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THE NICE

Symphonic Prog • United Kingdom


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The Nice picture
The Nice biography
Founded in London, UK in 1967 - Disbanded in 1970

The NICE was the precursor to one of progs most influential bands - Emerson Lake & Palmer. This band began their career at the dawning of rock and its sub genres, the closing of the sixties and an era of growing desires to challenge the boundaries of popular music. The four musicians branched out, utilizing and combining classical, jazz, blues and rock music to forge a new and dynamic sound - later to be known as Progressive Rock. The seeds were already sown for the Symphonic and Orchestral style of music that Keith EMERSON would champion throughout the decades to come.

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THE NICE discography


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THE NICE top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

3.45 | 167 ratings
The Thoughts Of Emerlist Davjack
1967
3.26 | 149 ratings
Ars Longa Vita Brevis
1968
3.33 | 110 ratings
Nice [Aka: Everything As Nice As Mother Makes It]
1969
3.01 | 108 ratings
Elegy
1971

THE NICE Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

3.48 | 125 ratings
Five Bridges Suite
1970
2.50 | 5 ratings
BBC Sessions: America
1996
3.96 | 8 ratings
The Swedish Radio Sessions
2002
4.00 | 4 ratings
BBC Sessions
2002
3.49 | 16 ratings
Keith Emerson And The Nice: Vivacitas
2003
4.08 | 17 ratings
The Nice Live at Fillmore East
2009
4.64 | 5 ratings
Diamond Hard Blue Apples Of The Moon
2010

THE NICE Videos (DVD, Blu-ray, VHS etc)

THE NICE Boxset & Compilations (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

3.88 | 22 ratings
Keith Emerson With The Nice
1970
5.00 | 1 ratings
The Nice (Compilation)
1970
5.00 | 1 ratings
The Best Of The Nice (Immediate Compilation)
1971
5.00 | 2 ratings
In Memoriam
1972
5.00 | 1 ratings
1967 - 69
1972
3.84 | 14 ratings
Autumn To Spring
1973
5.00 | 1 ratings
The Immediate Story: Volume One
1975
4.00 | 1 ratings
Amoeni Redivivi
1976
4.00 | 1 ratings
The Nice (Charly Compilation)
1976
4.00 | 1 ratings
Ars Longa Vita Brevis (Box Set)
1977
3.09 | 6 ratings
Greatest Hits
1977
4.00 | 1 ratings
Gigantes Del Pop - Vol. 52
1981
5.00 | 1 ratings
Historia De La Musica Rock
1982
5.00 | 1 ratings
Keith Emerson & The Nice
1983
3.05 | 3 ratings
The Nice Collection
1985
0.00 | 0 ratings
The Nice Featuring Davey O'List: 20th Anniversary
1987
0.00 | 0 ratings
Greatest Hits (Bigtime Compilation)
1988
0.00 | 0 ratings
Intermezzo
1989
4.04 | 5 ratings
The Best Of The Nice
1993
0.00 | 0 ratings
America
1994
3.55 | 4 ratings
The Immediate Collection
1999
4.04 | 10 ratings
Here Come The Nice: The Immediate Anthology
2000
3.96 | 4 ratings
Absolutely The Best
2001
3.00 | 2 ratings
The Immediate Recordings
2006
3.25 | 4 ratings
The Essential Collection
2006

THE NICE Official Singles, EPs, Fan Club & Promo (CD, EP/LP, MC, Digital Media Download)

4.00 | 2 ratings
The Thoughts Of Emerlist Davjack (Single)
1967
0.00 | 0 ratings
Brandenburger
1968
3.13 | 4 ratings
America (2nd Amendment)
1968
0.00 | 0 ratings
Hang On To A Dream
1969
0.00 | 0 ratings
Country Pie / Brandenburg Concerto No. 6
1970
0.00 | 0 ratings
Country Pie - Brandenburg Concerto #6
1970
0.00 | 0 ratings
America / Rondo
1978
0.00 | 0 ratings
America / Hang On To A Dream
1981

THE NICE Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 The Thoughts Of Emerlist Davjack by NICE, THE album cover Studio Album, 1967
3.45 | 167 ratings

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The Thoughts Of Emerlist Davjack
The Nice Symphonic Prog

Review by Warthur
Prog Reviewer

4 stars This is the album with which Keith Emerson earned his stripes - even if the band's subsequent albums had all fallen apart, there's enough obvious potential here that he'd have always landed on his two feet whatever happened, and arguably once David O'List left the group after this album and they reconfigured to the power trio format the remaining Nice material is essentially a dry run for ELP, without the benefit of a Greg Lake-tier bassist or a Carl Palmer-tier drummer in terms of technical mastery.

Still, the Nice understood one thing very well indeed: if some of your band members lack polish in terms of technical intricacy, make up for it with volume. This is a proto-symphonic prog assault on the ears; whilst in the same year landmark albums from Procol Harum and the Moody Blues demonstrated how classical influences could soften and broaden the emotional palette of rock music by opening the door to gentler musical territory, this album proved without a doubt that classical music can rock, with Keith Emerson's dizzying ability to string together a wide range of classical motifs and his own compositional touches into a fresh new whole being the standout feature of the album.

It would take ELP to take the artistic vision glimpsed here to its full potential - but it took the Nice to enunciate it in the first place. It's not an immediate classic on the level of In the Court of the Crimson King, but it is a foundational album of the genre which is still a highly entertaining listen in its own right, and some may prefer its more raucous and rough around the edges style to the somewhat more mannered realms of ELP.

 Nice [Aka: Everything As Nice As Mother Makes It] by NICE, THE album cover Studio Album, 1969
3.33 | 110 ratings

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Nice [Aka: Everything As Nice As Mother Makes It]
The Nice Symphonic Prog

Review by DangHeck
Prog Reviewer

4 stars Finally getting to this, I think I'm a tad surprised to see how low/middling the ratings are for The Nice's output. Similarly, it's interesting seeing them, a very short-lived late-60s group, labeled as Symphonic Prog and not Proto-Prog; I think I may have been looking at their role in the sound of Prog itself all wrong. This, simply entitled Nice (1969), is their third studio album (with two live tracks).

Initially feeling justified in my feelings of them as Proto-Prog, "Azrael Revisited" is our opener, with this very specific, warm tone from the keys and Lee Jackson's gruff vocal delivery. What's cool to me especially though is that something that sounds like this can live in the '60s at all. This perhaps pseudo-acoustic piano tone is something that Keith Emerson would continue to develop later on with his Wild West-inspired ragtime material (a feature of most ELP albums). To me, the ultimate submission in this era-, genre-, and Emerson-specific arena is "The Sheriff". And when comparing to that or "Jeremy Bender", our opener here is honestly far less interesting or gripping. The fade to black, at least, was a nice touch. This is then followed by a looking-forward to Trilogy, "Hang On to a Dream", a piano ballad with most delicate vocals from Mr. Jackson, backed by really beautiful, chamber(?) vocals. Light, jingly percussion and a bouncing bass come in around the midpoint, during a surely-acoustic piano solo. Ultimately, despite its far-flung strengths, "Hang On" is bordering on "Collectors/fans only" to my ears.

We then get a track I was quite excited for, "Diary of an Empty Day", our last regular ol' song-length tune before three mini-epics. The composition swirls about with more light, though cymbal-heavy drums and bouncing bass guitar, as Emerson fugues about on Hammond. The flamenco-esque acoustic guitar by the end was a real treat, too! And onto that first 'mini', the nearly 9-minute "For Example" greatly resembled, in part, Tarkus to come. I'm realizing I've not mentioned drummer Brian Davidson, but honestly, even when he's free-wheelin' as he is here, I feel he just gets lost in the mix, so to speak. I don't find myself thinking, 'Oh wow, that drum fill was cool' or whatever... Is what it is. Props then to Carl Palmer, amirite? Closest we get thus far is after minute 2, with this slack, rolling bashing he gives the kit, but then I also recognize for the second time (at least) how weirdly lo-fi the actual mix is. It's very muddy. What you might as well expect from 'truly' live-recorded material, which we're just coming to, but... Yeah... Very familiar Hammond figures can be found in the middle. One thing I hope is in fact Davidson is the lovely vibes we get the privilege to hear in the straight-ahead Jazz explosion we're gifted near the end. Delightful. And of course I would get excited about a "Norwegian Wood" reference haha.

The final two tracks are recorded live at Fillmore East, the first being "Rondo '69" [Nice.], a partial cover of the Dave Brubeck Quartet classic "Blue Rondo a la Turk" off their beloved Time Out, interestingly released 10 years before this (1959)! I wanted to give it a listen here, taking a pause, and, frankly, this is progressive [Proto-Prog?!] music assuredly! And this is the same sentimental nature (for what came before) and ambition (in order to truly look ahead) that I believe was shared by Keith Emerson. I'm not surprised, really, but were The Nice that much better live?! Intro alone, they sound fantastic (even Mr. Davidson haha). Anyhow, "Rondo" was first released by The Nice on their '67 debut, The Thoughts Of Emerlist Davjack (been a while, admittedly). And finally, we have an interesting cover of Bob Dylan's "She Belongs to Me", originally released on his Folk Rock classic album Bringing It All Back Home (1965). The keyboards are most reminiscent to Dave Stewart's performances off of the most contemporary Arzachel. But also sounds a bit like Rick Wakeman early on in his time with Yes? Awesome, memorable riffs here. Very enjoyable; how I think long and drawn out should go. I'm sure it was a blast to have seen live. And it should really be mentioned just how unlike the original this is.

[I guess it is nice to see your feelings about an album shared, at least given overall ratings, by the largest group of reviewers; if that makes sense.]

True Rate: 3.75/5.00

 The Thoughts Of Emerlist Davjack by NICE, THE album cover Studio Album, 1967
3.45 | 167 ratings

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The Thoughts Of Emerlist Davjack
The Nice Symphonic Prog

Review by NmDPlm

3 stars It is often argued that The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack is the beginning of progressive rock, and while you can likely make the claim that any other group or artist can be tagged with that crown (since all music people love to fight about everything) I'm going to just run with the old standard that this is the seed from whence the progressive genre began to grow. Giving this a listen now two things are quite evident. 1- this is not what we have all come to know and love as progressive rock. 2- you can definitely see the hints of what was to come. This is particularly noticeable when you take in the keyboard work of Keith Emerson. Even here, in these shorter and more contained songs, he has a bombast that lingers underneath, occasionally set loose. The arrangement of Dave Brubeck's Rondo is a showcase of Emerson's ability to take over a track, and he would utilize this piece further in live shows with Emerson, Lake & Palmer in the years to come. There's a bunch of Beatles-esque stylings to some of the songs, most evident in Flower King of Flies and The Cry of Eugene. The interplay between Emerson's keys and David O'List's guitar definitely works but the muddiness of the production and the uninspiring vocal performance does little to lift this one into full flight. No, this album isn't "prog" in the grand sense of the word, but it has enough of the stitches in its fabric to at least make it a worthy listen as an exploration of the roots of the genre.
 Elegy by NICE, THE album cover Studio Album, 1971
3.01 | 108 ratings

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Elegy
The Nice Symphonic Prog

Review by Mirakaze
Special Collaborator Eclectic Prog & JR/F/Canterbury Teams

4 stars The Nice was a band brimming with potential, held back by its inherent constraints and aborted before said potential could be fully realized (probably for the better because ELP gave Keith Emerson a far more fruitful working environment). Emerson's composing skills were still developing, and while he already possessed a marvelous set of keyboard-playing hands and a good sense of showmanship, his bandmates didn't have very much to offer that could help the group transcend into something truly timeless. That said, Elegy is probably the best album The Nice ever released: the band only plays covers of other people's songs on here, and even those are really just excuses for Emerson to throw his prolonged, immaculately played jams, ranging from jazz- to classical- to ragtime-inspired, at the gleeful audience. Lee Jackson is still an awful singer but his space on the record is thankfully very limited (as well low in the mix). Overall, perhaps an acquired taste, but definitely something to check out if you're an Emerson fan.
 The Best Of The Nice by NICE, THE album cover Boxset/Compilation, 1993
4.04 | 5 ratings

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The Best Of The Nice
The Nice Symphonic Prog

Review by Prog123

4 stars At the end of the 60s many musicians decided to play something new and among them some geniuses ended up inventing new forms of music that were defined Progressive over the years. Keith Emerson (one of those geniuses who will forever be regretted) formed The Nice. This band merged Rock and classical music (also reprising / covering classical music compositions) and managed to be innovative and inspirational for other bands (read the Dutch band Ekseption, another band with the same concept!) But failed to evolve because the musicians involved and the label didn't have the means for Keth Emerson not to want to form a better band, the ELP with Greg Lake and Carl Palmer. But this was also due to the fact that The Nice Progressive failed to emerge from an embryonic (albeit 100% symphonic) form.

The problem with some compilations is that they are produced by labels that specialize in compilations and are in the catalog for a short time. And, sometimes, the problem is that these labels are ephemeral (or a little more). Moreover with The Nice it is easy to build a compilation that is the definitive album. This is for me this compilation. I will not describe every song as I never do this by reviewing a compilation. I will talk about the style, a sort of very powerful and symphonic Rock, sometimes with heavy (and badly aged) arrangements and sometimes still fresh and engaging as at the end of the 60s. In fact it should be noted that The Nice was a poorly produced band (other albums sounded much better at the time) and this was also due to the fact that the musicians (Keith Emerson aside) seem to be a bit forced to play music which they fail to make it look totally natural (but it wasn't that obvious at the time). And at the time The Nice was much more evolved than similar bands, which still managed to mix all the elements in one solution.

"The Best Of The Nice" has become an extremely rare compilation today. But, given the songs included in it, it's not wrong to call it a sort of definitive The Nice album.

 Nice [Aka: Everything As Nice As Mother Makes It] by NICE, THE album cover Studio Album, 1969
3.33 | 110 ratings

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Nice [Aka: Everything As Nice As Mother Makes It]
The Nice Symphonic Prog

Review by SouthSideoftheSky
Special Collaborator Symphonic Team

2 stars "I can't think of words to this music, no reason or rhyme to abuse it"

The group's third full-length release - simply called "Nice" - is a half studio, half live album. The studio side starts with Azrael Revisited, which is a re-make of Azrael (Angel Of Death) which was the b-side on the group's first single from a couple of years earlier. Next up is Hang On To A Dream, written by Tim Hardin. This is a very nice song with great piano work by Emerson. Sadly the vocals of Lee Jackson don't work as well. In the 1990's, Emerson re-recorded the song with Greg Lake and Carl Palmer for the ELP box set Return of the Manticore, and comparing Lee's vocals with those of Lake, the limitations of the former becomes painfully clear. Still, this tracks is definitely the highlight of Nice, with the wonderful jazzy middle-section being especially noteworthy.

The studio side continues with Diary Of An Empty Day and For Example. Both are decent songs, but the lyrics are weak. Phrases like "I can't think of words to this music, no reason or rhyme to abuse it" and "I can't think what to say, my head's a blank today" indicates that inspiration was running low in the lyrics department.

The live side holds two tracks, the first of which is a rendition of Rondo entitled "Rondo '69" to distinguish it from the studio version that already had appeared on the band's 1967 debut album. The other live track is a cover of the Bob Dylan song She Belongs To Me running more than 12 minutes. Both live tracks were recorded at The Fillmore East in New York City.

Overall, I find this album more enjoyable than the first two. But the half studio, half live nature and the heavy reliance on covers and re-makes precludes a higher rating.

 Ars Longa Vita Brevis by NICE, THE album cover Studio Album, 1968
3.26 | 149 ratings

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Ars Longa Vita Brevis
The Nice Symphonic Prog

Review by SouthSideoftheSky
Special Collaborator Symphonic Team

2 stars Art is long, life is short

With Davy O'List having exited the group after their first album, the trio format that Keith Emerson would later carry on so successfully with Emerson Lake & Palmer was established. The Nice's second album Ars Longa Vita Brevis is a bit incoherent with the first three songs being very much in the same Psychedelic style that had dominated the debut while the second half of the album being a group-meets-orchestra exercise that might be categorized as "Proto-Prog". Surely an adventurous thing to do, and possibly influential on other bands, but the side-long, multi-part composition lacks direction and the orchestra adds little of value to the proceedings in my opinion.

By far the most interesting, and for me the only really enjoyable, track here for me is Intermezzo from Karelia Suite. Again an adaption of a classical piece, like Rondo from the debut, this time by Finish composer Jean Sibelius. Like Rondo before it, Intermezzo pointed towards what Emerson would go on to do with ELP, and works well here.

 America (2nd Amendment) by NICE, THE album cover Singles/EPs/Fan Club/Promo, 1968
3.13 | 4 ratings

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America (2nd Amendment)
The Nice Symphonic Prog

Review by SouthSideoftheSky
Special Collaborator Symphonic Team

3 stars "America is pregnant with promise and anticipation"

America was adapted from West Side Story and was recorded by The Nice for a single release in 1968. This rocking rendition did not appear on any of the group's full length albums (it has however been included among the bonus tracks of CD re-issues of The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack, and on some live albums), and in my opinion is far more exciting than any of the material from their albums. I love this high energy instrumental that became one of The Nice's most well-known numbers, and the recording clearly points towards what Emerson would go on to do with ELP on Hoedown and Fanfare for the Common Man for example.

The US version of this single held an edited version of only 3:55, but the European versions were over six minutes. The b-side is The Diamond Hard Blue Apples of the Moon, another non-album track. Unlike the a-side, this one is a The Nice original written by Davison and Jackson, and featuring vocals.

 The Thoughts Of Emerlist Davjack by NICE, THE album cover Studio Album, 1967
3.45 | 167 ratings

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The Thoughts Of Emerlist Davjack
The Nice Symphonic Prog

Review by SouthSideoftheSky
Special Collaborator Symphonic Team

2 stars Who was Emerlist Davjack?

The answer is that he was a collective persona of Keith Emerson, David O'List, Brian Davidson, and Lee Jackson. Emerlist Davjack's first "thoughts" were gathered together here on the debut album of The Nice, released in 1967. Today, most people, this reviewer included, probably come to this from Emerson Lake & Palmer. Being a huge fan of ELP, I simply had to find out what Emerson was up to before he teamed up with Lake and Palmer. I have actually been aware of The Nice for many years already, but never managed to get into them.

Fellow ELP fans will recognize Rondo here, an adaptation of a piece by Brubeck that Keith would bring with him into ELP and often perform live with them. This eight minutes plus track is however the only one here that points towards the future, as the rest of The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack are firmly rooted in Psychedelia and 60's Pop. If you are into that sort of thing, you may find this album a delight. But for me this album is mainly of historical interest, and not that enjoyable.

 Five Bridges Suite by NICE, THE album cover Live, 1970
3.48 | 125 ratings

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Five Bridges Suite
The Nice Symphonic Prog

Review by ALotOfBottle
Prog Reviewer

4 stars I see a lot of four and three-star ratings for this album. I can see why, because while this album might not be a hard one to get to, some don't see the enjoyable factor in this one. Just a few days ago, I bought the original record of this album and was very pleasantly suprised. The orchestra linked with the rock trio with Keith Emerson's piano (and organ for that matter) sounds quite natural and smooth. It is hard to place it on a map between jazz and classical music territory. This album has a very jazzy aproach to classical not only in the sense of phrasing and timing overall, but in a flavor of improvisation. This is something I really like, so I really enjoyed the album and the time of listening to it in my armchair went by very quickly. The music was not too heavy on my thoughts and it did not spark a whole lot of thoughts, too. This album and band's work laid foundation for what would be known as and develop to symphonic prog. Concerto For Group and Orchestra by Deep Purple was recorded at more or less the same time as this and this is a much better album, in my opninion, being a lot smoother and naturally flowing.

This is surely not an album for everybody, in the sense that not everybody will get a great pleasure out of it, but by reading reviews which other members have posted, I do not see a lot of strongly negative voice against this album. For some people, this album is lacking, while I really like it and feel like it very well deserves four solid stars.

Thanks to ProgLucky for the artist addition. and to Quinino for the last updates

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