THE BEST OF ELP

"The Best Of ELP" is a compilation album of Emerson, Lake & Palmer that was released in 1984. This is a compilation album that features tracks from five studio albums of them. It has one track from their eponymous debut, two tracks from their third, four tracks from their fourth, three tracks from their fifth and one track from their sixth. It has also a track that was never released on any of their studio albums. But, not all their albums are represented here. At the time of this release, ELP had already several albums. So, their second studio album "Tarkus", their seventh studio album "Love Beach" and their debut live album "Pictures At An Exhibition" aren't represented on this compilation album.

"The Best Of ELP" is a compilation album with twelve tracks. "Hoedown" is from "Trilogy". This is an interpretation of the band from the ballet "Rodeo" of Aaron Copland. Instead of violins we have Keith Emerson's Hammond and synthesizers taking the lead. It's a fantastic piece, a perfect way to bring the classical just to rock. It was one of their most popular songs when performed live. "Lucky Man" is from "Emerson, Lake & Palmer". It's a ballad written by Greg Lake for acoustic guitar, when he was a schoolboy. However, at the beginning, the song wasn't well received by Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer. It's a song with acoustic guitar, beautiful singing and a great synthesizer solo towards the end. It's, for me, one of the best songs ever written by Lake. It also became as one of the band's most commercial and accessible tracks in their entire career. "Karn Evil 9 (First Impression Part 2)" is from "Brain Salad Surgery". "Karn Evil 9" is a magnificent opus. It's divided into three movements or impressions. Here we have only the "First Impression Part 2". It's a big instrumental track featuring Keith Emerson on piano sounding like jazz and Carl Palmer's drumming showing his percussion skills. "Jerusalem" is also from "Brain Salad Surgery". It's a classical British church hymn. This is the band's arrangement of the Charles Hubert Parry's hymn, based on the prologue of the William Blake's poem "Milton". It was the only single taken from that album. This is really a great version of the original piece. "Peter Gunn" is a non-album's track. It's an instrumental song by the American composer Henry Mancini. The song was written for the television program of the same name. In 1979, Emerson, Lake & Palmer decided to release a cover of the song on their live album "Emerson, Lake & Palmer in Concert". This is the live version and is a great cover song. "Fanfare For The Common Man" is from "Works Vol. 1". It's a great interpretation of a classical piece of Aaron Copland re-arranged for a rock band. Aaron Copland's original is wonderful, and ELP also didn't do a bad job on the arrangements. Synths are heavily used, especially in the later sections. It sounds like the early ELP, being experimental and heroic. "Still ... You Turn Me On" is from "Brain Salad Surgery". It's the obligatory acoustic number of that album. It's another Greg Lake's classic acoustic ballad in the vein of "Lucky Man" and "From The Beginning". It's one of the Lake's best ballads that proved to be a big radio hit in the USA. "Tiger In A Spotlight" is from "Works Vol. 2". It's a leftover track from the "Brain Salad Surgery" sessions. This is a fun rock'n'roll/blues tune with a nice beat and a strange keyboard work. It's an interesting song but it's nothing more than that. "Trilogy" is from "Trilogy". This is one of the highest moments on that album and is also one of their best and most beautiful compositions. It's largely an instrumental piece very much over piano in the beginning, heavily influenced by the classical music. In the middle, the music blasts with all instruments playing in continuo, altogether. This is really an amazing track. "C'Est La Vie" is from "Works Vol. 1". This is a very well known easy listening acoustic song, which is actually very good. It's probably the most similar in style to Greg Lake's ballads on their earlier albums. Despite its commercial style, I like it very much, especially the amazing voice of him. "New Orleans" is from "Works Vol. 1". This is a funky rocker piece influenced by jazz. It has an unusual drumming work complemented by a more conventional percussion. The drumming is essentially the centre of the music. All the other things present are basically added on over it. "Toccata" is from "Brain Salad Surgery". It's an instrumental track based on the fourth movement of Alberto Ginastera's "1st Piano Concert". This is a modern classical piece created by a famed Argentinean composer, and rearranged by Keith Emerson. This is another amazingly great interpretation by the band.

Conclusion: "The Best Of ELP" isn't a bad compilation album of the band. It's true that it isn't one of their best or even one of their most representatives. However, this is a very honest compilation album of the band with some really great tracks. However, it has also some weaknesses. All tracks chosen from "Emerson, Lake & Plamer", "Trilogy" and "Brain Salad Surgery" are all great, even the Lake's track, "Lucky Man", which is one of his best contributions for the band. "C'Est La Vie", which is also from Lake, and especially "Fanfare For The Common Man" are both two another great tracks. The non-album's track "Peter Gun" is also a nice addition. However, we cannot say the same about "Tiger In A Spotlight" and "New Orleans". They aren't bad, but they aren't great too. But, they don't spoil the general quality of it.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)