EMERSON, LAKE & POWELL: EMERSON, LAKE & POWELL

ELP's eighth studio album marks the comeback of ELP but without Carl Palmer, here replaced by Cozy Powell. The style is now a sort of Symphonic Art Rock very unbalanced towards the true Progressive. This is not bad, especially in songs like "The Miracle" or "Learning To Fly" that are powerful, fresh and involve the listener very much. However, "The Score", put as an opener, don't like it because it's too moved towards a sort of need to let people know that even without Carl Palmer this is always the ELP. The Rock version of "Mars, The Bringer of Wars" (from "The Planet" by Gustav Holst) sounds excellent, highlighting the problems of the album: Greg Lake proves to be an excellent bass player and singer but here he can not leave his mark; Keith Emerson wants to modernize himself at all costs and, in certain moments, seems to want to invade the scene without succeeding (by choice); Cozy Powell is always Cozy Powell but is kept at bay by elementary scores. In short ... There is always something that leads me to say that the potential is there but not only it is not exploited and it's not even sought to the end.

With utmost regret there was no Emerson Lake & Powell part 2 so that we cannot understand the evolution of the project where it would take them.In addition, all of Emerson and Lake and Powell are no longer among us, which prevents a segioto from this album in our day. This "Emerson Lake & Powell" remains, an excellent album for 1986 but today a little superfluous. Although very beautiful.