EMERSON LAKE & PALMER

Review Nº 795

"Come And See The Show: The Best Of Emerson, Lake & Palmer" is a compilation album of Emerson, Lake & Palmer that was released in 2008. It has three tracks from their eponymous debut studio album, two tracks from their third studio album "Trilogy", four tracks from their fourth studio album "Brain Salad Surgery", one track from their fifth studio album "Works Vol. 1", one track from their sixth studio album "Works Vol. 2" and one track from their debut live album "Pictures At An Exhibition". It has also a track never released on any of their studio albums, "Peter Gunn".

So, "Come And See The Show: The Best Of Emerson, Lake & Palmer" has fourteen tracks. "Karn Evil 9 (1st Impression - Part 2)" is a track from "Brain Salad Surgery". "Karn Evil 9" is a great opus. It's divided into three movements or impressions. Here we have only the "First Impression Part 2". It's an instrumental track featuring Emerson on piano sounding like jazz and Palmer's drumming showing his percussive great skills. "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. "From The Beginning" is from "Trilogy". It's a beautiful acoustic song featuring Lake on vocals and guitar with some participation of Emerson in 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. "Knife-Edge" is from "Emerson, Lake & Palmer". It's based on the first movement of Leos Janacek's "Sinfonietta" classical piece. This is another piece with a great showcase by all band's members, with particular emphasis to great bass lines. "Hoedown" is from "Trilogy". It's a highest moment on that album, one of their best and most beautiful compositions. It's largely an instrumental piece much over piano in the beginning, heavily influenced by the classical music. In the middle, the music blasts with all instruments playing in continuo. This is an amazing track. "Jerusalem" is from "Brain Salad Surgery". It's a classical British church hymn. This is a band's arrangement of Charles Hubert Parry's hymn, based on the prologue of William Blake's poem "Milton". This is a great version of the original piece. "C'Est La Vie" is from "Works Vol. 1". This is a well known acoustic song. It's probably the most similar in style to Lake's ballads on their earlier albums. I like it, especially of the amazing voice of Lake. "Still... You Turn Me On" is from "Brain Salad Surgery". This is 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. A big radio hit in U.S.A. "Tank" is from "Emerson. Lake & Palmer". It has a Palmer's small but beautiful studio drum solo. Basically, the piece showcases Palmer's unique drumming style and features one of the few drum solos on a studio album. It also marks the first appearance of the Emerson's famous Moog synthesizer. "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 rock. Copland's original is great and ELP didn't make a bad job on the arrangements. Synths are heavily used, especially in the later sections. It sounds like early ELP, being experimental and heroic. "Toccata" is from "Brain Salad Surgery". This is an instrumental track based on the fourth movement of Alberto Ginastera's "1st Piano Concert". This is a modern classical piece created by an Argentinean composer and rearranged by Emerson. This is a great interpretation by the band, really. This is a live version. "Peter Gunn" is a non-album's track. 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 the song on their live album "Emerson, Lake & Palmer in Concert". This is a live version and is really a great cover. "Nutrocker" is from "Pictures At An Exhibition". It's a jazz variation of a Tchaikovsky theme. This is a showcase of the band's disposition to light things up after an extended, demanding display of serious music. It's a re-elaborated version of a "Nutcracker" section, yey another example of the trio's interest in exploring the roots of the chamber music and translates it into a rock context. This is a live version. "I Believe In Father Christmas" is from "Works Vol. 2". It's a nice song, one of the best moments on that album. It's a ballad based on a Sergei Prokofiev's theme with good arrangements and ironic controversial lyrics about the negative effects of the commercial Christmas.

Conclusion: "Come And See The Show: The Best Of Emerson, Lake & Palmer" is another good compilation album of ELP. It has some of the best tracks recorded on some of their best albums, the albums that belong to their best and most progressive phase and the albums that belong to the golden era of the band. We may say that all those tracks are great in their own way. But, in addition, we can also say that the four tracks that don't belong to those albums are also good. I sincerely like especially of "Fanfare For The Common Man", but even "C'Est La Vie" and "I Believe In Father Christmas" are nice too. Finally, the ELP's version of "Peter Gunn" is a nice cover too. So, 3 stars for this compilation.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

This, however, you must know: I find that God made man simple; man's complex/ problems are of his own devising. Qo 7: 29-30 (Jerusalem Bible)

Or, in the words of Greg Lake on "Tarkus," "The weaver in the web that he made . . . ." I would like to suggest that the lyrics of "Tarkus" are more of a meditation on The Human Condition, and less of an accompaniment to the linear "story" of the creature or entity, "Tarkus," and the album's somewhat legendary cover art by William Neal.

Lake's lyrics fall roughly into three sections. On the surface, "Stones of Years" could be considered an address to "Tarkus" in its isolation following its volcanic birth, preparing to confront its foes ahead --- "In time you'll see the sign/And realize your sin . . . ." However, this address is to a wider "audience," humanity itself. In this context, sin is the reality of removal of oneself from the world, the resistance to active involvement with experience: "Has the dawn ever seen your eyes? / . . . Will you know how the seed is sown? / All your time has been/overgrown/ Never known . . . ."

What are the facets of the realm of experience? Or, in terms of theological anthropology, what are the consequences of the Fall of humanity into self-consciousness as delineated in Genesis, chapter 3? That we know of, humans are the only terrestrial creatures capable of self-transcendence, while simultaneously aware of their mortality and finitude. In this connection, I would like to mention Ernest Becker's, 1973, "The Denial of Death."

Human experience and our collective life are products of the "weaver and the web that he made." Very loosely, in the spirit of the Buddha, "all existence is sorrow," and the cause of this sorrow is "desire." According to William Neal, "Tarkus" is a conjunction of "Tartarus" and "carcass." In Greek mythology, "Tartarus" is both a mythic location and an entity. "Tartarus" corresponds to the term "Sheol" in the Hebrew Bible.

So, "Tarkus" is a metaphor for human existence in the realm of experience. The section "Mass" elaborates the identities of the characters who inhabit this realm of space and time: "The preacher, the minister of hate, the pilgrim, the cardinal of grief, the high priest, the messenger of fear, a bishop, a cloak of darkness, and the silent choir." On one level, this list embodies the participants of the secular state and the established Church of England. And, a consequence of this state of affairs is "a cloak of darkness" that pervades human existence.

We are all too familiar with a regrettable consequence of this darkness: war. In "Battlefield," Lake describes, in 1971, outcomes of human strife inseparable from today's world: "Clear the battlefield and let me/ see/ All the profit from our victory/ You talk of freedom, starving/children fall . . . Were you there to watch the earth be scorched? . . . Know the leaves of sorrow/ turned their face/ Scattered on the ashes of disgrace . . . ." At its conclusion, will The Human Condition be characterized by "Then there will be no sorrow / Be no pain?"

Lake's lyrics to "Tarkus" form a bridge between 1969's "Epitaph" of King Crimson and 1973's "Karn Evil 9." On the often maligned side two of "Tarkus," Lake continues his exposition of human existence in "The Only Way," questioning religious belief: "Can you believe God makes you /breathe? Why did he lose six million Jews? . . . [H]ow can you just obey? . . . Don't need the word, now that/ you've heard/ Don't be afraid, man is man-made . . ."

Here, Lake "steps" into a real "thicket." To the "rational" mind, nefarious realities like the Holocaust do raise objections to the existence of the God of the monotheistic traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Further, human history is replete with violence and warfare and unending suffering. The Greg Lake of the early 1970's might confidently assert that man is "man-made;" however, perhaps, later in his life, Lake might have admitted that humanity with no reference to something transcendent is a "train wreck waiting to happen . . . ."

I, of course, would be greatly remiss, should I not comment on the intense musicality of "Tarkus." Even before I became truly aware of Yes in the wake of the popularity of "Roundabout," I was introduced to "Tarkus." For me, the late Keith Emerson remains my favorite progressive rock keyboardist . . . Yes, I must highlight Rick Wakeman, Tony Banks, Jordan Rudess, et.al., as I state my preference for Keith Emerson. Yet, in terms of fluidity, Emerson's Hammond organ work is always legendary. As a proponent of Moog synthesizers, Emerson remains in the avant- garde. And, perhaps most memorably, Emerson was an educator. Through him, many of us first encountered Bartok, Janacek, Copland, Mussorgsky, J.S. Bach, Ginastera, Holst, and, perhaps, even, Scott Joplin.

From the opening moments of "Eruption," Palmer's percussion engages Emerson's lines as if a co-lead instrument. Despite Lake's initial resistance to Emerson's conception of "Tarkus," his bass propels "Tarkus'" structure; his electric guitars provide adept rhythmic and lead contrast to "Mass" and "Battlefield."

As a musical entity, "Tarkus" endures as an essential composition in the "library" of progressive rock . . . .

Truly, "[T]here is nothing new under the sun." Qo 1:9 (Jerusalem Bible)

Emerson, Lake and Palmer are their own worst enemy. Though some of the most talented individuals in prog, they had hugely inflated egos, especially Keith Emerson who thought of himself as more than just a musician, he thought of himself as an artist. By the time the prog rock boom had ended in the 70s, ELP was long gone. Then in 1992, they returned with Black Moon and the end result was shocking. Greg Lake's voice had changed drastically, and ELP's pompous attitudes took a backseat in favor of putting together an album that was reflective of the 90's. A case could have been made for late-stage ELP to have longevity, but at this point in the story, things are not looking good. Emerson's right arm is completely shot, Greg's voice is diminishing, and Palmer has carpal tunnel. As their label Victory fails to find hits from Yes and David Bowie, it is now ELP who find themselves in the hot seat. Hence the album title, In The Hot Seat. And the end result is arguably one of the worst records I've ever heard, right up there with Summer In Paradise by The Beach Boys.

The 90's saw prog get its mojo back. Though never likely to hit mainstream again and make a ton of money, prog got its mojo back. They had survived the 80's. ELP, as a group, never had to worry about navigating the 80's, despite the fact that era was ripe for ELP to make a comeback after Love Beach. In The Hot Seat sees ELP decide not to go prog, but instead attempt to find some kind of commercial hit. They threw everything possible at the wall in the hopes something on this album would be a hit. So, why don't I stop delaying the inevitable, and take you on a journey through this album track by track.

We begin with Hand Of Truth, often regarded as the best song on the album. Now at first, with the bombastic keyboards, I thought this was going to be a pretty good banger, and then Greg Lake starts singing and all the issues with this album come front and center. Palmer's drumming sounds more like a drum machine, Emerson's keyboard sounds it's been ADRed at points, and Greg Lake's voice has diminished and he sounds hoarse to the point he can't hit the right notes. Now I'm willing to put up with all of that if the songs are there, but Hand Of Truth, lyrically and sonically, is more of a Mike + The Mechanics song. I hear this, and just beg for Mike + The Mechanics to be playing this song.

Next is Daddy, a fairly dark song about a girl from upstate New York who goes missing. I've seen people say this is off-brand for ELP, and frankly, I think it sounds right for them. Unfortunately, this doesn't come out sounding like an ELP song, but instead this is something I would expect to hear from Peter Gabriel. But you want to know what the biggest problem is with this song? It sounds like Emerson and Palmer are missing, and instead been replaced by session musicians. Say what you will about Love Beach, that at least had ELP, and wasn't reliant on session musicians. This is a Greg Lake solo song at the end of the day, it is not an ELP song.

Then we get to the most bizarre song on the album, One By One, an attempt by Keith Emerson to show he is a true artist and composer among mere prog rockers like Steve Hackett, Yes, and Dream Theater. And I have no idea what Keith was on when he made this song. It sounds like it's trying to be for some sort of Disney soundtrack, complete with that honking synth sound that was a bad idea in the 80's when The Clash abused the hell out of it on their final studio effort. I expect a song like this to be overproduced, but truth be told, the end result is really flat and dry. It lacks the bombastic sound ELP is known for, and this becomes apparent throughout the album. There's no power behind it. This should have been the fun song on the album, but there are so many missed opportunities, and again, this is something I expect on a Disney soundtrack.

Then we come to Heart On Ice, a corny ass Phil Collins style love ballad that even Phil Collins would have thrown out. By this point, Adult Contemporary had lost its luster, so songs like this were not in demand. This feels like a desperate move by a desperate band who are desperate to fill their bank accounts. But more importantly, I can't hear anything that sounds like Emerson, or Palmer performing. Much like daddy, it feels like session musicians with Greg Lake performing solo, but unlike Daddy, Greg Lake's voice is shot to the point he just doesn't have the vocal range necessary to make this corny song work. Why is ELP performing this? I'd more sooner pass this one off to Peter Cetera, because at least he would jump at this song, and make it work for him.

Next up we come to The Thin Line, and you must be joking. That's right, ELP are trying to get some serious street cred by performing a conscious hip-hop R&B inspired song about the line between love and hate. There's just one problem... ELP have no street cred. They were, for the longest time, up their ass yuppies who had money to burn, and flaunted it during their live shows. Greg Lake's voice, again, is not built for this sort of thing. He doesn't have the soulful voice of somebody like Paul Carrack, who could probably make this work. This song can be best described as career suicide. ELP were once one of the most respected prog rock acts around, and any momentum they had after Black Moon crashed and burned with this singular song.

Normally, a sane person would stop there, but we're only half way there. Next we have Man In The Long Black Coat, which is a cover of a Bob Dylan song. I'll admit, I like this version of the song. It comes the closest to finding something that works for Greg's diminished vocals, and in fact, he does hit a few high notes on this song. But AGAIN, this is a solo Greg Lake song that sounds like it's being backed by session musicians and a drum machine. Why isn't this a Greg Lake solo album?...

Then there's Change. A pop-standard style song of the 90's. Now, I had hopes for this song, because Greg Lake's voice seemed fitting for it, but the song itself is just ASS. We get what is possibly one of the saddest keyboard solos from ELP, but at least it sounds like Emerson and Palmer are on here, but the production makes this song flat, and loses any sort of power. This is not the song to inspire change in the world, basically.

We come to yet another ballad, this one is called Give Me A Reason, and it is not written by Emerson, Lake, or Palmer. It instead comes to us from renowned songwriter Steve Diamond. The session musicians and drum machine are back for this Peter Cetera style number, and again, Greg Lake's voice just isn't working on this one. It's outside of his range, and Greg is putting in no effort to try and push his voice higher. Oh, and this one comes complete with a cheesy guitar solo. Greg Lake's attempts to break into adult contemporary are feeble, and pathetic.

Next we come to Gone Too Soon, a blues-rock style song. Frankly, I think Greg Lake's hoarse voice actually works here. The problem is, like most songs on this album, are flat and under produced. By this point, I'm pretty sure you can tell the obvious problem here. Yep, session musicians are backing the song. Oh, but we do get a keyboard solo this time, and it did nothing for me. If this were a Greg Lake solo song, I'd probably like it, but because it's on an ELP album, I have to use that context. This just doesn't do it for me.

I am glad to say we are on the last song of this album, Street War. Has ELP saved the best for last? Nope! In their continued effort to sell out and go every possible direction, ELP sees themselves trying to imitate Billy Idol and go punk. There's just one problem with that... Billy Idol's career was killed by the trainwreck he released in 1993, Cyberpunk. Billy Idol wasn't cool, and ELP trying to go punk just sounds like the biggest joke since trying to get street cred with The Thin Line. This is just wrong. This whole album is just wrong.

And this is why I will be one of those people who will continually say Love Beach is not the worst Emerson, Lake and Palmer album. Despite Love Beach being an absolute mess, I can at least hear Emerson, Lake and Palmer in Love Beach. ELP deserved to go out on a better note, but sadly this was their last studio effort. This was historic for ELP as it marked the first time the band did not chart in the US, or the UK. While Black Moon was low on the charts, that album at least charted, and had songs that stayed in ELP's set list. In The Hot Seat is the one album the group absolutely hated to make, and you can tell they just wanted to have this one done with. And that is what In The Hot Seat represents, a sad, broken way to end a recording career.

Ask any fan of Emerson, Lake & Palmer what was the worst album they released in the Seventies and the answer will be the contractual obligation, 'Love Beach'. Not long after, Palmer formed his own band, PM, and even though there was no official announcement it was obvious ELP was over. Given their huge success, it is no surprise that in 1984 talks were held about reforming, but by then Palmer was in the hugely successful Asia and did not want to be involved. After auditioning a series of drummers, Emerson asked his old friend Cozy Powell if he wanted to be involved, which by happenstance also allowed the band to retain the ELP abbreviation. Their sole album was released in 1986, going Top 40 in both America and the UK, but after a disastrous tour, during which they fired their management, they split up. Palmer would come back to the fold and with Keith Emerson would form the new band 3 with Robert Berry, who would also last for just one album, before the classic line-up came back together in 1990.

I have always felt the two trio releases involving Emerson in the Eighties are somewhat overlooked by fans of ELP, yet they are both excellent, as this new 3-CD boxed set displays so well. What we have here is the album (with three bonus tracks), their live album, 'Live In Concert' and a CD of rehearsals, 'The Sprocket Sessions'. All material included in the box set has been re-mastered by renowned engineer Andy Pearce which also includes an enhanced booklet with sleeve notes written by Prog Magazine editor, Jerry Ewing.

I fully remember this being released and picked up the pre-recorded cassette (those were the days) as soon as I could. I did not know what to expect but was fully aware of Powell's work with Rainbow and Whitesnake, and even remembered him performing "Dance With The Devil" on TOTP. I certainly did not expect an album which commenced with classic ELP sounds and styles with "The Score", and when Lake got to the chorus and sang "It's been so long you're welcome back my friends, To the show that never ends" I was ecstatic. It didn't matter we had a different "P", the band were back and playing classic music, linking back to "Karn Evil 9" for their fans. The music had shifted in that it was more commercial, especially "Touch and Go", yet not so overtly as Asia, somehow bridging the Seventies and Eighties. Emerson was also convinced by Powell to undertake a recording of "Mars, The Bringer of War" which is one of the standout tracks, albeit the style being somewhat different from other classical covers the band did in the past.

Years after this was originally released I went to see the wonderfully bawdy musical 'Sinderella' featuring Jim Davidson, and I was somewhat surprised to hear some of these songs played during the performance (Davidson and Emerson were friends, hence the use of "Karn Evil 9" for 'The Generation Game'), yet I was also pleased as I felt this album was overlooked by many. The rehearsals and live recording add to the overall story in that we hear Cozy performing on some classic numbers (his style is very different indeed to Palmer), and overall this set brings back to life an album from a band who deserved to be around for much longer than the short time they were.

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.

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*)

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*)

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.

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

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.