ELP vs Camel

The big difference is that Camel were a band who played for each other and complemented each other. Each was prepared to take a back seat at times to let others play. Their music is about melody and emotion first and foremost, but they are consummate musicians and a lot of their music is extremely complex and all of it was original. However, sometimes "simple is good".

ELP were more about showmanship. I never felt that Emerson played as a member of a team; as normal sole lead instrument he took a lot of responsibility and seemed to forget the needs of the others. His playing on Pictures at an Exhibition was described to me as "a bit sloppy" (by an organist who was once regarded as one of the greatest living players); he may be flash, but he's nothing like as technically gifted as some of you would like to think (certainly not as good as Wakeman in terms of technique and accuracy). And quite a lot of their material was an arrangement of classical material - not entirely original.

ELP were a good band for a fairly short while; Camel were often a great band (not always, I admit) over 3 decades.

ELP should be sentenced to lose all of their future polls for this crime against humanity:



The ultimate argument against ELP.


But seriously speaking, I'm not surprised that no ELP albums are on the top 100 list. Most people, including me, seem to think that their albums contain many masterpieces but also too many passable tracks. And since albums are what we're rating, they don't make it to the top so easily. If it was top 100 prog songs, I bet many of theirs would be just up there among the very best.


Edited by Keppa4v - March 05 2009 at 14:07

micky wrote: Sacred 22 wrote: Camel, I like em' the kings of elevator prog , up there with PFM never mention Came with PFM.. or PFM with elevator prog hahhaha. tasteful prog sure... but with plenty of fire and passion...

crimson87 wrote:  It was so beautiful while it lasted..... that 18-2

Well, I'm going to hold another tournament at some point this year. If ELP end up being in it, I'll support them to see how far they can get.

I'm not entirely sure which angle I'm taking this year yet though... I want to have one HUGE one instead of two smaller ones like I did last year. King Crimson ended up winning out of the two winners (Gentle Giant being the runner-up) and was proclaimed PA's favorite band of 2008. I promise you that the 2009 will be even more epic.

Alot can change in a few months too.

This is turning out very similarly to last year. 

crimson87 wrote:  There is something I will never understand ,why is ELP labeled as a "cold" band in this site? Their live shows were incredible and their best records send shivers down my spine. And they also created "beautiful" music like Pirates for example.  Besides how do you come to the conclusion that Camel's music comes from the heart and ELP's not? I know that it's all about your personal tastes but in my opinion with the exeption of some songs and "The Snow Goose" Camel is the cold one here. I don't want to sleep with symphonic prog , I have my copy of Tangerine Dream "Zeit" for that matter! ( Incredible album by the way)  I don't have a single doubt that if Mirage was released in 1970 it would have been quite groundbreaking , but it was released 4 years later! Almost an eternity You had loads of incredible records in that period

I never regarded as ELP as 'cold' as such. Plenty of their music came from the heart, I'm sure, but these bands had a differet approach to making music. Camel was about melody, and less about the 'show' ELP was more about virtuosity and interpretting classical music, and dare I say it 'showing off'

I dont object to that, in principle. Prog is about variety and trying different things musically, but for me I prefer the Camel formula. ELP were almost too patchy and inconsistent for me, and Greg Lake often tried to sing things he shouldn't have. His rendition of Jerusalem was horribly flat.

 There is something I will never understand ,why is ELP labeled as a "cold" band in this site? Their live shows were incredible and their best records send shivers down my spine. And they also created "beautiful" music like Pirates for example.

I know that it's all about your personal tastes but in my opinion with the exeption of some songs and "The Snow Goose" Camel is the cold one here. I don't want to sleep with symphonic prog , I have my copy of Tangerine Dream "Zeit" for that matter! ( Incredible album by the way)

My tastes have changed since the last poll.

I like Camel even more and ELP even less.

Rocktopus wrote: Still can't stand ELP. Still have this soft spot for Camel's two, three maybe four first. But none are among my 100 favorite bands (ELP not even in my top 1000).

Not even in the top 1000? Wow that is harsh. I can think of at least a thousand groups that ELP is better than.

I went with Camel but I like ELP equally.

Camel