EMERSON LAKE & PALMER

'Emerson, Lake & Palmer' was certainly the start of something beautiful. The newly-formed prog supergroup, combining the forces of Greg Lake from King Crimson, Keith Emerson from The Nice and Carl Palmer from Atomic Rooster, was set to champion the up-and-coming genre with their adventurous sounds and the classical crossover direction that was strongly influenced by their keyboard maestro. This first album by the trio was released in November of 1970 on the Island label, and was produced by their own Greg Lake.

At this point, this is a seriously important album both for the band, and for the whole movement, massively influential and groundbreaking, the insane playing of Keith Emerson was what truly sets ELP apart from many of their peers. Writing rock arrangements for classical pieces, amongst some hard rock-influenced numbers, and occasional acoustic moments, the band already displayed an original and recognizable sound with their very first release.

Some absolutely fantastic compositions on this self-titled debut, amongst them we have to mention the opening track 'The Barbarian', based on Bela Bartok's 'Allegro barbaro' - a beautiful and energetic rendition by the band, with everyone playing masterfully, the haunting 'Knife-Edge', that is the band's first tread on some hard rock ground, with the prevailing manic Hammond organ, and the enormous and menacing instrumental 'The Three Fates' - this is absolutely Emerson going crazy and displaying his full potential on the keys. 'Take a Pebble' is another very good composition, maybe a bit aloof in the middle section, eventually slightly prolonged, but nonetheless memorable and touching. 'Lucky Man' has to be one of the all-time most recognizable songs of ELP, a highlight of Greg Lake's charming writing. 'Tank', however, has some pretty ridiculous sounds that have hardly aged well; it must be noted though, that it is a mood that is often copied by other bands, some in the 80s and some 21st century collectives.

All in all, this record is extremely influential, very menacing, and pretty impressive. It is hardly, however, a perfect album. It has its wacky moments, which you sometimes get with prog rock, but it also has some of the most excellent material that this musical genre has ever offered. The artwork is iconic, the band are playing their hearts out, and all this contributes to making Emerson, Lake & Palmer's self-titled debut a must-listen!