EMERSON LAKE & PALMER

I actually reckon the Nice was better than ELP, at least to listen to. I loved the classical electric take, the idiosyncratic approach. Of course, it was rough and ready, not smooth at all, not as smooth as ELP itself. Then again, it would be churlish not to say that ELP was the important step, one of THE seminal groups in Prog and certainly one of the first. I dont think this album is the best of ELP, for me, that was Tarkus, but its a statement of intent, and has a magnificence that at times transcends the lack of clarity in composition and aesthetics. I always feel uneasy with those who knock this group too easily, such an important group should not get such unsympathetic responses, especially by those who fail to understand the timeline of it all. I would personally have liked a lot more to come from the three outstanding musicians involved, but Im sure glad they put this together for the sake of us all. HAS to be five stars for importance alone.