WORKS VOL. 1

Pompous? Arrogant? Pretentious? WHO CARES!!! This album is sheer brilliance, mostly as a result of Keith Emerson's incredible classical writing. For fans of classical music...you cant be let down. If your a huge "Tarkus" sort of fan this may not be your idea of fun but I love almost every era of ELP personally and this one is incredible. If you give the Piano Concerto the time of day and schedule ahead to listen to it you will find that it is brilliant and beautiful. Keith really pulled out all the stops to produce a masterpiece. Greg Lakes part is pretty decent, Closer To Believing is absolutely beautifully written and executed. The live version of Ces't La Vie is better but the studio version isn't bad either. He does a good job of contributing the more poppish material. Carl Palmer's side is not bad and is a new dynamic to ELP but it isn't quite as striking as one would hope, thats not to say he doesnt do well...his drumming is incredible. It is very good. Fanfare is spoken for, being that it was a very big hit, it is quite good. Pirates is unbelievably awesome, this alone is worth the price of admission...sheer perfection. Greg Lakes voice is in top shape on this record as opposed to later albums, his vocal ability is at its peak. Keith is awesome on the ivories although the record lacks Hammond... Carl offers some of the most insanely talented drum lines that actually complement the music while being extremely befitting, the guy is a master... AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME 5 stars without a doubt.