THE VERY BEST OF EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER

There are several types who buy a "best of" ELP collection. A person who doesn't know prog from frog but just LOVES that weird sound at the end of "Lucky Man." A young person who wants a decent introduction to the creations of a classic band. And then there's people like me who owned a few of their albums back in the 70s, was never a huge fan but occasionally needs an ELP "fix" on the commute to or from work and sees this cd for just eight bucks at Best Buy and figures "why not?" Turns out it's not half bad, literally. In fact, there's only a few boners here in the ghastly "Pirates" and the self-indulgent "Toccata." The rest of it is top-notch. I personally liked the ballads because they were always a relief from the typical top 40 crud that crowded the airwaves around that time. Personally, these guys just got a little too dang noisy for my tastes and their albums were usually a case of too much of a good thing to my ears. But admire them, I did, and this collection of songs reminds me why. "Knife- edge," "Trilogy," "Karn Evil 9" and "Fanfare for the Common Man" are true standouts in prog history. And the aforementioned "Lucky Man" holds up well over the years as the song that brought the Moog to the masses. And, for the price, it's hard to beat.