WELCOME BACK MY FRIENDS TO THE SHOW THAT NEVER ENDS

An early live album from the band, originally sprawled over 3 LPs.

There is plenty of improvisation and expansion of the original tracks, to the extent that "Tarkus" and "Take a pebble" no longer fit on one side of an LP. The extension of "take a pebble" is through the inclusion of "Piano improvisations", and a general digression away from the original piece. Personally, I found the whole thing rather tedious, the original track already being rather spoilt by the bloated middle section. "Tarkus" on the other hand benefits from an extended "Aquatarkus" section, plus the inclusion of an extract from King Crimson's "Epitaph" (which Greg Lake sang on originally of course).

A pretty faithful rendition of "Karn Evil 9" completes the trio of long pieces which dominate the album.

The quality of the recording, and the performance itself are, as would be expected of ELP, of a high standard. In all though, while the album is a good reminder of the band's live prowess, I find the original studio albums, with their enhanced production and tighter arrangements, preferable.

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