Customer Reviews

In Concert

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

1979's "In Concert" was the last of three live albums that progressive rock supergroup Emerson Lake & Palmer released during the 1970s, and represented sort of a bittersweet swan song for the band's classic period. It lacks many of ELP's signature songs from the early 1970s (which had already appeared on 1974's "Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends...") and suffers from lackluster production values. Finally, "In Concert" was completely marginalized by the 1996 reissue "Works Live," which expanded this set to a double CD. But for me, "In Concert" remains a sentimental favorite. It was one of my first ELP CDs, and was instrumental in ELP becoming one of my favorite bands.

"In Concert" documents ELP's ambitious "Works" 1977 tour, which featured a full orchestra in support of their two "Works" albums. Employing a travelling orchestra became prohibitively expensive, and ELP ended up playing some dates without the orchestra before eventually cutting the tour short. Progressive rock's critics seized upon the failure of the "Works" tour as emblematic of the genre's pomposity and eventual decline. The relative briefness of the resulting live album is perhaps fitting; several of the tracks don't feature the orchestra, and those that do suffer from dull, flat mixes.

"In Concert" begins with "Introductory Fanfare," hardly a song in its own right; it's basically some synth noodling segueing into the band's introduction by the PA announcer. ELP follows with a cheesy yet spirited performance of the "Peter Gunn" theme, followed by a surprisingly energetic rendition of "Tiger in a Spotlight," which greatly improves upon the "Works Vol. 2" version. Also gaining in live performance is the exquisite "C'est La Vie," featuring a passionate vocal performance by Lake and a tasteful accordion solo by Emerson.

After that, things get sort of dicey. Palmer delivers a powerhouse drum performance on his "Works Vol. 1" interpretation of Prokofiev's "The Enemy God Dances with the Black Spirits," but Emerson steals the show with a boisterous synth solo; perhaps somewhat embarrassed, he shouts "Carl Palmer, all right!" after it's done (I always chuckle at that). The sound quality tanks during "Knife-Edge" and "Piano Concerto No. 1", undermining the full orchestra's presence on these tracks.

"In Concert" recovers with a magnificent, 15-minute condensation of ELP's adaptation of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition." I actually (and somewhat heretically) prefer this focused version of "Pictures" to the longer, sloppier version on the earlier album of the same name (1972).

With the release of the longer "Works Live," it's difficult to recommend "In Concert." While it comes across more as a hastily scribbled good-bye note than a proper farewell, it's one I cherish all the same.

This album has been re-issued as "Works Live". Works Live is a 2 CD set and has twice the amount of music.

When this originally came out on LP, it was a huge disappointment. The track selection is bad and mostly pointless. The songs added to Works Live are much better than what is on the short disc.

Actually, I don't think I would recommend Works Live, either. There are some good tracks on it, but more than half of it (especially the In Concert part) just isn't very good.

When this first came out, I preferred it over WELCOME BACK MY FRIENDS. This was recorded during the 1977 WORKS tour, when I somehow managed to see the band twice several months apart. I still remember listening to 2 fans on the subway ride home discussing the show and trying to figure out what that opening number was-- "It sounded like something from a BOND movie!", one said. ELP, of course, were the ones who ressurected Henry Mancini's PETER GUNN theme, and it's been covered endlessly by other bands ever since!

However, this particular CD serves little purpose, as it has since been reissued with TWICE the amount of songs as WORKS LIVE. By all means-- get THAT instead!

If you are reading this review, chances are you are an Emerson Lake & Palmer fan who has all of their other records and is now moving on to the lesser known ones. Let me commend you. Emerson Lake & Palmer is a great band and even their bad songs (yes, they have made a few) deserve a listen. Now that I have petitioned you to at least listen to this record, if not buy it, I must now almost contradict myself by complaining about it.

It is not the idea of releasing this record was a bad one. Emerson Lake & Palmer were one of the first bands (if not the first) to tour with an actual orchestra. Who wouldn't want to document that? Also, it had been a while since they released a live record so what would it hurt making a new one? Good intentions not withstanding, the album is plagued with problems. The first and main one being the production. The sound is awful. It sounds like you are only listening to one of the speakers. It is most painful listening to Greg Lake's bass which sounds like someone plucking on one of those homemade guitars with rubber bands for strings. The other problem is the track selection. I guess they wanted to try and feature their tracks off of the new records that had been recorded with the orchestra, and not focus so much on their older material, but the fact is that neither of the Works records compares with their previous records. Not only that, but they didn't even pick the best songs off of those records! Why didn't they put "Pirates", "Apple Blossoms", "Fanfare for the Common Man" or "Watching Over You" on there? Was another live version of "Pictures at an Exhibition" that necessary? Especially, a shorter and less inspired version?

Audio quality not withstanding, the "Piano Concerto" does sound good as well as "Knife Edge". Even some of the others aren't necessarily bad songs, it is just that if I had too make up a live album of songs off of the Works records, it wouldn't include those at the expense of the ones I mentioned.

Having said that I still think it is worth a listen. Just don't expect to be blown away. I have not heard the newly repackaged "Works Live" but you may want to consider that as an alternative. I know it does have an expanded track listing. But I can't voucher that the sound quality has improved.