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ELP: Pictures At An Exhibition

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SteveG View Drop Down
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    Posted: October 09 2018 at 07:20
Pictures At An Exhibition. Considered by many to be ELP's best, but certainly not by everyone. What's your take on this impressive live album?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Fischman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 09 2018 at 10:37
I love it, but I certainly wouldn't call it their best.  As great a listen as it is, it's really just a cover.  A very impressive cover, no doubt, but a cover nonetheless and for my choice of their best, I have to give that to original material.  
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Squonk19 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 09 2018 at 10:48
Love it to pieces! It was the first ELP album I bought and I played it almost continuously. Maybe over-familiarity means it now trails Trilogy etc. as my favourite album - but such a superb live feel that runs up and down all the tempos, styles and emotions that the band showed at their best. From those glorious opening notes of Promenade to the closing, hair-raising finale of The Great Gates of Kiev - it is quite a ride. Even Nutrocker has its place at the end too. Always thought the recording levels were all over the place, but that adds to its charm in many ways. Not everyone's cup of tea, no doubt - but a great microcosm of what the ELP phenomenon was all about (great gatefold album sleeve too!)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote verslibre Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 09 2018 at 13:52
Originally posted by SteveG SteveG wrote:

Pictures At An Exhibition. Considered by many to be ELP's best, but certainly not by everyone. What's your take on this impressive live album?

First time I've heard that.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dellinger Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 09 2018 at 22:55
I don't know if their best, but certainly my favourite.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote richardh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 10 2018 at 00:01
First album I purchased (for £2! in 1976) and I hated it. About a year later ELP reappeared with Works Vol One and I gave them another chance although it was Tarkus that converted me.
Pictures is horribly messy , unfocused and full of unnecessary bits so its typical ELP really. Great artwork though. Originally it was only available as an import from America but Cotillion ( the European arm of Atlantic I presume) decided to give it a proper release such was the demand for prog at the time . It became something of a 'hit' and sold masses especially as it was marketed as a budget release.
Nowadays I quite like it but prefer the shorter versions. Check out the Mar Y Sol version from 1972 which is fantastic.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SteveG Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 10 2018 at 11:53
Originally posted by verslibre verslibre wrote:

Originally posted by SteveG SteveG wrote:

Pictures At An Exhibition. Considered by many to be ELP's best, but certainly not by everyone. What's your take on this impressive live album?

First time I've heard that.
Yeah, I was getting bored so I threw in some hyperbole! Glad you caught it.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Rednight Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 10 2018 at 12:14
So good that it was rerecorded for 1993's The Return of the Manticore boxset.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote richardh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 11 2018 at 01:18
Originally posted by Rednight Rednight wrote:

So good that it was rerecorded for 1993's The Return of the Manticore boxset.
 

Not a great version though. The acid test is the 'Baba Yaga section' which is very stilted compared to ELP at their very best (1970-1973). The studio version was also included as a bonus track on In The Hot Seat. Didn't save that miserable last effort by a once great band though.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote The.Crimson.King Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 11 2018 at 13:14
One of my fave live albums of all time Heart
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote richardh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 16 2018 at 00:17
Its almost not a live album given the quality of the production. Eddie Offord was 'the man'.
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