WORKING LIVE VOLUME 1

OK. So this is an interesting idea ELP with no vocals or keyboards and a guitar with synthesizers. Sometimes it works really well and others it leaves it a bit empty sounding. If fact having seen this done live it works better seeing it than hearing a recording of it. I just think Carl was seeing if he could cut expenses by recording a gig he was already being paid to play. This might have worked better for audio in the studio.

Still there are many things to like here. Carl is still a top notch drummer maybe even better than he was in ELP which is the reason you would probably be attracted to this in the first place. Second there some excellent songs that you have heard on ELP albums. The songs this format really work on are Toccata, LA Nights (which was originally recorded with Joe Walsh), The Barbarian and Bullfrog.

Where it doesn't work are the more orchestrated pieces like Canario, Tank and The Enemy Dances With the Black Spirits. The latter seems to almost come off as some kind of metal crunch which is fine for some things but not this classical adaptation.

The guitar playing of Shuan Baxter and the Bass guitar playing of Dave Marks work well with Carl's flashy and technical parts. I think though that hearing the guitar so much with no other sound color wears on you a bit after a while. Not an everyday listen for me to be sure. Still it is good enough to pull out once in awhile, though and it is bit of a change of pace as to how you would listen to ELP's music. 3 Stars