EMERSON, LAKE & POWELL: EMERSON, LAKE & POWELL

2,5 stars really!!

Apart as to refill-up their bank account , was there any use for this album? Not too bad an album, though especially in those days ( Genesis and Yes were up to much less than that ). I remember even hearing Touch and Go on the radio a few times. The Mars track is impressive and can bring you back to the classic 70's albums. Powell has no problem filling Palmer's shoes , but my main gripe is that they chose a drum sound too typical of 80's sound.

An acceptable album but hardly essential!! Still worth investigating for the average proghead!

P is for.. Powell

This album by ELP (even if it wasn't quite the right P!) found Emerson and Lake back to being inspired and coherent.

The tracks are generally more commercial and less progressive than in their early days, and Powell's drumming is of course more beat focused and much less instrumental than Palmer's.

The opening track "The score" follows on nicely from "Karn Evil 9 part 1", even to the extent of repeating the "Welcome back my friends.." lyric. It's a superbly crafted track, with a positive, upbeat feel. It is by far the most progressive track on the album, standing well alongside the ELP greats such as "Tarkus" and "KE9, 3rd movement".

"The Miracle" and "Touch and go" are the other standout tracks. Both are Lake driven songs, his voice sounding steady and clear, with a power to it which had been lacking on the immediately previous albums. "The miracle" is an out and out Lake ballad, while "Touch and go" features some inspired fanfare synthesiser by Emerson. Neither track could be described as particularly progressive, the band appearing to be searching for another hit single. The remaining tracks are more run of the mill, but there is an even quality throughout the album

In all this album was a welcome return to something approaching decent form.

ELPowell is a progressive album that deserves to be reviewed: Keith Emerson really masters melodic modern & anthemic keyboards here! The style is very symphonic, particularly on the "The Score" and "Mars, Bringer of War" tracks. It really sounds Olympic Games anthem. This record often sounds like Asia, especially the lead vocals, the keyboards and the beat. The difference is that the tracks here are more elaborated, definitely more progressive. Many bits also remind me the Pallas' "The Sentinel" album. Actually, there are no ordinary tracks, and I like the short, refined, catchy & accessible tracks on side 2, which have nothing to do with the short tracks on the "Love beach" album: notice the outstanding lead vocals, like on "Lay down your guns". The album ends with the symphonic epic "Mars, Bringer of War", really sounding like a serious & solemn movie soundtrack.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Reknowned heavy rock drummer Cozy powell takes over the sticks from the temporarily absent Carl Palmer and provides a perfect reason why the P in ELP is for Palmer.Cozy is as subtle as a brick.Greg Lake is forced to shout to be heard while Emerson does his best to sound like the London Symphony Orchestra.Loud it is.Clever it ain't.Worth buying only for their truly awesome version of Holst 'Mars' but otherwise it's sheer pain.

Dissapointing. Cozy Powell clearly needed money and Emmerson and Lake clearly needed to get an album out - maybe for contractual reasons. So whats wrong with it? The musicianship? No. Keith Emmerson is unlikely to play like a baboon! Cozy Powell drums like a gorilla banging a wheelybin with mallets as usual, but you have to expect that. Its the collage of crap ideas, and comical pomposity that makes this album almost unlisternable. 'The score' starts positive enough. It sounds exciting then all of a sudden Emmerson breaks into the most awful and innapropriate fake trumpet riff. It ceases to be 'rock music' at that point, IMO, at least until Greg Lake rescues the day with the first verse, about two days into the song. In all fairness 'The score' is probably the best tune on the album, followed by 'The Miracle' and 'Touch and go' the latter which was a single, which went rather unfairly, I felt, ignored by the British record buying public. Pompous though it was it was dead catchy!

The good news stops there. 'Learning how to fly' sounds like Dido at half speed. You can almost hear how bored Greg Lake is as he yawns his way through this mundane, characterless piece of muzak. The rest of the album is plain boring. Then you get 'Mars the bringer of War' Gustav Holst starts to breakdance in his grave as this ponderous trio tear his classic music to bits with synthetic pings, and fake orchestral boings! Then the crowing sh!t on the dung heap has to be 'Loco-motion' Yes, thats right it is THE 'Loco-motion' Done ELP style. Imagine it. Painful.

This is for ELP fans only, and I would imagine plenty of them must have felt somewhere between heartbroken and greatly amused at it.

In the eighties, several progressive bands and solo musicians were having success recording albums which were more accessible for the listener (Genesis, Peter Gabriel, Yes, Pink Floyd, GTR, Asia, Kansas). In 1986, it was time for "ELPowell" to record an album with a mixture of Progressive Rock with some Rock and Pop elements. As I know Cozy Powell because he played with a lot of bands (Jeff Beck , Rainbow, Black Sabbath, etc., most of them Heavy Rock Bands) and also recorded some solo albums, I think that this album is very influenced by him, but I also think that Emerson and Lake really wanted to sound more accessible as the other musicians that I have mentioned before. I like this album very much. I only have the L.P. and cassette versions which I bought in late 1986, so I never have listened to the bouns tracks included in the C.D. version. "The Score" has very good keyboards, with Emerson playing the "new keyboards" of the eighties. It also has very good drums, and Lake still sings very well in 1986. "Learning to Fly" is shorter, with a very good keyboards section at the end, which connects this song with the next, "The Miracle", another good song. "Touch and Go" was played in FM Radio in my country, and I also had a video which was broadcasted very few times on T.V. It has very good keyboards too, and Powell plays simple but effective drums. "Love Blind" is another very good "pop progressive" song."Step Aside" is influenced by Jazz, and in this song the trio showed that they could play in any style.It is mainly played on piano, with background synthesizers. "Lay Down Your Guns" is a "peace song", and this is the only song of the album where I think there is a guitar played by Lake, which sounds for me more like a guitar synth, playing a solo at the end of the song. Lake is credited in the back cover of the album as playing basses and guitars, but I can`t say if in the other songs he played guitar too, as this album is dominated by the keyboards. "Mars" is the last song of this album, with a good arrangement, but it is not very interesting fo me as the rest of the songs. This album is another very good example of the "more accessible Progressive Rock of the Eighties" of some bands and solo musicians. The cassette version has a better sound than the L.P., and I agree with a previous reviewer who wrote that this album has a lot of reverb in some places. It is one of the things that I don`t like from this album, but it is still very good.

It's not the finest album in terms of ELP comparison or progressive vein. But if you like other ELP albums, it's worth collecting. It contains classic ELP sound and some poppy stuffs. For me personally, my main temptation to own this album was not only because of Keith Emerson and Greg Lake, but also it featured one of my favorite rock drummers: Cozy Powell. I like Powell's solo album "Octopuss" - great rock music with excellent orchestration (some tracks) and of course . excellent drumming. I also like Rainbow albums that featured Powell on drums.

"Touch and Go" is a simple rock track that once was popular in my hometown and some local bands covered this track in a program called "Legend of the Month" featuring ELP. This track is probably the easiest song to emulate and has a sort of up-tempo and energy with a touch of light classic music. "Love Blind" is a straight forward pop track with good vocal line and solo keyboard at background. "Step Aside" is an interesting track with heavy influence of jazz. Jazz lovers would love this track. It's probably due to this track is performed by ELP that makes me liking this track. "Mars, Bringer of War" composed in a classic ELP style with classical music influence, dominated by keyboard sounds. Drum stools are played like a mars to march troops for a war.

It's not the kind of "Brain Salad Surgery" or "Trilogy" or "Pictures At an Exhibition" or "Tarkus" music but this ELPowell is a good one to have. You still can hear the powerful voice of Lake and unique Emerson keyboard work. Rating 3.25/5. GW, Indonesia.

Twelve years ! This is the time between their last great album and this one. What the heck (except money) would an ELP reunion bring to their fans ? Very intelligently, they hired Powell who is replacing Palmer on duty with Asia. He was more used to drum with hard rock bands (Jeff Beck, Rainbow) that prog ones, but as is was rather skilled, I do not believe that it should be a problem to hold the drum kit. Not to replace Carl (no one can do that) but to help Keith and Greg in their project.

Even if this album is not a masterpiece it is way better than their infamous "Works" (I, II & Live). They have reverted to longer composition, very symphonic, pompous as usual of course especially "The score" and "The Miracle". But since it was their trade mark, the fans (to which I belong) can only be pleased by this return to the roots. During the former there will be several references to "The Show That Nevers Ends"... nostalgia I guess. Anyway these are excellent pieces of ELP music.

There are not really outstanding tracks. The album is well balanced and most of the songs are pleasant. "Touch & Go" is maybe harder than usual. The jazzy "Step Inside" is also weaker (but I am not really into jazz to be honest). We'll get the traditional tranquil Greg lake one with "Lay down Your Guns". A very nice ballad. It reminds me at times "Jerusalem", but it is not so strong. Still, it might well be my preferred song of the album.

"Mars, the Bringer of War" could have been the soundtrack of warrior movie. ELP in all its "grandeur". You can almost imagine the Roman army destroying anything they can on their way to glory. I had the same feeling during some passages of "Salisbury" from the Heep. This song is really too much. Kind of a "West Side Story" at times. This is a love / hate number.

"The Loco - Motion" is very much welcome. Dynamic and funny this cover won't be a memorable track, but it breaks the global mood of the album. A bit like "Nutrocker" did on "Pictures".

A good come back and quite a nice surprise actually. At least ELP sounds as ELP (which was not case for most of the giants of the seventies - except Floyd probably).

Three stars.

The 1980s were almost devoid of progressive rock. By the year 1986, Genesis had released a series of albums that had degraded from symphonic progressive rock to a collection of pathetic pop rock fodder. Yes had transformed even quicker, going from the excellent Drama to 90125 almost overnight. Another great band from the 1970s was Emerson, Lake & Palmer. They fell apart earlier than their contemporaries with the awful Love Beach in 1978.

Along comes 1985, and apparently Greg Lake and Keith Emerson were just itching for a reunion. Unfortunately they couldn't get Carl Palmer to come aboard as he was enjoying success with Asia at the time. There were rumors at the time that Bill Bruford would be part of the lineup, but he was committed to King Crimson and his own group, Earthworks. So they found veteran metal drummer Cozy Powell who had been with a whole host of bands in his career, including The Jeff Beck Group, Rainbow, Whitesnake, and others. So, how would a metal drummer fit in with the escapades of Emerson and Lake? Actually, a lot better than I would have expected as their sound gelled quite nicely. The obvious difference between him and Palmer, is that his drumming style on this album is almost machine-like.

Emerson, Lake & Powell was quite different from the ELP of old. Their sound was more modern this time, more structured, and typically 1980s-ish. But it's not like the rest of the stuff blasting from radios during this decade. Quite different indeed. It was one of the few truly symphonic progressive rock albums to come out and actually receive some attention from the music press and fans of the time. A gem amidst a pile of rocks.

This album is very keyboard oriented, and this can clearly be heard on the first four songs and the excellent remake of Gustav Holst's "Mars, the Bringer War." "The Score" is pure ELP, with all the energy of the old ELP. Emerson and Lake still had it in them. The Miracle, sounding more like neo-prog, was quite a powerful song also. Amidst these great songs, ELP created a number of more radio-friendly songs. They clearly were not immune to the musical movement of the time. Some of these shorter songs are okay, and some are just forgettable. "Touch and Go" was probably the best of the shorter pieces, filled with Emerson's bombastic keys and Lake's powerful vocal delivery. This one received much radio play on the AOR stations at the time and even made it briefly on Billboard's Top 100 in the United States.

Later releases on CD would feature two bonus tracks, which were poor and somewhat annoying, like the remake of "The Loco-Motion." I guess it was a sign of the times. When I first bought this it was an LP and ended with "Mars, the Bringer of War." Now that I have the CD version, I consider the bonus tracks as just that. They're bonus and not really part of the core album.

If it wasn't for the mediocre shorter pieces, I would be almost willing to give this five stars. It isn't as good as Brain Salad Surgery, but it was the best from ELP since then and clearly one of the best albums released during the dark 1980s. I'm leaning more towards 3.75, so I'm going to round it up to an even four stars. An excellent album from the bleakest period in progressive rock history. A must-have for ELP fans.

Keith Emerson and Greg Lake were apparently eager to reform ELP in 1985. For what reasons, considering their history of clashing egos, I cannot say without digging through a biography. Perhaps their solo careers just didn't amount to anything? Perhaps the ka-ching of dollars rolling in dried up by 1985? Whatever the case may be, Carl Palmer was having some success and couldn't join them due to contractual obligations with Asia (which was in a tailspin of its own at the time). So instead of abandoning the idea, they approached Emerson's longtime friend Cozy Powell. It apparently was just a coincidence that his surname began with the appropriate letter.

And so, what does this new incarnation of ELP bring us seven years after its dismal fall in 1978? If you guessed "more of the same," you nailed it on the head. The typical ELP formula was a number of longer pieces (sometimes suites or epics), a few Greg Lake ballads, some filler, and a lovely rendition of a classical music piece. Emerson Lake & Powell's self-titled album fits this description to a tee!

So, is this just like older ELP albums? Sort of, but not quite. On this album they upgraded their sound with the new synths of the day giving it that 1980s sound that most prog groups found themselves employing. The other notable difference is Powell, who doesn't try at all at being a Palmer-clone, but sticks with his metal drumming sensibilities. So, yes, that does add a new dimension, even if it sounds like a robot drumming for most of the album.

The Score and The Miracle are nicely done works of art, even though they sound kind of over-polished and lack the energy of earlier ELP epics. Learning to Fly and Touch and Go are nice songs too, but more in the AOR arena. Their rendition of Holst's Mars, the Bringer of War is probably the best song on the album, though sometimes that 1980s synth-sound is a bit too harsh of a treatment (i.e., too many keyboard stabs). The rest of the material is... well, rubbish.

Certainly the best album ELP had made since Brain Salad Surgery, and unfortunately the last decent one. If it weren't for the filler and dreadful Lake ballads, this could've been a nice four-star effort. This lineup of ELP never made a second album and I can't say if that was good or bad, but this would have been a nice finale because worse albums were to arrive in the 1990s. Three stars. Good, but not essential.

The letter ain't the only thing that stayed the same

Before we start this review I have a confession to make. I originally bought the vinyl of this album as something of a joke. I really didn't expect very much of it, and here's why. It's from the 80s, it doesn't have the original lineup of a band whose name is the lineup of the band, and it's the successor to the massive flop, Love Beach. Well, let's just say that this album is a very pleasant surprise. It's largely a return to what ELP was doing in the 70s that made them so famous, and it really doesn't have any terrible moments. On the whole the album is solid, there's no individual tracks that get away from the rest, nor bog it down.

What's surprising is just how much the album still sounds like good ol' ELP. Although with Emerson's synths (now flavored to the tune of the 80s, although no less virtuosic) pressing hard in the foreground it's really no surprise that the album sounds classic. Lake's voice sounds just as sharp as ever and Powell makes a great contribution to the album with his hard rock background, although the other two seem to have put some restraints on him, because he never has the chance to really unleash and fly off the hook with his drumming skills. The melodies for the album are all surprisingly familiar, although hard to put a finger on just where they could have come from. The powerful The Miracle has a ripping synthesizer which sounds oddly familiar, but still very much ELP.

If not for the overwhelming amount of pomp still present on the album a lot of the material may have sounded flat. Though ELP often get criticized for sounding 'pretentious' there's no doubt that that element of their sound is part of what made the band great. Emerson's obligatory reworking of an instrumental, this time in the form of Mars, The Bringer Of War, sounds like a clash of the titans, put to the music of a synthesizer as sharp as a blade. The compositional work on the single Touch And Go is as impressive as much of the music made by the band in the 70s with their immense sound ready to crush anyone who gets in their way. Although some of the songs on the second side are a little bit out of the normal range of ELP music such as the slow and sappy Lay Down Your Guns, the balladic Love Blind and the almost 'pool-house' sounding Step Aside, they still fit within the context of the album and make for an excellent listen.

Lucky for the fans, there's also some excellent prog on the album. The first side is home to a mere 3 compositions, and with two of them being over 7-minutes, you know some good has to come of it. The opening The Score is a track that can be compared to some of the band's best with a driving keyboard and powerful shouting from Lake. The entire 9-minutes of the song has enough nostalgia factor to really nab the attention of any discerning progger and though some of that may be lot on the short, but no less impressive Learning To Fly, it will certainly be regained by the already mentioned The Miracle.

Overall a surprisingly good album from a band who hadn't produced much of note since the mid-70s. Don't overlook this one for the same reasons I did. If you enjoy ELP then chances are you're going to get a kick out of this hidden gem. Not for starters to the band, but certainly not the last one you want to own by them. A solid album that's going to get a good 3 out of 5. Recommended!

Here we find the step between Love Beach and Black Moon. If you hadn't heard the origimal ELP albums, you might think this album had more merit than it actually does. The songs are so-so. The Score is over nine minutes long, and although it has some passable, but not fantastic keyboard work by Emerson, it's pretty much a forgettable song. Touch And Go, the single from the album, has a listenable hook, but I wouldn't call it prog. It sounds more like arena rock to me.

Really, the only song I like a lot on this album is their version of Mars, The Bringer Of War from Gustav Holst's The Planets. It's not bad, but it seems an obvious choice for Emerson to want to cover. Nowhere near as obscure as Janacek or Ginastera.

2.5 stars.

The market concerning the music played at latter term in the middle of the 70's might changed rapidly attended with a certain kind of diversity. In an economical recession in the middle of the especially 70's, it is true to have influenced the industry of music. And, the field's in extension Rock gradually changing the shape into the scale at the same time as economy's accomplishing the process of growth results.

The market recovered gradually in respect of business and there was a part in the main current at the time of the revolution in the latter half of the 70's, too. The appearance of Punk Rock and New Age that was the main current in the latter half of the 70's had the influence in respect of the fashion at the same time as strengthening the color of the message and emphasizing it in the market.

The existence of King Crimson that had revived in the flow in the 80's appeared in front of the fan and the listener with the purpose. There might have been a revival and a reprint to Prog Rock wished because the listener felt it at the time of the 80's. The activity of a band active in first lines such as Yes and Genesis on the boundary of King Crimson might have been movements for the fan of Prog Rock to have a presentiment of the next age exactly. And, it will have been a flow that had to be called that the appearance of "Asia" had a decisive attitude to the flow and was inevitable. Or, the flow has respect that was followed and succeeded to Neo-Prog Rock. Naturally, the activity of the band in the 80's shows the movement that actively makes inroads into the market while absorbing the counterplan at that time. And, the fan and the listener pay attention to the part where the trend of "ELP" gets into the news gradually. And, ELP's appearing in front of us to answer the expectation of the fan and the listener results. Moreover, in unexpected shape for the fan and the listener.

ELP that had announced "Love Beach" in September, 1978 was in the extreme condition. Respect of financial failure concerning "Works Tour" that leads orchestra and dares. Part of slump of sales in album when musical main currents such as Punk Rock and New Age show movement. Or, the part of no relations of the member dissolves the band as a result with the end of the tour in December, 1978.

It was related to the music for the movie and the music of the project and had Keith Emerson as a part of the activity of the member afterwards. And, Greg Lake announces the album with Gary Moore. It comes to take an active part Carl Palmer in the band that leads an active musician in the field of Jazz/Fusion and is called "P.M.". However, the activity of music by each member never contributed to sales of the album in the difficult situation. Carl Palmer only faced time when the activity by "Asia" had become active. Keith Emerson and Greg Lake plan the revival of the band in the flow. Carl Palmer never participated for the activity with Asia. Their participation was not achieved as a result though the name of Simon Phillips and Ian Paice rose as a drum player. Perhaps, it is guessed that the talk did not advance in money respect. And, the person who had risen to the candidate was Cozy Powell. However, the name of the band was not able to write the name of "ELP" legally because it was not able to obtain the permission of Carl Palmer. Therefore, the band starts up activity substantially as "Emerson,Lake And Powell". They exchange the management of Switzerland with the contract and begin the production of the album as a result in November, 1985.

Composition of tune to which age is taken. Or, the song that has the flexibility of Greg Lake. The Korg Co. that Keith Emerson took at this time, and making the sound with the keyboard of the Kurzweil Co. and part of the reformAnd, a powerful rhythm where the individuality of Cozy Powell appears enough is constructed. Part where Tony Taverner known on business by "Flash" of Jeff Beck was appointed to producer of cooperation. Part as album to execute chemical reaction as band. There might have been restructuring, dignity, and a reprint to which everything had been exactly done at this time.

As for "The Score", the sound in which the sequence is made good use of twines round a powerfully steady rhythm with the melody of a complete keyboard. The fanfare that gives the excitement and the presentiment as a new band will excite the listener. Melody with sense of relief. The melody of symphonic with the keyboard constructs a good flow. The song of Greg Lake that continues the atmosphere has the expansion. The melody and the composition constructed while exactly following the music character cultivated in the 70's are kept. Intermittent rhythm in close relation to melody with tension. The flow that shifts to 2 and the rhythm and the melody of three reams is also complete.

In "Learning To Fly", a powerful rhythm and the melody are features. It advances with the progress of Chord that there is a sense of relief in a steady rhythm. Sound of decoration with keyboard. Or, the music character is constructed with new machine parts. Especially, Solo and the sound of the keyboard are remarkably shown. The way to put up the chorus is also good each other.

The construction of a grand melody and the construction of a fantastic space of "The Miracle" are impressive. Part of powerful song in close relation to flow as straight Rock. Line of calculated Bass. The melody of grand symphonic continues. Processing of progress of original Chord that is and emphasized rhythm. The tune decides the impression of the album.

"Touch And Go" might be a tune where a grand melody exists together to an aggressive impression. Construction of overwhelming theme with keyboard. The rhythm that Cozy Powell produces might be suitable for the tune that gives a powerful impression. Construction of sound in which age is emphasized. Part of repeated theme. It is exactly a tune for men who have them emphasize the part of symphonic.

"Love Blind" is Rock that develops straight. There might be an element that is reminiscent of the music character that Asia did, too. Melody of Oriental sound with keyboard. Or, the sound in which the wind instrument is reminiscent is processed. The sound of the keyboard that expands the possibility contributes to the tune.

As for "Steps Aside", the melody of an acoustic piano is impressive. A city impression to which the flavor of Jazz is taken is given. As for the development of original Chord, the contribution of Keith Emerson might be large. Gentle rhythm of Cozy Powell that doesn't obstruct tune. In this album, the composition intermittently developed is different.

"Lay Down Your Guns" is a gentle exactly ballade for them. Song of Greg Lake with expansion. Or, the continued beautiful piano melody. The flow of the grand melody that they do expands the width of this album. Beautiful Solo with the keyboard also contributes.

"Mars,The Bringer Of War" makes it faithfully take up the tune from "The Planets" of Gustav Holst and arrange. Opening feelings of classics appears remarkably exactly in this tune. The construction of the tune in symphonic is complete. The taste of Keith Emerson that can express various music is splendidly demonstrated. The member of the band that piles up the performance advances in union.

It is ..tune of original symphonic that is.. finished complete "The Loco-Motion". The melody that there is a sense of relief in Intro with the tension gets on. It is likely to consist exactly as an interpretation of the tune that they think about. The flow of Chord with development and the tension of the rhythm that puts fast and slow is also splendid.

"Vacant Possesion" is a tune with the age. The melody with expression of feelings in close relation to a gentle rhythm that flows slowly might have the element of the Power ballade. The introduction of the part of a bright melody that appears in the latter half of the tune also has originality.

Their activities did not continue long as a result. However, this album will become a part of the history as a flow that dismantlement and the restructuring of the zeal that they had at that time and the music character are expressed.

The sole eponymous album by Emerson, Lake & Powell is the closest that the 70s symphonic progressive triumvirat of Yes/Genesis/ELP got to real progressive quality during the 80s. Almost but not quite, since this is not an Emerson, Lake & Palmer album, indeed - one thing for sure, the spirit that drove Emerson and Lake to write this material before summoning Cozy Powell to fill the room of an unavailable Carl Palmer is the same that made them create a big part of the magic instilled in their 70-73 albums. This is not an ELP album but it is more deeply related to the bombast and magnificent melodic sensibility of the "Tarkus" and "Brain Salad Surgery" albums than the "Works" volumes. Powell was a very powerful drummer, and he makes it quite clear in places, but it is also true that in this album he had the same predicament that Terry Bozzio did in UK's sophomore album "Danger MOney": that is, not being in position of delivering his whole individual stamina since he wasn't really a part of the creating process for the album's framework. On the other hand, this constrain allowed him to focus on sheer rocking power, which in turn helped to reinforce the most bombastic aspects of this repertoire. This is true about the amazing 'The Score', which comes to show how well the Emerson-style keyboard-centered art-rock could be somewhat refurbished by elements from 80s hard rock and sound revitalized instead of cheesy (like 75% of Genesis' 80s material) or overblown (like 85% of Rabin-era Yes' material). This is what the trio side of "Works 1" should have sounded in order to properly capitalize on the sort of apex that ELP had achieved during its "Brain Salad" days. 'Learning To Fly' is an interesting exercise on catchy prog rock with an authentic ballsy attitude: forget about what Howe-era Asia or GTR achieved in their respective albums, this song incarnates the key to good prog rock for the 80s with Billboard potential. But again, it is 'Touch And Go' that completely wins the prize in this area, and quite deservedly so: its recurrent fanfare is memorable even nowadays, fluidly displayed on a robust slow pace (many tremendous rockers by Zeppelin and Purple are quite slow, actually). The closer of the vinyl's A side is, IMHO, its pinnacle: 'The Miracle' represents a genuine blast of progressive rock's glorious past, and again, a symbol of all that was missing during ELP's late 70s era and only now was ready to surface. Bands like Yes, Kansas and The Enid would have killed to come up with something like 'The Miracle', so moving, so clever, so powerful. 'Love Blind' is less accomplished in artistic terms, but it remains a pretty catchy rock tune: it wouldn't have been out of place in Uk's "Danger Money". 'Step Aside' is a lovely song song on a jazz-pop tone, something like Sting's first solo sutdio album. Nice, but not as nice as the power ballad entitled 'Lay Down Your Guns', which is very majestic despite that it dangerously flirts with the sort of AOR sound that Foreigner and Journey used to do consistently. It is a lovely song, period. "Mars" is a topic of chamber music that could easily be adapted to a rock context, so it is not such a big deal that ELPowell would do it, but they did it and it's fine with me. Personally, the instrumental additions that Emerson came up with for the 'Locomotion' cover alone could have been a main motif for a terrific instrumental, perhaps the closer, but now I'm entering the erea of rock history sci-fi so I won't dig in further. My overall diagnosis is very positive for this album. As a whole effort, it is not as consistent as "Black Moon" (which was the real ELP reunion album), but its A side comprises the best material written by the Emerson-Lake duo after the 70s. 3.49 stars for this one!

What happened when Powell joined Emerson and Lake?

The good news is its better than Love Beach and In The Hot Seat. The bad news is it is not much better. Cozy Powell entered the fray to replace the irreplaceable, though apparently not, Carl Palmer. Powell is okay but you may not actually notice he is there as Emerson simply dominates from start to finish. It is a delightful break from the mediocrity of the appalling Love Beach. The tracks are quite memorable especially the wonderful The Score and Touch And Go, the catchy single of the album, with melodic retro 80s Synth, a track played many times on live tours. The rest of the tracks are hard to remember as they blend together and can be quite a slog to get through. Mars, Bringer Of War is a brilliant rendition of the classic, better than King Crimsons version in any case, and I perhaps return to this song most when choosing to hear a Emerson Lake and Powell track. It builds ominously with pounding drums and a very threatening key motif, echoing the menace of alien invasion. The original piece of course was heard during the movie "Things to Come".

Other bonus tracks here are The Loco-motion, a strange one, and Vacant Posession, wth some interesting musicianship. In conclusion the album is worthy of 2 stars for the good bits, but as is often the case with late ELP, the music never measures up to the first few classic albums.

I was very surprised when, after 8 years without releasing a studio album, i had a ELP new tape cassette from a friend. Even more surprised when I realized that the P was not Carl Palmer. I didn't know actually who Cozy Powell was and my first impulse was to give up to listening to something which was apparently a commercial operation....finding a drummer beginning with "P"...

But it was not so bad. I think it's clear that using "To the show which never ends" as chorus of the first track is quite a marketing operation, but the symphonic prog of "The Score" is exactly that: symphonic prog in that style heavily influenced by Aaron Copland but with a lot of rock and the stupendous vocals of Greg Lake which are a band's trademark not less than Emerson's keys. A good start indeed.

But what next? "Learning To Fly" is opened by a sound which doesn't have anything to do with Emerson. The first two minutes of the track are a disconnected 80s episode that Lake's voice is not enough to make interesting. Of course there are hints of the past glory, especially in the short keyboards solos, but I would have preferred a shorter album than having to skip this song.

A song which fades into "The Miracle". Also this one can't be mentioned as a song representative of the band even if it's not bad as the previous one. Also this pays a tribute to the epoch but it's not too far from the Lake's side on Works vol. 1. Acceptable.

For me a folk-oriented song like "Touch and Go" with Lake on his "hard" side like on "Living Sin" has been a good reason to later purchase the album. Just a three minutes song, but also "Lucky Man" and "From The Beginning" were just song. There's some electronic in the middle, of the kind used by David Gilmour the same year for "A Momentary Leapse of Reason" , but not as invasive as in the PF album.

"Love Blind" is one of the lowest moments of the album, instead. An 80s song which could have been sung, probably better, by Bonnie Tyler or Blonide....listen to this song and try to imagine....

"Step Aside" brings up the level a while. It's a jazzy song with some swing and Emerson's piano without falling in the usual ragtime. Much more better than "Show Me The Way To Go Home" on Works vol.2. More of that jazz, please.

"Lay Down Your Guns" is another Lake's melodic song which sounds like an anthem. I think it pays a tribute to "Jerusalem". Not my pot, really. It's a song that I'm used to skip but I can't say that it's absolutely bad, just too melodic for me.

The album is closed by the second truly symphonic track: "Mars, Bringer of Wars". It's an Emerson's orchestral. I really like Emerson's excursions into the classical music territory and I wish he had composed more true symphonic music like i.e. "Piano Concerto No. 1". As often happens, the orchestral works of Emerson are very close in the composing and arranging style to the "music for films" standards, but they are usually epic. This is Emerson how I like him.

In the end, what is disappointing is the alternance of excellent and weak moments in an album that was probably intended by the major as an attempt to relaunch and renew this dynosaur band, but where they succeed is where they are more adherent to the early things. Another album which shows how bad were the 80s for music and not only.

Half good, half rating but rounded up because of the goodies inside.

Powell? I don't hear big differences and I don't know if it's good or bad.

In 1978, Emerson, Lake and Palmer released their trash hit 'Love Beach' posing on the cover like they were some kind of super models. Why it took 8 years to decide to bury that embarrassment, no one really knows, but suddenly, Keith Emerson and Greg Lake got the bug to do another album, so they went to Palmer to get him to join in with them. Unfortunately, Carl Palmer was contractually obligated by 'Asia' and was not available at the time, so the other two, not wanting to wait, went out to find another drummer. Their original intention was not necessarily to find any drummer whose name started with a 'P', but Cozy Powell ended up being the one to replace Palmer, and it was just convenient that the letters were the same. That's how it all started (and ended).

Emerson was still feeling a bit creative and brought along some ideas for longer tracks and things looked pretty positive about this realignment of the once classic prog trio. However, the chemistry wasn't there and the new band was missing a bit of the old enthusiasm. The album, on the surface, looked like it would start out good enough, with the 9 minute 'The Score'. The music was definitely blessed by Emerson's signature sound, and the music was complex enough that it could almost slide by as a late prog classic from the trio. When Lake's vocals come in, it almost sounds like a decent take off of 'Pirates', but the thing that is noticeable right from the outset is that Powell's style of drumming just doesn't mesh, or at least it doesn't carry the style of music that the original band was known for. Lake said that this line up just ended up being a completely different band, but that isn't quite true. What it ends up sounding like is a cheap imitation, almost, but not quite. It is still a bit salvageable, and it was definitely better than anything on the first side of 'Love Beach'.

With an opener as ambitious as 'The Score' it is easy to see why at least 2/3rds of the band felt it was ready for a comeback. At the time, I can see why they wanted to make the attempt without Palmer, but now, after the fact, it makes you wonder if it would have been better to wait and hold on to the song ideas. That would have been better that what resulted in the aftermath of this album ('3'). It sort of makes sense that a shorter song follows this, and 'Learning to Fly' is that song. It's not as interesting, of course, and it is definitely more commercial sounding, but it at least it balances out the 1st half of the album and it fits between the two longer songs of the album as the 7-minute 'The Miracle' follows. So, these two longer tracks looks good on paper, but by this time, the older fans were probably looking for an instrumental, or something more interesting. Even though the tempo is more moderate, things are sounding a bit too much alike, nothing is standing out, and the hopes of ELP fans everywhere are waning. Not even the heavy organ chords or the choir effects from the synths are enough to save this lyrically heavy song. All I could think of is 'When is Lake going to stop singing?'

'Touch and Go' turned out to be an appropriate single from the album. But mixed in with the rest of this album, it is just another mediocre track with a nice march rhythm that might feel great in an arena. When it was proven that Asia had found some success with prog dinosaurs doing anthem rockers, I suppose ELP thought they could do it too, and they might have been more gelled with the real 'P', not the substitute. It's not that Powell isn't a great drummer, it just doesn't work with this line up, but I'm not even sure if Palmer would have been enough to save this mediocre album. 'Love Blind' continues with the boring, commercial ELP music, more of the same. Finally, 'Step Aside' takes a break from the same sounding music, but it goes to a somewhat 'lounge jazz from Vegas' sound. It's good for a change, but not quite what you expected from ELP, but that's okay too. 'Lay Down Your Guns' might sound like the title of one of the bands cheesy, over-the-top, honky tonk songs, but it is actually more of a ballad, though it still has the cheesy aspect. Unfortunately, its not an emotional sounding ballad, which ELP used to pull those off, its mostly 'plastic' sounding. The album ends with the only instrumental on the album 'Mars, the Bringer of War', the token classical-turn-rock song based off of the same title that comes from Gustav Holst's 'The Planets'. This is Emerson's show piece for the album, however, Emerson was not certain that he wanted to even do it because he was afraid it would sound too much like 'Hooked on Classics' or something. It ends up being the most interesting thing about the album and also the one thing that is most like many of his instrumental works from the band's better days. Being over 7 minutes long, it, along with the opening song 'The Score' are the only real redeeming things about this mediocre album.

Some of the US and Japanese CDs had two bonus tracks, the first one being 'The Loco-motion', which is the band's symphonic take on the classic rock and roll song. It's kind of dumb, but in a charming way, you know, the way your old high school band used to be. 'Vacant Possession' is a moderate vocal song, again quite mediocre compared to their previous music.

This would be the only studio album this line-up would produce. Yes there have been some live albums surface as of late, but they were not originally meant to be released. Following this, the band would take another re-alignment, this time with Palmer coming back and Lake missing, being replaced by Robert Berry, and going under the moniker of '3'. It was also quite mediocre, if anything, even less interesting than this one. After that, the original line up would return for two more studio albums, but they would never return to their full glory of their pre-'Love Beach' days. There would be an occasional interesting track from time to time, but unfortunately, there would never be enough quality on any one album to actually sustain anything above mediocrity.

After eight years of floating in limbo (more or less) Emerson and Lake finally found each other again and revived the ELP brand. The only problem is that Palmer was unavailable, but this isn't that big a deal, honestly. Not just because Emerson and Lake could quickly find another drummer whose last name begins with the letter P, but also because Palmer was never a truly essential component of the band's sound: he rarely wrote or composed anything and never added any other irreplacable element to the music. He just did what he was supposed to as a drummer and happened to be outstanding at his job. His replacement, Cozy Powell, is not quite as outstanding at his job (at least not on this album; I can't say I'm too familiar with his other work), but he at least keeps the beat competently.

What is a big deal however is that there's just no grand plan behind this album. Either Keith and Greg weren't sure about which direction to take or they just couldn't agree on much (which seems likely considering the band's quick demise after the release of this album) but I get the impression that the two decided to reunite mostly just for its own sake or for the fun of it, rather than because they had a lot of musical ideas that warranted combining their efforts. Most of this album is again just a bunch of bland pop songs with mundane lyrics. No, there's nothing on here as ridiculous as on Love Beach (with the possible exception of the unbearably cheesy "Love Blind"), it's just a lot of boredom.

"Lay Down Your Guns" for example is musical filler in its purest form. It pretends to be a big emotional gospel anthem but really just uses the clichéd pseudo-epic 1980s production with booming electronic 4/4 drums and string synths to mask its utter musical vacuousness: it has no interesting melody or chord progression, no original arrangement, no breathtaking instrumental performance, and no profound lyrics whatsoever. It literally just exists for the sake of existing. "The Miracle" and "Touch And Go" are slightly better because they at least have something that resembles a melody but they're still bogged down by the boring rhythms and generic production. These songs sure sound bombastic, but bombast is useless without any substance to justify it, and bombast by itself was never what made ELP great to begin with. It was in the first place the quality of the songwriting and the amazing musicianship of the band members. Speaking of which, even though his synthesizers are still omnipresent and sound a lot more intimidating than on Love Beach, Keith is nonetheless frustratingly shy on this album: a good keyboard solo or two from him might have just been the spark to make this album stand out a little more, but he rarely gives in to his urges and the few times he does step in the spotlight on this album don't exactly show him at the best of his capabilities. I mean, live performances from this era prove that he was definitely still capable of assaulting his keyboards at light-speed velocity. Couldn't he have saved some of it for the studio?

Thankfully, some face is saved on the two tracks that bookend the album, which prove to me that this album wasn't purely meant as a pointless cash-in. First of all, "The Score" is just a lot of good fun, more or less in the style of "Fanfare For The Common Man": Greg plays a simple bass line over which Keith plays a main theme that is simultaneously catchy and awesome in all of its dorkiness. Plus, it's the one spot on the album where you'll hear Keith playing an analog synth (although I suppose it might just be a digital synth imitating an analog synth). At 9 minutes, one might think it overstays its welcome, but the boys try their best to switch up the melodies and the rhythms so that it doesn't become too monotonous. Then at the end we have a cover of Gustav Holst's famous "Mars, The Bringer Of War" because what would an ELP reunion (sort of) be without a classical cover? Well, apparently this was a request from the record company and even Emerson was reluctant to tackle this piece due to it being too obvious and/or clichéd, but I'm glad he was persuaded to do it anyway because it lends itself really well to rock reinterpretation. It's not as awesome as King Crimson's version of the song but it's clear that the boys put their heart into it and wanted to make it their own thing. Finally, I have to give a few bonus points for "Learning To Fly", which is basically just another pop song except it does have a few interesting harmonic twists and a moderately catchy coda. Call it a guilty pleasure if you want. Or maybe I'm just forgiving towards it because it's the first pop song you hear before you become numbed by the overwhelming blandness of most of the songs that follow after it. What a pity that these minor successes had to be buried under a mountain of fluff.

For the sake of continuity and consistent branding, Keith and Greg searched far and wide for a percussionist whose last name started with the same letter as their previous. Cozy Powell was the end result.

Just kidding.

After the original trio's foray into the world of techno pop with 1978's disastrous Love Beach, the boys decided to call it quits. The succeeding years were not particularly successful for any of the boys, so, seven years later they proposed a reformation. This time around, Carl Palmer declined. Cozy Powell was selected to fill the void.

1. "The Score" (9:07) half Karn Evil ("Welcome Back Ladies and Gentleman ?") and half Leonard Bernstein West Side Story ("once you're a jet your always a jet"), the newly formed trio announce their return with admirable ELP bombast and only a few touches of 1980s technology (mostly in gated drums and some updated keyboards.) Decent for the fact that it does indeed sound like true ELP. (17.25/20)

2. "Learning to Fly" (3:50) Stolid Greg, solid Cozy, with Keith's demonstration of his adaptation to some of the newer keyboard/synth sounds and technologies (including MIDI), all enfolded into a more standard ASIA-sounding radio- friendly (with multi-voice chorus!) song. (8.5/10)

3. "The Miracle" (7:01) a very pleasant YES/WAKEMAN-like song--even jazzed up a bit--with a fairly simple, laid-back pace and sonic weave, allows Greg Lake to soar in one of his finer performances. (He is so good at sounding like the circus ringmaster!) Neither bombastic nor derivative, this is just a very good, highly engaging, melodic prog song--like something that ALAN PARSONS PROJECT might have done in the 1970s. (14/15)

4. "Touch and Go" (3:39) back to Keith's tendency to coopt themes from his beloved realms of classical music, a synth presentation of a familiar Celtic riff becomes the foundation over which an entire song is built--with Greg spinning an almost anthemic, militaristic effect with his exuberant vocal. Definitely injecting a couple of memorable earworms into the listener's life. (8.75/10)

5. "Love Blind" (3:11) more pop-oriented (aside from Keith's awesome synth solos), this could've come from a lot of the synth-pop bands populating the screens of MTV viewers at the time. (8.25/10)

6. "Step Aside" (3:47) Jazz piano! Now going back to 1950s jazz-oriented torch songs, it feels like a modernized recording (and rendition) of some classic . Unfortunately, it just amplifies the weaknesses in Greg's singing (as well as how unbefitting his voice is to this style). (7.75/10)

7. "Lay Down Your Guns" (4:23) As much as he tries, Greg's heavily reverbed voice actually diminishes the effectiveness of his attempt to sound emotionally-invested in this song. It's too bad cuz you can tell he really wants this to be powerful. The musical accompaniment is beautiful, never trying to usurp the spotlight from Greg's emotional appeal. (8.75/10)

8. "Mars, Bringer of War" (7:55) a true homage (or contribution) to the prog era of old: a cinematic instrumental. Definitely a reminder of an era gone by (though Hungarian band Solaris had published their symphonic instrumental "Martian Chronicles" masterpiece less than two years before). Yet this one brings little new--and certainly nothing to want to return or revive the old ways. (13/15) 9. "The Loco-Motion" (4:36) * I remember hearing this on the radio a couple of times. What were those stations/DJs thinking? Must've been a last minute "filler" added on in order to more-nearly fill out the CD's 72-minute capacity. It does, however, contain some excellent synth soloing in the second half. (8.5/10)

10. "Vacant Posession" (4:42) * This one definitely sounds like a last-minute, under-developed, perhaps unfinished, and under-produced, "demo-like" song. (8/10)

Total Time 52:11

* CD bonus tracks

I'm definitely reviewing the full CD presentation of this album as CDs were finally a thing: vinyl purchases/sales were declining as more people were switching to the more convenient, less vulnerable digital formats.

B-/3.75 stars; an acceptable addition to any prog lover's music collection as there are some truly nice, ELP songs and performances here among the mediocre or unfortunate ones. Not as bad as one might expect (or as Love Beach).