Customer Reviews

Diamond Hard Blue Apples of the Moon

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The NICE was a pivotal band in the progressive rock fold, but they never were particularly well-recorded. Their albums for Immediate Records didn't represent the band's powers at their fullest, and only 1969's self-titled "Nice" would qualify as a classic.

Micro-Werks "Diamond Hard Blue Apples..." is a compilation of bootleg recordings, personally endorsed for release by Nice keyboardist Keith Emerson. There are some choice rarities here which should delight fans to no end, but on the downside, there are a number of poorly recorded BBC takes. (Why is it that big name bands like the Beatles, Cream, and Jimi Hendrix get sparkling BBC treatment, and lesser bands have to settle for bootlegs?)

Well, to concentrate on the good: the selections open strongly with startlingly good live recordings taken from Stockholm in late 1967, when the Nice was on tour promoting its first album. In particular, the cover of Charles Lloyd's "Sombrero Sam" is incendiary. With underrated guitarist Davy O'List leading the way and the band on fire, this cut is fantastic, and goes a ways toward explaining why Jimi Hendrix toyed with the idea of joining the fledgling Emerson, Lake and Palmer in 1970.

There is a snappy band salute to Frank Zappa, the "Lumpy Gravy" theme with Keith Emerson on celeste.

A lyrical, well-arranged version of the Byrds' "Get to You" offers a preview of Emerson's later, Romantic styled piano with Emerson, Lake and Palmer.

There's a nice, straightforward take on Oscar Peterson's "Blues of the Prairie", which shows that the Nice could easily have played jazz festivals as well as rock venues.

A side-slapping, but musically astute version of Sonny Rollins' "St. Thomas" includes some droll and off-the-wall lyrics courtesy of guest vocalist Roy Harper.

All of these go to show that the Nice was without a doubt one of the most adventurous and accomplished bands of the late Sixties. If they had committed these tracks to vinyl on an official release, who knows what would have happened. As it was, they never had their "Procol Harum moment", although they easily could have issued a concert album with a classical orchestra. There are some good outtakes from the Nice's experiments with a full symphony orchestra in this collection, too.

With about 13 of 27 tracks drawn from the BBC, be aware that there is variable sound quality.... but only about three are what I would characterize as "nearly unlistenable". Most of them stand up okay, which makes this collection essential for any fans of Keith Emerson and this wonderfully eclectic band of prog-rock pioneers.

Here are two discs of 27 tracks of the greatest (and obscure) Nice tunes from Keith, Lee, Davy & Brian. From the end of the first year (Stockholm, December 1967) to after the news of the band's ending (BBC, April 1970) These two official bootlegs really tell the tale in music of what these progressive pioneers were all about.

Almost all of this material has seen a CD release already before. But, the sonics of the Stockholm tapes, The Nice at the BBC, the Fairfield Hall concert, and the Fillmore East & West of 1969 have been remastered and tweaked yet again and they sound better than before. The William Stout cover is a very nice touch as he was the artist of many bootleg records sold in the early seventies that are most famous today.

Disc one covers the Davy O'List era of 1967-68, and disc two spotlights the heavier "trio" years of 1969-70. Highlights include a very groovy: "You Keep Me Hanging On" from Sweden and the best: "Sombrero Sam" that you are gonna find. Davy's presence of disc one is very prominent and his playing (hardly heard on Nice records) is really great here. Early Nice is close in form and style to early Pink Floyd music of this same era, but it's a fun experiment of art-rock as this is colorful magic for the ears.

Disc two features the more Keith Emerson domainated trio with Lee & Brian stepping up more as the sound becomes harder and heavier. The Band was becoming known for their outrageous antics on stage with American flags and knives that were being tossed about. Crazy behavior aside, the music gets even better and is years ahead of everybody else, and is really the blueprint of what would define live shows of the 1970's. A version of: "The Five Bridges Suite" without orchestra shows that The Nice could always take their music up by a few notches and make it all bigger and better on stage. Disc two features a lot of Nice music you may already have heard, but these are different renditions of their standards. Sound quality isn't always great (hence the bootleg tag) but, this is a sonic marvel when compared to say that ELP bootleg series that sounds like mudd!

To have this much live Nice music fitted together in one package is a treat for fans. Without having to buy all of this material on separate CD's that today (if found!) sell for big bucks, this set is a bargain. This is no trick..."The Diamond Hard Blue Apples Of the Moon" is nice Nice.
This is a great addition to an ever expanding Nice Catalog of music.
Four Stars!

BEING A KEITH EMERSON FAN FROM THE BEGINNING,I FEEL THESE LIVE RECORDINGS ARE AN ESSENTIAL PART OF PROGRESSIVE MUSIC HISTORY.KEITH EMERSON "THE FATHER OF PROG" HAS REALLY DONE IT ALL ON THESE RECORDINGS.ALL MUSICAL STYLES ARE INCORPORATED IN THIS MUSIC.THE KEYBOARD PLAYING IS OUTSTANDING AS ARE THE OTHER MEMBERS PERFORMANCES.
SOME OF THE RECORDINGS ARE POOR IN AUDIO SOUND.BUT MOST/MAJORITY ARE VERY GOOD.THERE ARE TRACKS HERE FROM THE --NICE SWEDISH LIVE T.V. CD AND FROM THE AMERICA COMPILATION BBC LIVE CD RECORDINGS.
IF YOU ARE A NICE,ELP,KEITH EMERSON,PROG FAN, DEFINITELY GET THIS AND THE OTHER NICE CD'S TO COMPLETE YOUR COLLECTION.GREAT PROGRESSIVE MUSIC.ENJOY!!!!