Emerson Lake & Palmer

 

 

My listening to their work stops at Brain Salad Surgery.

 

It is revolutionary in the sense that at first the keyboards were used for effect ... and later strictly for solo potential and nothing else.

 

I also think that the lyrics themselves were often quite confrontational and not always nice ... and I think that may have been a product of their personality clashes, but in the end, when they became "stars" ... the majority of their musicianship went down the drain in my book.

 

The first two albums made a point and showed something ... and after that, a lot of European bands did a lot better than ELP. I sometimes think they just got lazy.

                 I have great respect for their talent. I just can't listen to their music anymore and that's my deal. Years later I notice their egos were getting out of hand. Stories I heard from prog vendors or fans about. I seriously think it's a waste of human energy to track band members down for a meeting. They have for the most part answered the same stupied questions for years and dread the thought, especially when their asses are in a sling and they make 10 times less the profit than what was originally made. My brother used to talk with Blue Oyster Cult at every gig. He was on a mission to find the so called mystery behind the lyrics. Apart from the writings of Sandy Pearlman, he was under the impression that maybe the members themselves were into the occult. Eric Bloom explained to him that they were asked by the record company to study occult related subjects and keep the band image intense. My brother handed Bloom his cell and asked him to say hello to an old friend. Eric grabbed the phone and said,,,,"Your friend says your a dick"  Do you see what I mean about these guys? Whether it's Emerson making rude comments about signing a mellotron or Palmer stopping his drum solo to ask an audience member to cut the tapping, it all means the same thing. They have been in the music business for so bloody long it has damaged their minds. I watched Greg Lake flip-out on promoters at the A.C. Casinos. They all seem on edge.

The coolest person to chat with is Roger Glover. If it makes any sense to do so anyway     He is well spoken and draws a happy medium to his communication between himself and his fans. A very pleasant person. The best moment was when my brother asked Greg Lake to sign his "In the Court Of the Crimson King" cd. Greg just looked at it with disgust. He stated at the bar that we would never see a reformation of the original King Crimson. He then said that ELP reforming and doing a new release would be utter nonsense. He said that ELP was all about ego and he was happy to play with Ringo's All Stars. It's the business that did this to him. The experience of inner turmoil between Lake, Palmer, and Emerson had more to do with the nature of the business. What they were being asked of by record companies and the pressures they inflicted upon each other.  

the first album and Trilogy are probably their most complete studio works despite the popular opinion that brain salad surgery is the classic Karn Evil and Toccatta i find to be the only shiners on that album with the remaining tracks simply being good pieces of music.

I havn't noticed them getting to much heat from actual prog fans though i think they are highly respected as musicians and rightly so

Can't say I've ever noticed. First time I've ever seen this mentioned. I mean EVER.