simplistic and sappy song to great heights, and he certainly doesn't hurt the wonderful holiday number "I Believe In Father Christmas" either. The first instrumental (and only worthy one on the album) not only sports the great title "When The Apple Blossoms Bloom In The Windmills Of Your Mind, I'll Be Your Valentine", it also has wonderful flow to it and some genuinely beautiful synth led melodies, and to a lesser extent, the lost title track to Brain Salad Surgery (which has really cheesy synths but great over-the-top vocals) and the decent jazzy cover tune "Show Me The Way To Go Home" are also nice.
Unfortunately, those boring instrumental compositions I mentioned dominate much of the proceedings, as the Emerson ragtime numbers "Barrelhouse Shake-down" and "Maple Leaf Rag" just completely pass me by (as does "Honky Tonk Train Blues"), and Palmer's drum workouts "Bulfrog" and "Close But Not Touching" are only a little bit better, as they at least have decent instrumental melodies at their core but they aren't expanded upon too excitingly. In his Tarkus review, Robert Grazer claims that Greg Lake singing the rock 'n' roll parody "Are You Ready Eddy?" is a 'complete waste of the man's amazing talent'. Well, I'm gonna have to point out that the thing that frustrates me most about ELP is that they take up half (if not more) of their albums with instrumental jamming when they have one of the greatest vocalists of the 70's! Now that's a waste of amazing vocal talent. Basically any occasion Lake sings during the classic years elevates things to another level as far as I'm concerned (OK, except for "Living Sin").
Oh, and of course, on the opposite end of the spectrum here, while there's only one instrumental number on the album that grabs my attention at all, there's only one vocal number I don't care for, and yes, I'm speaking of the hideous "So Far To Fall", which sounds like a really bad Broadway number with irritating horns and a melody that draws attention to the horrible lyrics (from Pete Sinfield), especially the immortal line 'she did a thing to my thing'. Sorry, but I just can't stand that song, and along with the instrumentals bar the one with the really long title, it's the reason I really can't go any higher in my rating for this album. I'd say it's worth picking up for the worthy numbers on here (and there are several), but there are just as many not-so-worthy ones. A quintessential hit-or-miss album, if you ask me.
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: All I Want Is You, For You. LOW POINTS: Taste Of My Love, The Gambler, the second half of Memoirs Of An Officer And A Gentleman.
This has to be one of the most consistently bashed albums from a major progressive band ever, and every ELP fan's worst nightmare. Everyone knows the idea in how Love Beach came about - the band still owed an album to their record company despite the fact that they had no desire to work together for awhile. So of course, they quickly threw together a side of very pop-oriented, somewhat commercial, numbers, and another sidelength suite that they hoped would please their hardcore fans. Well, needless to say, this album didn't please the fans at all, and the album cover picture of them baring their chests and such didn't help matters - maybe that's a big reason why it turns them off. Because I don't see how the album's quite as bad as people say. Sure, it's very corny and generic in places, and a couple of the songs are complete crap, but a good portion of the album is melodic, and even the sidelong has its' moments of beauty.
But with that being said, this is probably the height of the band's frustrating inconsistency in the studio. Sure, "All I Want Is You" is a very catchy and sometimes gorgeous opener - it's one of the rare guitar-led songs in ELP history, and the way Lake sings over a fine majestic main melody proves that his voice does still have a bit of power left. And even the title track, despite its' obvious adult pop vibe, really gets under your skin with its' infectiousness. Maybe it's a guilty pleasure, I dunno. But "Taste Of My Love" and "The Gambler" are just bad - the former's corny vibe (within the lyrics and the extremely inappropriate synth tones) is so overwhelming that I can't stand it at all, and the latter is a grating novelty tune with annoying melody and instrumentation that does injustice to the style of "Jeremy Bender". But then the side is salvaged by two more good tracks - "For You" actually has tasteful synth and guitar interplay to create an intimately moody atmosphere, which makes it well worth listening to, and "Canario" is another rockin' excerpt of classical music that's not very memorable, but it is exciting while it's playing.
And then there's that very often bashed sidelong ("Memoirs Of An Officer And A Gentleman") I mentioned earlier, which kinda reminds me of a much less overblown and more nostalgic version of "Pirates". Sure, it can't possibly hold a candle to "Tarkus" or even "Karn Evil 9", for that matter, and Emerson's playing is mostly just uninspired and flat throughout. But it's certainly not the worst extended piece I've ever heard - for one, I don't really have a problem with the melodic flow and structure of the song's first half, and I really like the lyrics here for some reason, maybe because they're just well-written 'lost love' kind of stuff instead of pompous or cartoonish crap - if this is Pete Sinfield's doing, these lyrics rank as some of his best moments.
My favorite part of the suite as a whole, though, is when it turns into a somewhat romantic and intimate variation of the main melody, and even though the piano backing from Emerson is bland, that portion about six minutes in is extremely pretty due to both the vocal power and the melodic quality. Plus, as I mentioned, the first half does have a captivating storytelling flow while Lake's singing. It's just the second half of the suite that's really dull, particularly the entirely pointless and boring synth march during the last four minutes and that unmemorable 'Letters From The Front' portion. It's not bad overall, though it is generally mediocre and highly uneven, just like most of the album itself is. But still, this material really isn't horrible like fans make it out to be, and it's not even their weakest album in my mind (the pop elements and more overblown material on Works Vol. 1 are certainly no better than this on the whole). That doesn't mean it's too good, as it's a pretty sad (temporary) swan song either way, but oh well.
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(reviewed by Robert Grazer)
Ah, a best of collection. It seems in 1980 that ELP needed their fans to remember who they once were, so they collected nine of their really cool songs and released them. Actually, I don't really know. I find ELP's history quite a confusing one. There's ELP, ELPowell, 3, ELP minus Lake, and all sorts of stuff like that. What's it matter anyway? This is a best of album, and all of the songs on here come from the band we know as Emerson, Lake and Palmer, with all three of the members in it. We open up with, hey, the incredible "Hoedown" cover! Yep. Awesome song. And then it's off to "Lucky Man," the Moody Blues ballad the Moody Blues never did, but you've probably heard it, so I imagine you know what an incredibly beautiful piece it is. The we get a little sliver of "Karn Evil 9" (First Impression Part 2, to be exact) to follow that, and it's probably the catchiest section of what the whole suite, but why should I talk? I've only heard the whole thing once. One day I'll get around to buying Brain Salad Surgery, and then I can decide if the suite is boring or wonderful.
"Jerusalem" is that song they sing in Chariots Of Fire, and it's cool. And so is "Peter Gunn" and "Fanfare For The Common Man" and the others here. My only real complaint is that, other than the Trilogy title track, there is hardly any of the truly progressive and epic ELP on this disc. Maybe they should have included the first few sections from "Tarkus" or something. Though come to think of it I doubt that would have encouraged the masses to rush out and buy every ELP album in sight, which is, like every greatest hits collection, the ultimate goal of this album.
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