WELCOME BACK MY FRIENDS TO THE SHOW THAT NEVER ENDS

Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends, ladies and gentlemen, EMERSON LAKE AND PALMER! And with that kicks off a journey to the very foundations of prog rock. A show that literally appears to have no end. This sprawling 109 minute long epic of a live album showcases ELP at their best, frenetic, spontaneous and scarily proficient at their instruments. For those of you not bothereed with reading the whole thing, let me just explain why this gets fives stars. ELP were prog pioneers, who sounded unlike any other band. Their music could be beautiful or violent or both, they were amazingly talented musicians who created some epic sounding work. In my opinion the best stuff they did is on this album and plaid with an intensity deserving of... well 5 stars. Plus theres a decent bit of imnprovisation so we get to see Keith showing off his wonderful talent, another bonus.

We start with hoedown, the funky Copland variation, played extremely fast and with some great moog noodling. Fun and frantic, its a classic opener. Whipping the crowd up who at this point are presumably not stoned out of their heads, it leaves a fresh imprint on the fans mind.

We then get Greg telling us we're gonna get some brain salad surgery. Jerusalem is pretty standard, but to play it live is a nice touch and just slows the mood down and prepares us for the epics ahead. This goes straight into tocatta, violent frenetic and pretty damn absurd, I love this piece and it really shows off the mastery emerson had over the moog. Palmers drums let rip too.

Then comes Tarkus, again played quicker. Weighing in at 27 minutes its more giant than normal. The fact that there are only 3 guys playing here is truly amazing and it sounds great. Stones of years sounds particularly great with Greg's guitar soaring high. I also love the improv at the end of Aquatarkus at the end, with the moog buzzing away warmly in the background, we're treated to what sounds like Emerson just playing around!

There follows the take a pebble suite, based around the more accoustic numbers, take a pebble 1 is a nice cool down after the mayhem of tarkus, and we get the stripped down accoutic versions of Lucky man and still... you turn me on. Then we launch into piano improvisations, which is just that, 10 minutes of improv. Good to hear and actually quite catchy, esp when messrs lake and Palmer join in in backing.

And then back to take a pebble, a grandiose slide up the pianoe and then the tinkle back down, it sounds epic, and it is, and quite beautifully done!

We then get jeremy Bender/ The Sheriff, bit of a laugh, the sorbet before the epic that is: KARN EVIL 9! And what can anyone say about this, over half an hour long, it moves from carnival inspired keyboard action to drum solo to guitar solo to keyboard to piano, back to keyboard with robot voice and triumphant symphonic lark. This is far far more than just a song, this is live prog at its best.

And as a result, Welcome Back My Friends is, in my opinion the best live album ever released. The kings of OTT rock prove that they are that on here.