EMERSON LAKE & PALMER

ELP's debut album is one of the most influential in prog history. In contrast to Crimson's "In the Court of the Crimson King," it features some of the greatest sheer instrumentalism and tenacity of all time. With all three members, Keith Emerson (Keys), Greg Lake (Guitar, Bass, Vocals), and Carl Palmer (Drums) coming from classic prog bands themselves, they formed the first true prog supergroup.

"The Barbarian" starts the album with the very Emersonian organ and distorted guitars from Lake paired with constant drum rolls and fills from Palmer. About halfway through the song, Keith goes into an extended piano section that goes back into the main riff to end the song in a dramatic fashion. "Take a Pebble" is the first song on the album to reveal Greg Lake's beautiful voice and also the longest, clocking in at over 12:00 minutes. The song comes into a few jazzy swing sections with intricate brushes on the drums from Palmer and enters into a very long acoustic section. The song is not bad, but feels a little too long and gets repetitive.

"Knife-Edge" is one of my favorite songs on the album if not my favorite. Greg Lakes' bass work coupled with the doom metal vocals creates a unique atmosphere that seamlessly shifts from dark sections to upbeat organ licks from Emerson. Although not the longest song on the album, "The Three Fates" is the true epic of the album. With 3 movements, (Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos) based on the ancient Greek myth of the three fates, the song spans countless sections in only 7 minutes which is quite short for prog. It begins with one of the most iconic organ openings in prog and includes some of the best piano work in the entire genre. As much as I would have loved to see the other bandmates featured more in the song the last 2 minutes make up for it with Palmer and Lake joining Emerson in on the action. Wonderful track and another highlight on the album.

"Tank" is a very interesting song with Emerson on Clavichord and Moog. It includes a 4-minute drum solo from Palmer. As much as I love the instrumentalism on the album this has to be my least favorite song on the album because it feels never ending and structureless. The closer "Lucky Man" is an acoustic guitar ballad from Lake, very different from the rest of the album. It was also one of the band's biggest hits. I love this song despite it not featuring Emerson as much, and it has a very nice guitar solo from Lake as well.

This album is so amazing, and I feel like it could have easily been 5 stars if the band had featured Lake more and cut down some of the instrumental sections. Emerson proves his sheer versatility on this album and would only improve it on their sophomore album. An absolute landmark of prog, recommended for everyone.

ELP obviously felt they could not take their type of high intensity Symphonic Prog any further after they produced Brain Salad Surgery so it was perhaps inevitable that they would head in a different direction with the next album. Infact Works Volume 1 is really a compilation of tracks that would not have fitted on regular hence each member does his own thing on three of the sides and just to make sure fans still consider this an ELP album all three play together on the fourth side. Keith Emerson was keen to be considered a "proper" composer and was desperate to record his "Piano Concerto No1".It is actually quite enjoyable especially the final "Toccata" movement which somehow fuses Bernstein,Copland and Stravinsky.The LP is worth owning for this side alone. Unfortunately, the good news ends there. I have always admired Greg Lakes compositions especially "From The Beginning" but on Works Volume 1 he suddenly thinks he is Neil Diamond and the songs are so saccharine especially with the overwelming orchestral arrangements that I find it hard to listen to. Carl Palmer's side is more interesting although the only track I really like is "Food For Your Soul" which is a big band instrumental that sounds like it could have come from a 70;s TV show.I canot really see the point in recording Prokofiev's exciting "Enemy Gods" from the Scythian Suite virtually the same as the original but with percussion added. The group do a much more exhilarating version as a Band on the "Live In Concert album" and just reinforces my feelings that the magic only really happened when the played together. He also decided to re-record "Tank" from the debut.I always think if you are going to re-record a Classic track at least make it sound better. His "Big Band" version is just cheesy and clumsy. Side Four where all three finally play together was the closest thing to Classic ELP but even here I feel it was a wated opportunity. "Fanfare For The Common Man" starts off well at least for the first few minutes with some great interplay but then for the next six minutes it just decends into an aimless jam presumably to show off Emerson's new Yamaha GX-1.Pirates is even worse and what should have been a great Prog Rock Classic just ends up sounding like a complete cheesefest. Overall, this is the first really inessential album by ELP

3 stars only

After the brilliant but slightly inconsistent Tarkus ELP settled down a bit with the follow up which in retrospect is probably their most accessible album-Trilogy.The opening track "The Endless Enigma" Part One and Two manages to be bombastic not unlike the beginning of Tarkus but less intense and as a result more enjoyable. I particularly love Greg Lake's singing on this track especially the second part which ends with an uplifting flourish courtesy of Keith Emerson's stabbing chords. Infact the keyboard arrangement is just superb throughout. The piano fugue which separates part one and two is an excellent showcase of Emerson's prowess on the piano. "From The Beginning" is probably my favourite Greg Lake "solo" track with its folk jazz acoustic arrangement, catchy melody and excellent vocals again. "The Sherrif" is a short but very catchy song with a pleasantly cheerful Hammond organ arrangement and features a particularly inventive if all too brief keyboard instrumental section. The closing honkytonk piano outro really is a hoot and proof if any was needed that these guys had a sense of humour and did not take themselves too seriously. I am aware that this track is a turn-off for ELP fans because it is not a searingly intense bombastic twenty plus minute epic but for me it is one of the highlights on the album. Closing side one and appropriately following on from the Western theme of the earlier track comes their amped up version of Copland's "Hoedown". Emerson crams so many ideas and variations into this track it actually seems far longer than its actual running time (3min 48 secs) and is arguably their finest Classic adaption. Side two opens with the three part "Trilogy".The first part is a very romantic piano led section with some beautifully heartfelt vocals from Lake. I love the way the piano instrumental which follows gets progressively more dramatic before morphing into a full-on slice of bombastic Prog Rock with a scorching moog solo. The final section is buoyant and features another solo from Emerson and some uplifting vocals from Lake. A great track. The next rack "Living Sin" is surely the weirdest track the group ever recorded. It is hard to describe being alternately sleezy and vaguely sinister with Lake's vocals ranging from a low growl to a high-pitched wail and some wonderfully Bernstein inspired keyboard fills. I particularly love the way the track ends with big bombastic chord stabs over a relentless drum roll.I am sure this track is a bit of a marmite one even among ELP fans ie you either love it or hate it.I love it. The closing track "Abaddon's Bolero" has a repetitive tune throughout (well it is a bolero after all) but I love the way it just builds and builds over the course of its eight minutes plus playing time towards an inevitably big bombastic bang. Overall, my feelings for this album have not really changed over the years .If anything I appreciate the consistency and maturity of the music even more now than when I first heard it. Infact if I was going to introduce someone to ELP I would probably play this album first.

5 stars

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).

If ELP's debut was a little tentative in some ways, the same cannot be said of the follow up-Tarkus. Keith Emerson clearly took over a lot with this album especially the side one Tarkus suite. The arrangement is far more forceful than anything on the previous LP, especially the aggressively dramatic opener "Eruption" with its jazzy 5/4 time. Things settle down with the next movement, "Stones Of Years" which is an exquisitely beautiful bluesy song and incorporates a particularly fine Hammond solo. Things get heavier and more intense with "Iconoclast" and this is followed by another vocal section-"Mass"-a nice little rocker with some especially caustic lyrics from Lake. Another short but hectic instrumental "Manticore" which leads to another vocal section "Battlefield" with a strong anti war sentiment. The suite is rounded off with "Aqua Tarkus" which essentially reprises the opening section and the whole track goes out with a bang. So that's "Tarkus" and what a track it is. Probably everything that was great about ELP is encapsulated here.

Side 2 is a bit of a mixed bag but there are a couple of real gemes here."BitchesCrystal" is a terrific Boogie/Prog? Jazz crossover track. "A Time and A Place" is a fairly short but exhilarating Prog Rocker.I just love that track-it's probably a bit overlooked even by fans being as it is buried somewhat near the end of side 2.As for the rest of Side 2."Mass is OK but nothing special, "Jeremy Bender" is a brief humorous song but fairly expendable, "Infinite Space" is an interesting piano solo by Emerson similar in some ways to his "Three Fates" on the debut, and "Are You Ready Eddy" a light hearted boogie salute to the engineer Eddy Offard. Overal although inconsistent, Side 2 manages to be more than the sum of the individual tracks and hangs together well.

Tarkus is not without its faults but it remains one of the best examples of early Prog Rock

5 stars

I listen and read about prog rock since 1996. On those years it was unusual to find "sounds like ELP", at least when compared to Yes, Genesis, King Crimson, Van der Graaf, Rush and other classic bands in this genre. I know some groups from Japan, USA and Argentina that were musically influenced by them; on the other hand, the other cited bands made a wide and consistent influence in several countries through the decades. Does this mean that, despite their success on the 70's, ELP's musicallity didn't age well? And/or didn't spread so much around the world?

It's a complex question and matter to think about. First, it's not because their musical influence on other bands is medium or low that they lack originality and musicality. It can mean that their roots don't make much sense for the majority of other musicians.

Second. Very few bands assumed a relation to the diferent styles like they did. When making a composition with jazz elements, this part would be the main contribution on the execution. 'Benny the bouncer' is the example on Brain Salad Surgery. The same can be said with the more poppy songs. Verify, for instance, 'Still... you turn me on'. Prog seems to be in a 'lower' level, and there's more of the other style(s) present. About this feature, I'm confident to assure that it was a very, very tough task to achieve it as well as they did. How many bands you know that when they got poppy the result was almost always weak songs? And how many bands you can recall that was confusing when getting to close to the jazz? So, this album in particular, represents what I love the most about the group on the 70's. I don't know any other band that can/could blend rock, classical music, jazz and pop the way they did. I'm aware many prog fans don't like it; it's a fact that this caractheristic many times made them sound non-prog; or made them sound something that cannot be surely classified as prog. But that's the beauty of it all ? it's astonishing and good music that nobody else achieved.

Third. Another band, much more popular than ELP, delivers a musicality that is not so common to hear on further bands. Pink Floyd. I recognize that Gilmour's style is very influential, but there aren't much groups that released works you could say "sounds like PF". Does this mean that PF isn't so big? No! Hell no. It's a giant on prog rock.

Fourth. How many musicians you know that can play two complex and diversified tunes on two diferent synth/pianos at the same time, without becomming to dramatic and/or classical? Keith Emerson is one of these professionals we can call irreplaceable. I don't know how to explain why, but the same could be said about Carl Palmer. Because of that, it'll be hard to discover other musicians with those abillities.

I hope that my predecessor points of view can help the younger folks to understand a bit why didn't ELP go viral on internet and social network groups.

But now let's go back to the parts of the album I stil didn't comment. The first track is vibrating and sounds like a hymn. The second track, Toccata, I can never tell if it will be enjoyable or annoying on my next listening. Hence, I'll consider it the weakest point on the disc. Generally works well when I can turn off from anything that sorrounds me, in order to be entirely concentrated to listen him. On the contrary, the suíte Karn Evil 9 is a superb premium example of prog-rock.

Tracks 1-4 are 4.3 stars (it would be 4.6 if Toccata wasn't there), and the remaining tracks are 5 full stars, without any doubt.

ELP's debut is an excellent album but in recent years I have developed mixed feelings about it. The opening track 'The Barbarian" is a great opener and a good indicator of where they were heading. It is largely an original composition with the first and third section comprising a great fuzz base intro and dramatic Hammond organ melody and sandwiched between on piano is a re-working of Bartok's famous "Allegro Barbaro". It might be sacrilegious to say this, but I actually enjoy ELP's strident version more than the slightly pensive tone of the original. A great driving Prog Rocker. My problem with the album starts with the next track "Take a Pebble". The main song section is absolutely gorgeous and right away Keith Emerson's decision to find a "proper" singer in Greg Lake absolutely pays off with the singer's superb tenor. The piano section which follows is also quite beautiful but the whole song drifts off into a fairly pedestrian pseudo Bluegrass acoustic guitar improvisation followed by yet another piano solo before finally the song section reprises. For me, however much I admire the instrumental prowess on display here, the song would have been so more effective as a simple four minute plus ballad even incorporating a piano interval but at twelve and a half minutes, it is just so bloated. The first side's closing track "Knife's Edge" incorporates the beginning of Janacek's "Sinfonietta' and compresses it into a five minutes Prog Rocker with vocals instead of the trumpets. It is quite a clever exercise but I always find the song a little dare I say cheesy in its execution. The opening track on side two, "The Three Fates" is clearly Keith's baby. It is strongly reminiscent of the sort of experimental music he was exploring with his previous band The Nice. He combines Church organ, Hammond Organ and of course his beloved piano into a Classical/Rock hybrid which unfortunately comes across as a bit of a meandering mess. The second track "Tank" is more focused with its strident melody similar to what the band would produce with Tarkus and incorporates a fairly sophisticated drum solo. It is a pretty decent track but I always felt it was a bit underdeveloped especially the closing couple of minutes which is dominated by Emerson's rather atonal moog solo. Greg Lake's beautiful "Lucky Man" closes the album and is probably the best known song on it. Unlike the somewhat sprawling "Take A Pebble" this track is very concise and boasts another early example of the moog synthesiser at the end which seems to be at odds with the song's bucolic tone but somehow I cannot imagine the song without it. Overall I would say that while this album is fairly assured, better was to come especially with the very next album-Tarkus. A great way to start.

4 stars

What I perceive to be the best priced, and best packed ELP compilation. I am grateful for this, as many prices for mint ELP albums had been getting expensive.

Finding Tarkus in its entirety prior to this was very difficult. Other highlights include Exhibition cuts, most of Trilogy, and most of Karn Evil 9.

Now you might be wondering why this near perfect set isn't a five star review...yes? That's because there is absolutely no booklets or liner notes!! How can such a collection be released with not even a single word about the band themselves? There is so much to say about the creation of ELP, and how the music was created, etc. I already know much about them, so I could do without documentation, but I'd love to imagine somone picking this up as an ELP gateway drug and learn... nothing about the band because a lack of paraphernalia.

Despite that big flaw, I'm still happy about the comprehensive collection presented. I'm sure that even without any information on ELP on hand, a quick Google search will quench the thirst for questions.

I have to admit I ironically love the 70s pop sound of the majority of the album, it's just so funny that I can't help but like it. From All I Want is You to For You is a bunch of songs that can be described as typical pop songs for that era with lyrics about women and sex. Canario and Memoirs are excellent songs that I recommend you listen to even if you don't want to hear the other songs. This is obviously not a masterpiece of an album nor does Memoirs beat out Tarkus or Karn Evil 9 in quality, but it's good for what it does even if what it does is overly cheesy.

This album is the ultimate whipping boy of Prog. Everyone seems to hate it with a passion-die-hard ELP fans,, casual fans, critics and most tellingly the band themselves. Most of the objections seem to focus on the album title and the cover ("How can this be the same group that produced Tarkus" "they look like the Bee Gees on a bad day" etc blah blah blah) Of course the "lighter" pop-rock approach proved unacceptable to fans who simply wanted them to carry on recording endless variations of Karn Evil 9 for ever. Also, there is a general feel that because the album was effectively a "Contractual Obligation" album ie they were basically "forced" to produce it by the Label boss the album was always going to be a compromise anyway. The truth is ELP had already been moving away from their intense-hammond organ heavy Prog roots with the two Works albums. I actually had more problem with both those albums than Love Beach especially the songs by Greg Lake which I found intolerably dull. I find the Greg Lake songs on side one of the later album infinitely more enjoyable especially as the three members are providing the music without being drenched by inceesant strings as they were on Works. The closing track on side one also features a superb re-working of Canarios and I personally think it stands up well compared to other instrumentals like "Fanfare For The Common Man" (which I find a little tedious to be honest) and "Hoedown".It is a shame that most fans will probably never hear it because it is on "that album". The side long suite "Memoirs of an Officer and a Gentleman" is also excellent. Greg Lakes's vocal are particularly strong here. Keith Emerson also provides some very pleasant piano soloing and there is a some excellent fusiony instrumental playing on the "Letters From The Front" section. Overall while I can see why so many people just cannot deal with this album and while it is certainy no Classic it is still an enjoyable listen.

4 stars