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criticdrummer94
Forum Senior Member
Joined: June 16 2011
Location: Ohio
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Points: 431
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Topic: Memoirs Of An Officer And A Gentleman Posted: April 24 2012 at 18:37 |
Listening to it for the first time. It doesn't really sound that bad for this very infamous album. What do you guys think of this extended piece from ELP?
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MY IDOLS
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richardh
Prog Reviewer
Joined: February 18 2004
Location: United Kingdom
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Points: 26108
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Posted: April 25 2012 at 01:29 |
Basically four tracks with a themed connection
First track. Love it. Everything slots into place. Drums sound great. Lake's voice sounds superb and Keith does a decent impersonation of an orchestra
Second track. Lots of flowing classical piano. Keith on great form. Lakes sings well and Palmer supplies some nice percussion.
Third track. Then it all goes downhill! Bit of a muddle this track. Starts intertestingly but goes nowhere. The demo version shows they were onto something but perhaps they were just getting bored when it came to finishing it off?
Fourth track. A march (yawn). I think they had given up at this point.
Love Beach always feels like an unfinished album to me. Some promising bits and peices (Canario. For You, The Gambler + the first two parts of Memoirs) but doesn't add up to a whole hill of beans and way below the bands triumphs (BSS ,Tarkus etc)
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Snow Dog
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Joined: March 23 2005
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Posted: April 25 2012 at 05:03 |
I really like it a lot...despite the rather lack lustre playing. A tired, fed up band and it shows.
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Snow Dog
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Posted: April 25 2012 at 05:04 |
richardh wrote:
Basically four tracks with a themed connection
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hardly just "themed" It a single coherent story. Nothing less.
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criticdrummer94
Forum Senior Member
Joined: June 16 2011
Location: Ohio
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Posted: April 25 2012 at 07:45 |
Snow Dog wrote:
I really like it a lot...despite the rather lack lustre playing. A tired, fed up band and it shows. |
Agreed. I feel like if they were really giving a true shot like on Canario it would have been much better. To me, the whole album has some potential
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MY IDOLS
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richardh
Prog Reviewer
Joined: February 18 2004
Location: United Kingdom
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Points: 26108
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Posted: April 25 2012 at 14:45 |
Snow Dog wrote:
richardh wrote:
Basically four tracks with a themed connection
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hardly just "themed" It a single coherent story. Nothing less. |
yes you are right although I think what I was getting at is that the tracks don't flow into each other like say Tarkus. (shouldn't compare it with that monster prog track though admittedly )
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Snow Dog
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Joined: March 23 2005
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Posted: April 25 2012 at 14:46 |
^Tarkus doesn't actually flow if you think about it. But I see your point now. Indeed it does come across as seperate tracks.
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theadolescentprogger
Forum Groupie
Joined: March 23 2012
Location: England
Status: Offline
Points: 88
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Posted: April 25 2012 at 17:20 |
The only good track on the whole bloody album!
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presdoug
Forum Senior Member
Joined: January 24 2010
Location: Canada
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Points: 8068
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Posted: April 25 2012 at 18:01 |
To this day, i've never heard the album-not sure if i want to take the plunge and do so, though
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Fox On The Rocks
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Joined: February 10 2011
Location: Toronto, Canada
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Posted: April 25 2012 at 19:38 |
Best song of the album, of course, but I feel it goes on for a bit too long. Keith's work on that track is great though.
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richardh
Prog Reviewer
Joined: February 18 2004
Location: United Kingdom
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Points: 26108
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Posted: April 26 2012 at 01:29 |
presdoug wrote:
To this day, i've never heard the album-not sure if i want to take the plunge and do so, though |
worth picking up the Return of the Manticore box set if you can find it cheap. That includes all of Memoirs as well as the best Greg Lake song on the album 'For You'.
Canario is also good and can be found on various ELP compilations including the excellent Atlantic Years.
the rest of the album is pure pop
to be fair its not as bad an album as people like to think its just the terrible cover that puts many off!
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Dayvenkirq
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Joined: May 25 2011
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Posted: April 26 2012 at 01:49 |
presdoug wrote:
To this day, i've never heard the album-not sure if i want to take the plunge and do so, though
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+1
richardh wrote:
to be fair its not as bad an album as people like to think its just the terrible cover that puts many off! |
That cover just makes me laugh .
Edited by Dayvenkirq - April 26 2012 at 01:51
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presdoug
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Joined: January 24 2010
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Posted: April 26 2012 at 16:10 |
richardh wrote:
presdoug wrote:
To this day, i've never heard the album-not sure if i want to take the plunge and do so, though |
worth picking up the Return of the Manticore box set if you can find it cheap. That includes all of Memoirs as well as the best Greg Lake song on the album 'For You'.
Canario is also good and can be found on various ELP compilations including the excellent Atlantic Years.
the rest of the album is pure pop
to be fair its not as bad an album as people like to think its just the terrible cover that puts many off! |
Thanks for your response, Richard. Incidentally, on Triumvirat's 1978 pop rock album A La Carte, there is a song called "For You"
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