Pictures at an Exhibition: ELP

 

I have some reservations about it. Side One is just so stop start its infuriating. It feels a lot like someone trying to get the car going but the engine keeps flooding. The Sage makes a great stand alone track and Blues Variation is Carl yet again doing his trademark shuffle. My God did he love doing that!

 

Side Two is much more interesting and things really come together in a big way. The Baba Yaga section is the best part of the album for me as Palmer works himself into a frenzy that only he can. BUT I still have a problem and that is Keith Emerson. His organ playing just doesn't quite have it almost as if he gets bored. Emerson is one of those players that either catches fire or fizzles out like a damp squib. This is more of the latter. Compare it to the superior (imo) Lyceum version that was recorded a few months earlier and you will see what I mean. Overall this is a bit of a let down to me. Certainly made a statement but there are just too many weak moments and the flow is not there. I enjoy the shorter versions they did from 1974 onwards which were based mainly on the Baba Yaga section including the underrated version with Orchestra. I would only give it about 2-3 stars. Would have made a better bonus CD imo which was actually the band's original intention.

 

Oh and for Steve G - nice artwork from William Neal , one of ELP best covers

I really wish they had added more of the original Pictures. I can easily seem them doing "Bydlo" and "The Ballet Of Unhatched Chicks" with the usual bombast.