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EMERSON LAKE & PALMER

Symphonic Prog • United Kingdom


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Emerson Lake & Palmer picture
Emerson Lake & Palmer biography
Formed in London, UK in 1970 - Disbanded in 1979 - Regrouped between 1991-1998 - Reunited briefly in 2010

ELP revolutionized the 70's rock scene by introducing a new line-up format. This fact really mattered due to each musician's geniality and unlimited talent that, put together, generated a level of music never achieved by anybody else as of yet. All of the musicians came from established bands before joining forces together: Greg LAKE came from KING CRIMSON, Carl PALMER came from ATOMIC ROOSTER, and Keith EMERSON came from THE NICE.

They explored their capabilities to an extreme, even with the technology limitations of the early 70's, breaking ground, setting the new parameters for a new vein in the english pop music (at the time) which would be called progressive music. ELP released 10 outstanding albums during the 70's, and after a long break, they got back in the 90's with a new approach, but still making good music. In 1986 Cozy POWELL replaced PALMER and they put together EMERSON, LAKE and POWELL, a good effort as well.

They've pushed their ambitions over-the-edge. On "Tarkus" the title suite was an inventive and edgy suite revolving around jazzy textures. Their most popular album "Brain Salad Surgery", was their most grandiose and refined. Next, the more adventurous listener might try "Trilogy" or ELP's self-titled first album. In my opinion, these four albums form the core of ELP's best material. Other good ELP albums include "Pictures at an Exhibition", their provocative, fiery and intense take on a classical work. and "Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends", a triple-live album (now on double-CD) with some absolutely stunning playing.

2016 was a sad year for Prog fans, because Keith and Greg left us, Rest in Peace and thank you for everything

Being that some albums belong to a different band with only two members of ELP, we have to make this addition:

Emerson, Lake & Powell (Active between 1985-1986)

Emerson, Lake & Powell, often abbreviated to ELPowell, were an offshoot of a classic prog band Emerson, Lake & Pa...
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EMERSON LAKE & PALMER discography


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EMERSON LAKE & PALMER top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

4.23 | 2358 ratings
Emerson Lake & Palmer
1970
4.06 | 2071 ratings
Tarkus
1971
4.14 | 1830 ratings
Trilogy
1972
4.17 | 2113 ratings
Brain Salad Surgery
1973
2.96 | 894 ratings
Works Vol. 1
1977
2.45 | 734 ratings
Works Vol. 2
1977
2.12 | 794 ratings
Love Beach
1978
3.11 | 549 ratings
Emerson, Lake & Powell: Emerson, Lake & Powell
1986
2.77 | 542 ratings
Black Moon
1992
1.79 | 460 ratings
In The Hot Seat
1994

EMERSON LAKE & PALMER Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

3.89 | 1112 ratings
Pictures at an Exhibition
1971
4.28 | 642 ratings
Welcome Back My Friends to the Show That Never Ends
1974
2.77 | 237 ratings
Emerson Lake & Palmer In Concert
1979
2.96 | 176 ratings
Live At The Royal Albert Hall
1993
3.37 | 176 ratings
Works Live
1993
3.32 | 55 ratings
Emerson, Lake & Palmer - King Biscuit Flower Hour [Aka: Live]
1997
3.43 | 78 ratings
Live At The Isle Of Wight Festival 1970
1997
3.14 | 7 ratings
Live in Poland
1998
2.78 | 77 ratings
Then And Now
1998
2.82 | 17 ratings
The Show That Never Ends
2001
4.03 | 38 ratings
Original Bootleg Series From The Manticore Vaults Vol. 1
2001
3.70 | 33 ratings
Original Bootleg Series From The Manticore Vaults Vol. 2
2001
3.24 | 25 ratings
Original Bootleg Series From The Manticore Vaults Vol. 3
2001
3.27 | 49 ratings
Live In Poland
2001
2.27 | 22 ratings
Best of the Bootlegs
2002
2.90 | 12 ratings
Lucky Man (Live) (Re-released as " Fanfare: The 1997 World Tour")
2002
3.63 | 24 ratings
Emerson Lake and Powell: Live In Concert - Lakeland Florida, 1986 (An official bootleg)
2003
3.15 | 21 ratings
Emerson Lake and Powell: The Sprocket Sessions (An Official Bootleg)
2003
2.38 | 14 ratings
The Best Of Emerson Lake & Palmer
2003
3.43 | 32 ratings
A Time And A Place
2010
2.66 | 47 ratings
Live at High Voltage 2010
2010
3.73 | 48 ratings
Live At Nassau Coliseum '78
2011
4.21 | 67 ratings
Live at the Mar Y Sol Festival '72
2011
3.75 | 12 ratings
Emerson, Lake and Powell - Live In Concert and More...
2012
1.40 | 6 ratings
Live in California 1974
2012
2.76 | 26 ratings
Live in Montreal 1977
2013
3.50 | 12 ratings
Once Upon A Time In South America
2015
3.69 | 21 ratings
Live at Montreux 1997
2015
3.08 | 6 ratings
Live at Pocono International Raceway, USA, 1972
2019

EMERSON LAKE & PALMER Videos (DVD, Blu-ray, VHS etc)

2.75 | 21 ratings
Welcome Back
1992
3.77 | 45 ratings
Live At The Royal Albert Hall (DVD)
2001
3.59 | 94 ratings
Pictures At An Exhibition - 35th Anniversary Collectors Edition
2002
3.12 | 21 ratings
Inside Emerson, Lake & Palmer 1970-1995
2003
4.56 | 38 ratings
Works Orchestral Tour/Manticore Special
2003
3.60 | 60 ratings
Live at Montreux 1997 (DVD)
2004
4.08 | 34 ratings
Masters From The Vaults
2004
3.20 | 5 ratings
Live In Concert (DVD)
2004
3.83 | 79 ratings
Beyond The Beginning
2005
2.64 | 37 ratings
The Birth Of A Band - Isle Of Wight Festival 1970
2006
4.03 | 15 ratings
Rare Broadcasts
2007
3.87 | 59 ratings
40th Anniversary Reunion Concert (High Voltage Festival 2010)
2011

EMERSON LAKE & PALMER Boxset & Compilations (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

2.47 | 78 ratings
The Best of Emerson, Lake & Palmer
1980
2.03 | 6 ratings
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
1980
3.09 | 3 ratings
The Best of ELP
1984
4.21 | 56 ratings
The Atlantic Years
1992
3.60 | 77 ratings
The Return Of The Manticore
1993
1.76 | 10 ratings
Classic Rock Featuring "Lucky Man"
1994
3.89 | 40 ratings
The Best of Emerson, Lake & Palmer
1994
1.45 | 14 ratings
Extended Versions: The Encore Collection
2000
2.61 | 18 ratings
The very Best of Emerson, Lake & Palmer
2001
3.49 | 18 ratings
Fanfare For The Common Man [The Anthology]
2001
3.17 | 4 ratings
History Of Rock
2001
1.40 | 27 ratings
Re-Works
2003
3.74 | 15 ratings
The Ultimate Collection
2004
3.07 | 10 ratings
An Introduction To... Emerson Lake & Palmer
2004
4.33 | 33 ratings
From The Beginning (5CD+DVD)
2007
3.58 | 18 ratings
The Essential Emerson, Lake & Palmer
2007
3.29 | 12 ratings
Come And See The Show: The Best Of Emerson Lake & Palmer
2008
2.10 | 11 ratings
High Voltage
2010
2.87 | 10 ratings
The Essential Emerson, Lake & Palmer
2011
1.88 | 8 ratings
From the Beginning - The Best of ELP
2011
4.42 | 12 ratings
The Anthology
2016
4.00 | 2 ratings
Lucky Man
2018
3.83 | 6 ratings
The Anthology (4LP)
2019
4.05 | 10 ratings
The Ultimate Collection
2020
4.17 | 6 ratings
Out of This World: Live (1970-1997)
2021

EMERSON LAKE & PALMER Official Singles, EPs, Fan Club & Promo (CD, EP/LP, MC, Digital Media Download)

3.56 | 26 ratings
Lucky Man / Knife Edge
1971
4.67 | 3 ratings
Stone of Years / Time and a Place
1971
4.00 | 4 ratings
Nutrocker / The Great Gates of Kiev
1972
3.47 | 23 ratings
From the Beginning
1972
2.59 | 20 ratings
Brain Salad Surgery/ Excerpt From Brain Salad Surgery
1973
4.14 | 45 ratings
Jerusalem
1973
3.10 | 15 ratings
C'est La Vie / Hallowed Be Thy Name
1977
2.48 | 12 ratings
Tiger in a Spotlight / So Far to Fall
1977
3.38 | 20 ratings
Fanfare for the Common Man
1977
2.40 | 17 ratings
Canario / All I Want Is You
1978
4.25 | 12 ratings
Peter Gunn
1980
3.08 | 18 ratings
Touch and Go
1986
1.88 | 12 ratings
Affairs of the Heart
1992
2.45 | 14 ratings
Black Moon
1992
3.67 | 6 ratings
Farewell to Arms (promo)
1992
1.63 | 8 ratings
Affairs of the Heart
1992
2.71 | 6 ratings
Affairs Of The Heart (limited edition collectors doublepack)
1992
3.33 | 6 ratings
Gone too Soon (promo)
1994
2.53 | 33 ratings
I Believe In Father Christmas EP
1995
4.42 | 12 ratings
Fanfare For The Common Man
2002
3.67 | 3 ratings
Black Moon - Rough Mixes (December 1991)
2017

EMERSON LAKE & PALMER Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 Black Moon - Rough Mixes (December 1991) by EMERSON LAKE & PALMER album cover Singles/EPs/Fan Club/Promo, 2017
3.67 | 3 ratings

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Black Moon - Rough Mixes (December 1991)
Emerson Lake & Palmer Symphonic Prog

Review by BCook1014

4 stars I know little about the album but the song AFFAIRS OF THE HEART, is one of my favorites from ELP. While not a classic like more of their well-known hits, this ballad absolutely floored me when I first heard it; it is the most beautifully haunting song I think I've ever heard, at least I've never heard another one that reached out & grabbed me like this one. It reflects the pleasure & pain that comes from a great love affair, it tells of a once great love which now becomes a "lethal weapon" as he succinctly calls it, one that is sharper than a dart. We've all been there, unless we've ice water in our veins, we all know that sometimes unbearable heartbreak that comes from the end of something that once defined your very soul. I saw how this site's main contributors ravaged this song, assigning it to the list of some of the 80's Asia & Moody Blues (my addition) attempts to be relevant in a music world that has changed so drastically, & not for the better. I take extreme issues with their negativity, while it's not, as stated earlier, a classic ELP progressive classic, it stands alone in a subgenre of ballads that are themselves timeless.
 An Introduction To... Emerson Lake & Palmer by EMERSON LAKE & PALMER album cover Boxset/Compilation, 2004
3.07 | 10 ratings

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An Introduction To... Emerson Lake & Palmer
Emerson Lake & Palmer Symphonic Prog

Review by VianaProghead
Prog Reviewer

3 stars Review Nº 719

"An Introduction To...Emerson, Lake & Palmer" is a compilation album of Emerson, Lake & Palmer released in 2004. It has tracks from almost all their studio albums. The exception is their last studio album "In The Hot Seat". So, it has one track from their debut, one track from "Tarkus", one track from "Trilogy", two tracks from "Brain Salad Surgery", one track from "Works Vol. 1", one track from "Works Vol. 2", one track from "Love Beach", one track from "Black Moon" and one track from their debut live "Pictures At An Exhibition". It has also two tracks only released as live versions.

So, "An Introduction To...Emerson, Lake & Palmer" has twelve tracks. "Introductionary Fanfare" was never released in studio. It's a little curtain raiser penned by Emerson and Palmer to get us on our way as an overture to a live concert. It's a very pleasant overture with the necessary intones to the introduction of the band with the traditional "Ladies & Gentlemen...". It was taken from "Works Live". "Peter Gunn" was never released in studio too. It's an instrumental by the American composer Henry Mancini. The song was written for the television program of the same name. Emerson, Lake & Palmer decided to release a cover of it in their live album "Emerson, Lake & Palmer in Concert". It's a great cover. It was taken from "Works Live" too. "Hoedown" is from "Trilogy". It's an interpretation from the ballet "Rodeo" of Aaron Copland. Instead of violins we have Emerson's Hammond and synthesizers taking the lead. It's a fantastic piece, a perfect way to bring the classical to rock. "Benny The Bouncer" is from "Brain Salad Surgery". It's a comedic rocker on the same mould of "Are You Ready Eddie?" and "Jeremy Bender/The Sheriff". It's hardly considered a great song. But, it indicates some of their influences and shows they aren't properly frightened to attempt something more vulgar and simple. "The Gambler" is from "Love Beach". It isn't a great song. It's a groovy blues tune that doesn't sounds like ELP. It reminds me some other silly tracks like "Jeremy Bender", "Are You Ready Eddy?", or "Benny The Bouncer". This is certainly no worse than any of those tracks. Still, I never liked this kind of songs on a band like them. "Tiger In A Spootlight" is from "Works Vol. 2". It's a leftover track from "Brain Salad Surgery" sessions. It's a fun rock'n'roll/blues tune with a nice beat and a strange keyboard work. It's interesting, but it doesn't mean anything more than that. "Take A Pebble" is also from "Emerson, Lake & Palmer". It's a beautiful ballad by Lake. It's a magnificent song with powerful vocals by Lake. His singing is simply amazing, with the final line of the verses building on the legacy of King Crimson's "Epitaph", which sounds even better. "Romeo And Juliet" is from "Black Moon". "Romeo And Juliet" is Emerson's arrangement of the superb "Dance Of The Knights" from Sergei Prokofiev's score for the ballet "Romeo And Juliet". It's a classical epic majestic piece full of a bombastic genius and majesty. The synths forward with bold, swagger and utter poise, a modern rock interpretation on Prokofiev's classical piece. This a perfect piece for the bombastic rock of ELP. "Pirates" is from "Works Vol. 1". It was originally written for the soundtrack of a cancelled film version of the Frederick Forsyth's book "The Dogs Of War". It has a great mix of contemporary classical epic music, melodic, progressive, dynamic, charming and complex. Even Lake sings with passion here. It's an epic tale filled with great Emerson, Lake & Palmer's moments and a full orchestra. This was ELP's last great epic and I really love it. It's not one of their best, but it's still great. "The Sage" is from "Pictures At An Exhibition". It's a Lake's original composition usually mentioned as one of his best. It has some of his best lyrics. It's the only track on that album not contributed by Mussorgsky. It's a gentle and delightful acoustic piece. Some may find it pretentious, but it works well and I don't see why it shouldn't be there. "Jeremy Bender" is from "Tarkus". It's a comedic rocker in the same mould of "Benny The Bouncer". Sincerely, the song is pleasant to listen to, but hardly worthy of an Emerson, Lake & Palmer's album. Sincerely, I'm not a great fan of these kinds of songs, really. It's not bad but it's nor great too. "Jerusalem" is also from "Brain Salad Surgery". It's a classical British church hymn. This is the band's arrangement of Charles Hubert Parry's hymn, based on the prologue of William Blake's poem "Milton". It was the only single taken from that album. This is really a great version of the original piece. This is a version taken from their live album "Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends".

Conclusion: "An Introduction To...Emerson, Lake & Palmer" is really a good compilation album of the band. At the first sight it seems to be weaker than most of their compilation albums. However, if we see it more carefully, and especially, according to its name, we can really say that it's a good introduction to the career of Emerson, Lake & Palmer. So let's see it. This is a compilation album were almost all their studio albums are represented with one track, except "Brain Salad Surgery" with two tracks. It has also one track from "Pictures At An Exhibition". Only "In The Hot Seat" isn't represented here. Besides, some are live versions of the band, which are nice. ELP always was a great live band. So, we can say that "An Introduction To...Emerson, Lake & Palmer" is a good introduction to the band living up to its name.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

 History Of Rock by EMERSON LAKE & PALMER album cover Boxset/Compilation, 2001
3.17 | 4 ratings

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History Of Rock
Emerson Lake & Palmer Symphonic Prog

Review by VianaProghead
Prog Reviewer

3 stars Review Nº 715

"History Of Rock" is a compilation album of Emerson, Lake & Palmer and that was released in 2001. It has tracks from seven studio albums of Emerson, Lake & Palmer. It has two tracks from their eponymous debut studio album, one track from their second studio album "Tarkus", three tracks from their third studio album "Trilogy", two tracks from their fourth studio album "Brain Salad Surgery", two tracks from their fifth studio album "Works Vol. 1", two tracks from their sixth studio album "Works Vol. 2" and one track from their ninth studio album "Black Moon". So, their albums "Pictures At An Exhibition", "In The Hot Seat" and the Emerson, Lake & Powell's album aren't represented here with any track.

So, "History Of Rock" is a compilation album with thirteen tracks. "From The Beginning" is from "Trilogy". It's a beautiful acoustic song featuring Lake on vocals and guitar with some participation of Emerson on the end of the track. It's a song with a simple structure. We can say this is one of the best compositions written by Lake for the band. "Still... You Turn Me On" is from "Brain Salad Surgery". It's the obligatory acoustic number on that album. It's a Lake's classic acoustic ballad in the vein of "Lucky Man" and "From The Beginning". It's one of Lake's best ballads. It was a big radio hit in U.S.A. "Fanfare For The Common Man" is from "Works Vol. 1". This is a great interpretation of a classical piece of Aaron Copland re-arranged for rock. Copland's original is great and ELP didn't make a bad job with the arrangements. Synths are heavily used, especially in the later sections. It sounds like early ELP, being experimental and heroic. "Knife-Edge" is from "Emerson, Lake & Palmer". It's based on the first movement of the Leos Janacek's "Sinfonietta" classical piece. This is another piece with a great showcase by all band's members, with the particular emphasis on great bass lines. "Tarkus" is from "Tarkus". It's divided into "Eruption", "Stones Of Years", "Iconoclast", "Mass", "Manticore", "Battlefield" and "Aquatarkus". This is a very complex fantastic piece with great creativity, experimental, and certainly, avant-garde for those times. This great epic is their lengthiest studio song until "Karn Evil 9" of "Brain Salad Surgery". It remains a favourite song for the fans and was consistently played live by the band. "Karn Evil 9" is from "Brain Salad Surgery". "Karn Evil 9" is a great opus that is divided into three movements or impressions. This is an instrumental epic track featuring Emerson on piano sounding like jazz and Palmer's drumming showing his percussion skills. "C'Est La Vie" is from "Works Vol. 1". This is a very well known acoustic song. It's probably the most similar in style to Lake's ballads on their earlier albums. I like it a lot, especially the amazing voice of him. "Hoedown" is from "Trilogy". It's an interpretation of the band from the ballet "Rodeo" of Aaron Copland. Instead of violins we have Emerson's Hammond and synthesizers taking the lead. It's a fantastic piece, a perfect way to bring the classical to rock. It was one of their most popular songs when performed live. "Trilogy" is from "Trilogy". It's one of the highest moments on that album and it's also one of their best and most beautiful compositions. It's largely an instrumental piece very much over piano in the beginning, heavily influenced by the classical music. In the middle, the music blasts with all instruments playing in continuo. "Honky Tonk Train Blues {Meade (Lux) Lewis}" is from "Works Vol. 2". It was written by Meade Lux Lewis and it's in the same vein of "Barrelhouse Shake-Down" of that album. This is Emerson having fun with the grand piano in a boogie-woogie style while the rest plays in a swing jazz style. "Black Moon" is from "Black Moon". It was inspired by the Gulf War with the burning Iraqi oil fields. It opens with a tense dark atmosphere created mostly by Emerson's shimmering keyboard choices, including a brief crashing piano solo. The lyrics are biting and the synths give a certain strut to the political lyrics. "Lucky Man" is from "Emerson, Lake & Palmer". It's a ballad for acoustic guitar. It's a song with acoustic guitar, beautiful singing and a great synthesizer solo towards the end. It's one of the best songs written by Lake. It became as one of the band's most commercial and accessible tracks in their career. "I Believe In Father Christmas" is from "Works Vol. 2". It's a beautiful song, a ballad based on the Sergei Prokofiev's theme with great arrangements and also with good, ironic and controversial lyrics about the negative effects of commercial Christmas.

Conclusion: "History Of Rock" is another great compilation album of Emerson, Lake & Palmer. It's very similar to other compilation album from the band named "The Best Of Emerson, Lake & Palmer", which was released in 1994. It has almost the same tracks and even the alignment of the tracks is also very identical. Thus, as happened with that compilation album, "History Of Rock" is also interesting and has tracks that belong to some of their most iconic, best and most progressive albums. The four first, best and most progressive studio albums of the band are all represented here at least with one track. My only regret is the non inclusion of any of the tracks of their debut live album "Pictures At An Exhibition". Anyway, this is a compilation album without weak points, really. So, we can say that "History Of Rock" is a well representative compilation album and a good starting point for those who aren't familiar with the band.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

 Works Vol. 1 by EMERSON LAKE & PALMER album cover Studio Album, 1977
2.96 | 894 ratings

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Works Vol. 1
Emerson Lake & Palmer Symphonic Prog

Review by shantiq

4 stars I have recently obtained 2 8-track albums of Works Vol 1 and 2.I think I have to say that number one is far superior to number two which is a collection of basically offcuts and bits and pieces which were never really designed for a specific album also the second part of Works is really a lot of ragtime music which clearly Keith Emerson enjoyed. Not a huge fan of ragtime myself I don't really rated it that much; but Works Vol. one is really something the long piece which starts the album written by Emerson the classical number which we read elsewhere Leonard Bernstein thought was mildly childish or words to that effect I personally find really excellent in a sort of classical but not quite classical vein.

I then realised that he Keith Emerson often wrote pieces of that sort which are really classical but not classical and not modern classical they are really pieces of rock music deeply infused with classical culture and music and yet not of it. Never was really a fan of Emerson, Lake & Palmer in the 1970s I had an LP of Trilogy and was aware of the music on Pictures From an Exhibition but really I was a lukewarm fan I knew who they were I knew what the music was like but I never paid that much attention.

Fast forward to 2022/3 and I have decided to really look into them . What I find there really amazes me; musically they are really really excellent the interweaving of the three very different elements in the group really works exactly what the word chemistry means you have the slightly out of control keyboard man Keith playing some pretty crazy stuff more often than not fast like a quicksilver snake . And then you have Carl whose drumming basically sounds like furniture being thrown down the stairs repeatedly at different angles in different directions; never subtle always present like a marble spine. Then we have Gregg Mr Lake who to me and I really have listened to a lot of singers over the years has one of the most emotional emotive voices ever, his work in King Crimson already moved me and so many others time and time again and once he joined the other two his elegant voice and sometimes interesting lyrics combined with the other two really created something special.

There is much talk online of which album by ELP is the best. I read most of the ones I could. And the amusing thing here is that they do not agree what they do agree on is that at the number one place there is always one of three albums: The first album the eponymous one, Trilogy, Brain Salad Surgery. I think only once or twice it is not one of these which is number one. I personally would be unable to say which one is the best. Out of the 1970s albums to me they are all masterpieces in some way. First of all they are unique none of the other bands from that time let us say Yes or King Crimson or Van Der Graaf Generator or Genesis have a sound that is anywhere near them it is completely and utterly unique. So if ever asked a question what is the best album my answer will be: all of the 1970s albums every single one of them.

But yes Works Vol. 1 for me is definitely close to the very top.

 Love Beach by EMERSON LAKE & PALMER album cover Studio Album, 1978
2.12 | 794 ratings

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Love Beach
Emerson Lake & Palmer Symphonic Prog

Review by Hector Enrique
Prog Reviewer

2 stars The place once occupied by the vigilante armadillo tank, or the disturbing and controversial female cadaverous image, is suddenly occupied by the smiling, tanned and semi-shirtless musicians. What happened? That is the question that the puzzling cover of "Love Beach" raises. Understanding that evolution is a natural process that occurs in the diverse manifestations of human nature, many times these processes take unthinkable paths, and beyond the legitimate right of E,L&P to take the path they consider pertinent, whether by individual decision, group disagreements, or contractual agreements, it is surprising that the result has been "Love Beach", their seventh album,

On the one hand, simplified and unpretentious developments, from the superficial "All I Want Is You" to the soporific and inconsequential "For You", where a very loquacious Greg Lake seriously assumes the role of lead singer and main figure, and both Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer, keyboardist and percussionist respectively, resign their protagonism and limit themselves to being mere accompanists, something unthinkable given the dynamics of all the band's previous albums.

And, on the other hand, a glimmer of the band's past appears in the outstanding "Canario", an adaptation of the orchestral work "Fantasía para un Gentilhombre" by Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo, in which Emerson raises the level a little, to finally decline again in the long and dreary "Memoirs of an Officer and a Gentleman", which pretends to be an epic suite, but lacks spark and magic, beyond some salvageable notes from Emerson on the piano. Too little for the size of the band.

"Love Beach" was a blow to E,L&P's reputation and, beyond the rumours of how frayed the interpersonal relationships of its members were, the album probably accelerated their separation process, until their reunion more than a decade later.

2/2.5 stars

 Love Beach by EMERSON LAKE & PALMER album cover Studio Album, 1978
2.12 | 794 ratings

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Love Beach
Emerson Lake & Palmer Symphonic Prog

Review by [email protected]

4 stars This is a very strange album. At first listen it comes over as plodding, boring, lacking in melody and lacking in a certain kind of genius. But repeated listenings have revealed to me a late 1960's kind of art rock sound, as if it were just there at the beginning of progressive/psychedelic rock. I've come to really like this album. Not because it's full of bombastic symphonic prog rock but because I find it rather quaint and attractive in a completely different way. I'm aware that it was recorded just to comply with contractual obligations but I think that inadvertently ELP have come up with an enjoyable little gem. Remember, these guys were very talented musicians/composers and that's not something that will desert them, no matter how rushed or carelessly they might have thrown this album together. Music tastes and directions in the late 1970's had changed (as is also evidenced by "And Then There Were Three" by Genesis) and perhaps ELP were trying to move with the times, albeit maybe sounding a bit dated. I'm tempted to give this album just three stars because but because it's really grown on me over the years I'm giving it four stars.
 Brain Salad Surgery by EMERSON LAKE & PALMER album cover Studio Album, 1973
4.17 | 2113 ratings

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Brain Salad Surgery
Emerson Lake & Palmer Symphonic Prog

Review by Hector Enrique
Prog Reviewer

4 stars At the height of the shock wave generated by the progressive explosion, one of the representatives who most pushed the limits of the genre, taking it to new dimensions, was Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and probably "Brian Salad Surgery", their fourth album, is the one that most faithfully represents it.

Starting with the controversial cover, excessive to the point of being vetoed and retouched due to the demands of the record label, up to the musical experimentation with all the imaginable instruments, and also the unimaginable ones, that could be used by Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer to add textures and spices to the increasingly ambitious creation of proposals, "Brian Salad Surgery" is the maximum point of sonorous boiling point of the band.

From the adaptations of the powerful hymn "Jerusalem" by British composer Hubert Parry as well as the classic and at times psychedelic "Toccata" by Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera, through the stealthy ballad "Still... You Turn Me On" and "Benny the Bouncer", the third and final chapter of the tavern rock started in Tarkus with "Jeremy Bender", the fundamental protagonist of the album, the extensive and overwhelming "Karn Evil 9", makes its way.

A fundamental contribution to progressive rock from its most symphonic side, "Karn Evil 9" is a compendium of what three virtuoso musicians working in harmony can generate. The suite in its thirty minutes, unfolds in an ocean of effects and instrumentation, highlighting in the 1st First and 3rd Impression above all, Emerson's moog synthesizers, which include more variants than ever, the hyper active percussion of Carl Palmer, and a Greg Lake much more settled to give the tone in the most vocally demanding parts, besides dispatching with a very successful guitar solo in the 1st Impression. Unknown at the time, "Karn Evil 9" not only closes "Brian Salad Surgery", but also the most splendid cycle of the British trio.

Excellent.

4/4.5 stars

 Tarkus by EMERSON LAKE & PALMER album cover Studio Album, 1971
4.06 | 2071 ratings

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Tarkus
Emerson Lake & Palmer Symphonic Prog

Review by Hector Enrique
Prog Reviewer

4 stars Less than a year after the successful and homonymous debut album, and, after some skirmishes between Keith Emerson and Greg Lake regarding the musical direction they should follow, Emerson, Lake & Palmer releases "Tarkus". Conceptually very disparate, "Tarkus" brings together the extensive and powerful suite that gives the album its title, with a handful of songs that have no visible connections between them.

The suite "Tarkus", which occupies the first half of the album, composed of seven intertwined segments, is a constant back and forth of intense instrumental developments and paused vocal parts, where Emerson's display of virtuosity with his arsenal of pianos, hammonds and moogs, at times giddy and anxious as in "Eruption" and "Manticore", constantly take the lead. With the super active and masterful Carl Palmer and his very jazzy percussion, and Lake's bass and deep voice, especially in "Mass" and in the hypnotic "Battlefield", where he surprises with a calm and deep electric guitar solo (a very rarely used resource), the British trio completes one of their best compositions, if not the best. The fantasy story of the heroic armadillo-tank victor over the mythological villain Manticore in the perennial struggle between good and evil, concludes after almost 21 minutes with the agonizing "Aquatarkus".

The second half fails to sustain the brilliance of the first, and except for the brief and fun tavern rock of "Jeremy Bender", and the celestial and imposing organ in "The Only Way (Hymn)", the rest of the songs do not add much to the album: "Infinite Space" is a bit monotonous, Lake is heard too vocally forced for the demands of "A Time and a Place", and finally the fifties rockabilly "Are You Ready Eddy? "a joke on the famous sound engineer Eddie Offord (also a former Yes engineer), is out of context.

While the "Tarkus" suite is one of the proud emblems of the genre, a slightly more elaborate second half would have made the album a masterpiece for sure. But that's pure speculation.

4 stars

 Emerson Lake & Palmer by EMERSON LAKE & PALMER album cover Studio Album, 1970
4.23 | 2358 ratings

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Emerson Lake & Palmer
Emerson Lake & Palmer Symphonic Prog

Review by Hector Enrique
Prog Reviewer

4 stars Taking modern classical music as their main source of inspiration and adding elements and nuances of their own, Emerson, Lake & Palmer debut with a solid album, with the trio's surnames as title, backed by their previous successful experiences (Greg Lake's participation as singer and bassist in the fundamental "In the Court of the Crimson King" by King Crimson in 1969 is very notorious).

Virtuosos almost on the verge of a nervous breakdown, it is, however, the brilliant multi-keyboardist Keith Emerson the main protagonist of most of the pieces, both in the adaptations of classical music (the instrumental and over- saturated "The Barbarian" and the demanding "Knife-Edge"), as well as in those of their own label (the extensive and restful "Take a Pebble", surely on the podium of the best of the album), or the also instrumental and jazzy "The Three Fates" and "Tank", in both cases with the impeccable percussion of the remarkable Carl Palmer.

The mole of the album was exposed when Lake, with his grave and serene tone of voice, describes an unfortunate story in the imperishable and beautiful ballad "Lucky Man". Created by the singer and bassist in his early teens and included at the last minute on the album, it unexpectedly became for EL&P one of their most representative songs, and the moog at the end of the song, an Emerson improvisation that remained as is after only one take, in one of the most celebrated passages of their discography.

Emerson, Lake &Palmer developed their own particular style until becoming one of the great icons of the genre without any transitional albums, placing themselves at the top of the progressive Olympus with their 1970 album of the same name, something that they would confirm with their later works.

Excellent

4/4.5 stars

 Emerson, Lake & Palmer by EMERSON LAKE & PALMER album cover Boxset/Compilation, 1980
2.03 | 6 ratings

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Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson Lake & Palmer Symphonic Prog

Review by VianaProghead
Prog Reviewer

2 stars Review Nº 648

As its name indicates, "Emerson, Lake & Palmer" is a compilation album of Emerson, Lake & Palmer that was released in 1980. This is a very strange compilation album from the band. It only has tracks from four studio albums of Emerson, Lake & Palmer. But, what is even stranger is the selection of the tracks for it. It has one track from their eponymous debut album, two tracks from their fifth album "Works Vol. 1", one track from their sixth album "Works Vol. 2" and six tracks from their seventh album "Love Beach". So, their second album "Tarkus", their third album "Trilogy", their fourth album "Brain Salad Surgery" and their debut live album "Pictures At An Exhibition" aren't represented here.

"Emerson, Lake & Palmer" is a compilation album with ten tracks. "All I Want Is You", "Love Beach", "Taste Of My Love", "The Gambler", "For You" and "Canario" are all tracks from "Love Beach". "All I Want Is You" is really a neat little pop song with a catchy chorus to boot. The shimmering guitar and Greg Lake's voice makes for a very effective entrance. The composition isn't so bad, despite the band sounding like it's going through the motions. So, we can say that album doesn't starts in a bad note. It's not a classic, but it's not really difficult to listen to. "Love Beach" isn't really a great track. It has some good melodies some great snappy drumming from Carl Palmer, in The Beatles' style guitar riff, canny little breaks in the main melody, a decent vocal work from Greg Lake, some of Sinfield's best lines, even if the lyrics are a bit tacky. As a conclusion, we can say this is a nice pop song, but nothing more than that. It captures perfectly well the spirit of the album's cover. "Taste Of My Love" opens with a twenty second synth introduction, before Carl Palmer comes in to provide a link between Keith Emerson's strident keys and Greg Lake's flexible, and actually a pretty good vocal work, with his bizarre jazz/rock style. Keith Emerson fills up the mood with every synth sound he can pluck out. The lyrics are absolutely awful. "The Gambler" isn't a great song. It's supposedly a groovy blues tune that doesn't sounds at all like ELP. It reminds me some other silly tracks like "Jeremy Bender", "Are You Ready Eddy?", or "Benny The Bouncer". It's a style they've done before and this song is certainly no worse than any of those tracks. Still, I never liked this kind of songs on a band like Emerson, Lake & Palmer. "For You" is more in the usual style of the band. It has a more "modern" sound than "Still?You Turn Me On" and really flows well. The melodies and the instrumental arrangements are thought out and inspired and Keith Emerson uses the right synthesizer sounds and plays nice motifs with them. The electric guitar tone is great as well. If they had released "For You" as a single rather than "All I Want is You", they might have garnered some radio play. "Canario (From Fantasia Para Un Gentilhombre)" is a re-interpretation of a piece of Joaquín Rodrigo, a concert for guitar and orchestra. It's a track that represents what the band usually does. And they usually do it very well, indeed. It sounds great and because of that it represents, without any doubt, the best part of the first side of that album. It shows again the quality of Keith Emerson as a great composer and performer. "Fanfare For The Common Man" is from "Works Vol. 1". It's a great interpretation of a classical piece of Aaron Copland re-arranged for a rock band. Aaron Copland's original is wonderful, and usually ELP didn't do too bad a job on the arrangements. Synths are heavily used, especially in the later sections. It sounds like the early ELP, being experimental and heroic. "Maple Leaf Rag" is from "Works Vol. 2". It's a fun song that reminds me the very old times of the silent movies. This is a cover of a classic song of Scott Joplin. It's not great but it's not bad too. In reality, it's nothing more than that. I think it's more fun playing it than hearing it. "L.A. Nights" is from "Works Vol. 1". It's a rock & blues song with a strong jazzy feel. It begins with bass, drums and synths cooperating moving into a great jazzy sax part, a superb guitar solo and the occasional bit of piano with good drum and bass backing. Palmer as a composer is here at his best. "The Barbarian" is from their eponymous debut studio album. Despite it has been attributed to the trio, this is a musical arrangement of a Bela Bartok's piano piece, named "Allegro Barbaro". Although, the original piece is only for piano, the band rearranged the song for organ, bass and drums. This is a great aggressive track with a very hard rock influence.

Conclusion: As I mentioned above, this a very strange compilation album of the band. At the time it was released, they had already released eight albums with original tracks or adaptations of several classical pieces. I think of "Pictures At An Exhibition", "Tarkus", "Trilogy", "Brain Salad Surgery", "Works. Vol. 1", "Works Vol. 2" and "Love Beach". Strangely, the band, or the label, decided releases this compilation album with only tracks from four of those albums. But, what is even stranger is this compilation album is essentially focused in their less interesting and less progressive phase, their three last albums released in the 70's, with only one track that belong to their best and most progressive phase, "The Barbarian" from their eponymous debut. So, this is a very weak compilation album. Only three pieces, "The Barbarian", "Fanfare For The Common Man" and "Canario (From Fantasia Para Un Gentilhombre)" are really great here.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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