Customer Reviews

Emerson, Lake & Palmer: Beyond the Beginning

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When I heard the news that this DVD was going to be released, I thought that my old ELP VHS tapes collection will rest in peace in a box down in my basement. I was wrong.

Bootleggers around the world must be very happy since their material still worth the money they ask for.

This DVD contains great material, but sometimes it is uncomplete, edited, and/or out of synchronization. Fans of the band has had some of this videos for a long time. Beyond the Beginning Documentary is worth to be seen. Now let's go for more serious review:

1. TAKE A PEBBLE (1970, THE BEAT CLUB TV SHOW)

Uncomplete! Beat Club session. They should have included at least The Knife Edge from the same sessions. This was available on "The Best Of Beat Club DVD - 1973 (sic)" (formerly on japanese Laserdisc, laterly on PAL DVD).

2. KNIFE EDGE (1971, BRUSSELS CONCERT)

This was already available on ELP "Masters from the Vaults" DVD. Please note this track is taken from two different shows, same venue.

3. RONDO / PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION (1970, FROM ISLE OF WIGHT)

This is the infamous "portion" of ELP included on Murray Lerner film "Message to Love" about the Isle of Wight Festival. Look for the european or japanese release of this DVD to see the full performance of Rondo. Maybe it's time to ask Murray Lerner for the complete ELP IOW festival performance (he's been releasing parts of his material: The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Jethro Tull)

4. RONDO (1971, BRUSSELS CONCERT)

This was already available on ELP "Masters from the Vaults" DVD

5. TARKUS - ERUPTION (1972, TOKYO CONCERT)

This is an abdridge third and at sometimes fourth generation video.

6. HOEDOWN (1973, MILAN CONCERT)

Great! maybe at a different speed (maybe due to transfer from video to digital) than the actual recording but a must have. I have only seen photos from this concert in italian magazine Ciao 2001.

7. TANK (1973, MILAN CONCERT)

Mmmmh! maybe this is Tank in disguise, a better name should have been "Drum Solo"

8. LUCKY MAN (1974, CALIFORNIA JAM): A bit out of synch. but great. Which bubble gum brand sponsored this concert?

9. KARN EVIL 9, 3RD IMPRESSION (1974, CALIFORNIA JAM)

Edited, uncomplete and cut!

10. TOCCATA (1974, AQUARIUS TV SHOW)

Great! An unwanted fade at the end but a must have.

11. I BELIEVE IN FATHER CHRISTMAS (1975, PROMO)

Uncomplete!

12. HONKY TONK TRAIN BLUES (1976, OSCAR PETERSON PIANO PARTY)

Er.. well I have never enjoyed much those Scott Joplin piano style improvisation that Keith used to play. Please note that Roy Babbington (ex Soft Machine) is on acoustic bass.

13. FANFARE FOR THE COMMON MAN (1977, PROMO VIDEO)

Great! An unwanted fade at the end but a must have.

14. PIRATES (1977, MONTREAL CONCERT)

Great moment and great effort with orchestra and the famous Palmer spinning drums kit. Previously available on VHS Live in Montreal

15. TIGER IN THE SPOTLIGHT (1977, POP ROCK TV SHOW)

Great! ELP doing a play back for this number.

16. WATCHING OVER YOU (1978, MEMPHIS CONCERT)

Out of synch and cut. Poor image quality.

17. TARKUS (1992, ROYAL ALBERT HALL CONCERT):

The band doesn't play anymore the full version of this great number. Fine performance.

18. TOUCH AND GO (1997, BUDAPEST CONCERT)

New song, for this new incarnation of ELP that goes pretty well.

Promo Videos:

1. AMERICA (THE NICE) - 1968 BEAT CLUB TV SHOW

Beautiful. They should have included The Nice live performance of Tim Hardin's "Hang on to a Dream" from the same TV show. This was available on "The Best Of Beat Club DVD - 1968" DVD - PAL format.

2. FIRE (THE CRAZY WORLD OF A. BROWN) - 1968 BEAT CLUB TV SHOW

Great!

3. 21ST CENTURY SCHIZOID MAN (KING CRIMSON) - 1969 HYDE PARK

I have never seen this one before, it's just a segment but it's great.

Bonus Footage:

1. ELP IN REHEARSAL 1973

Great! A must have. Keith leading the band from the basement.

2. "THE STORY OF THE ALBUM COVERS" DOCUMENTARY

Uncomplete. No info. on the first album cover, mentioning the original fold out cover of the early releases with a band photo inside. No info. on "Welcome Back..." triple fold out cover.

3. ELP AT BRANDS HATCH 1973

Useless!

4. INTERVIEW WITH BOB MOOG

It will always be a pleasure to listen to the master himself speaking (great stories!), but he is not a funny guy, he just created and built the famous MOOG synthesizers including the world acclaimed Mini MOOG.

DISC 2

CALIFORNIA JAM 1974, 44-MINUTE PERFORMANCE:

I have mixed feelings with release. First I'm happy to see an official release but I was waiting for a more PROFESSIONAL work not only a basic transfer from the original videos.

This is not the entire concert, it's not in the right order, in various segment is out of synchronization (voice - Sound). Even more, the last segment is taken from a different source (piano spinning and Great Gates of Kiev). Compare this one with top class Deep Purple C. Jam 74 Laserdisc and/or DVD, to understand what I'm talking about.

Whoever was in charge of this travesty should be shot. The majority of the "songs" are just 2-3 minute "clips". And two of the Cal Jam clips, Lucky Man and Karn Evil, are shown twice...I mean, does that make any sense??!!

Buyer beware....just be aware that very few of the songs are actually full length!!

I'm a musician, and music fan in general. I love progressive rock (ELP, Yes, early Genesis -- the usual suspects) as well as many other types of rock, other genres, etc. This is probably my 5th ELP DVD, and it finally gives me what I've been waiting for -- the band in its magnificent early-to-mid 70's heyday. Never mind the grainy video quality and jumpy edits of some of the footage -- who cares? The point here is not to show off your plasma TV or surround system -- the point is to witness a historical artifact of sorts, a window back in time to an incredible (and sadly lost) era of true musicianship and vision in the world of popular music. It was a time when musicians (and yes, they were virtuoso musicians then, with no shame attached to the title) could experiment and create astonishingly fresh and innovative music, to a public that was not brainwashed by media empires, and who eagerly accepted the works of these gifted masters. It wasn't "uncool" to be a recognized craftsman with your instrument (or voice). It wasn't "required" to conform to the mass media's idea of "what pop should sound like". It wasn't necessary to stick to the same production techniques, the same in-your-face compression on every band's vocals, the same drum loops and sampled blasts of noise used over and over (loops and samples didn't exist; there were actual humans who actually played their instruments).

I won't attempt to repeat what has already been said about this DVD -- but one of the things that most impressed me was the Bonus Footage on Disc 1, called "ELP rehearsing in 1973" (!). It actually showed the band in the studio, painstakingly going over an intricate passage from Brain Salad Surgery's "Karn Evil 9, 2nd Impression. From our vantage point of the present, one tends to look back upon works like these as "immortal; set in stone; eternal". But the reality was that they were written, and orchestrated, and arranged, by actual guys in their early 20's, joking around in a studio, and coming up - note by note - with pieces of music that would be destined (unbeknown to them at the time) to become classic and, yes, immortal. It would be like "seeing" a young Mozart sitting in his music room, composing one his great works, one note at a time, and seeing just how "human" he really was -- how young, how silly, how brilliant. That's what this was like -- it injected a dimension of humanity and reality into a piece of music that I tend to think of as "larger than life".

It's also funny how we tend to think of our heroes as "aging as we do", and thus always being our contemporaries. Of course, in the chronological sense, we all do age on the same timeline. But the Keith Emerson that composed Tarkus was a young, brash guy in his mid-20's. The Greg Lake that penned "Still...You Turn me On" was - to me, now 46, just a kid. It's strange that a 46-year old's "heroes" are all "kids"...!

Buy this DVD. Don't get it for the immaculate picture or the razor-sharp editing -- they aren't there. Instead, look at it as a window into the musical past -- a past of stupendous freedom and creativity that, with the onset of an interconnected, Internet-based, individuality-smothering society, may never be again.

As a rabid Emerson, Lake, and Palmer fan, I was looking forward to this documentary, and, luckily, for the most part, it was very good. The music is fantastic, and the "Beyond the Beginning" documentary is very good. The clips are interesting (even though the music of some of them are set to studio recordings, as, I assume, the original audio was lost). And there are some technical glitches here and there (which have been documented by other reviewers), but compared to previous ELP DVD releases, they are relatively minor. When I first saw Lake, I thought it was an overweight roadie. He looks like he hasn't left his flat in years. Emerson looked ragged as well, but looked more irritated than anything. Palmer, on the other hand, was lucid and looked very well for his age. I never really knew about the creative tension between Emerson and Lake before. It was the reason for the group's many breakups. Yet, when Emerson or Lake was in a seperate band (like Emerson and Palmer's horrible 3), it just wasn't the same. Personality conflicts aside, I wish bands nowadays would have the ambition that these 3 gentlemen did. They were always looking for new sounds, as opposed to many (but not all) bands nowadays, who seem only interested in the celebrity aspects of the business. While ELP probably indulged themselves like all rock stars do, they also had an intensity in their music that is sorely missing today. Even on lesser albums like Love Beach, they had a professionalism that makes it listenable (the album is not as bad as some would suggest). I always get annoyed at critics who rag (even to this day) about how ELP was a terrible band, just driven by ego and nothing else. Then there's the cliched line that they (and all of progressive rock) was pretentious. Emerson says in this documentary that the reason that many people disliked (and resented) them was because they were too good. This comment may sound arrogant, but it isn't. Emerson says it rather nonchalantly, not in an arrogant and smug way. Emerson is the best damn keyboardist rock has ever seen, and Palmer is the most underrated drummer ever. Lake was never given credit for his musical dexterity and songwriting capabilities. ELP's technical proficency is unbelievable and truly amazing. No matter how many times I hear them, I still marvel at them. I do love other progressive bands, like Yes and King Crimson, but ELP still remains my favorite. I would love to hear some band today to be as ambitious as these guys can. They (and the other progressive rock bands) were not pretentious, they were simply ambitious.

Here's a track list. Finally what ELP fans have been waiting for. 2 discs, approx. 4 hours!!

Track listing

DISC 1

ELP in Pictures:

1. Take A Pebble (1970, The Beat Club TV show)

2. Knife Edge (1971, Brussels concert)

3. Rondo / Pictures At An Exhibition (1970, montage from Isle of Wight performances)

4. Rondo (1971, Brussels concert)

5. Tarkus - Eruption (1972, Tokyo concert)

6. Hoedown (1973, Milan concert)

7. Tank (1973, Milan concert)

8. Lucky Man (1974, California Jam)

9. Karn Evil 9, 3rd Impression (1974, California Jam)

10. Toccata (1974, Aquarius TV show)

11. I Believe In Father Christmas (1975, promo video)

12. Honky Tonk Train Blues (1976, Oscar Peterson Piano Party TV show)

13. Fanfare For The Common Man (1977, promo video)

14. Pirates (1977, Montreal concert)

15. Tiger In The Spotlight (1977, Pop Rock TV show)

16. Watching Over You (1978, Memphis concert)

17. Tarkus (1992, Royal Albert Hall concert)

18. Touch And Go (1997, Budapest concert)

Promo Videos:

1. America (THE NICE) - 1968 Beat Club TV show

2. Fire (THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN) - 1968 Beat Club TV show

3. 21st Century Schizoid Man (KING CRIMSON) - 1969 Hyde Park concert (edit)

Bonus Footage:

1. ELP in rehearsal 1973

2. "The story of the album covers" documentary

3. ELP at Brands Hatch 1973

4. Interview with Bob Moog

DISC 2

California Jam 1974, 44-minute performance:

1. Toccata

2. Still You Turn Me On

3. Lucky Man

4. Piano improvisations

5. Take A Pebble

6. Karn Evil 9, 1st impression part 2

7. Karn Evil 9, 3rd impression

8. Spinning Piano

9. Great Gates of Kiev

"Beyond the beginning" documentary (1 hour)

Total Time: approx. 250 minutes

Line-up

- Keith Emerson / keyboards

- Greg Lake / guitars, bass

- Carl Palmer / drums, assorted percussion

For those that LOVE ELP (me being one) this collection ROCKS.

You have to remember alot of the early stuff (70's), was being recorded and filmed by guys with one hand one the switch and the other holding a joint. But I love it all, cropped, early cuts and all . . . for those that Love Emerson, Lake and Palmer you will throughly enjoy it.

ELP was the first progressive band that caught my interest back in 1973, and it was initially for the music of Greg Lake that I was hooked. For maybe two decades I never again listened to ELP, or indeed any of the bands that I got into in the mid-Seventies. I followed the trends of the day, punk, new wave and finally bland pop, through the Eighties, until the Nineties came and I found music so goddamn awful that I made a conscious decision to retrace my steps and rediscover the music of my youth.

In the meantime a lot of the early bands I'd come to believe were immature - simply because I'd been a kid at the time and they must have been immature for me to have liked them. So I had to discover them all over again. The only exceptions to this were the real classic bands - the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Jethro Tull. I got a compilation of ELP and was shocked to discover that apart from the Greg Lake ballads I really didn't know the music at all. Worse yet, my family couldn't stand the discordant Emerson instrumentals and I had to often switch it off. But I became hooked and now own just about everything by ELP.

From there I also expanded into other progressive bands, firstly King Crimson, Yes, Genesis - but to me ELP represents the very heart of what progressive music is all about. It is the best.

I was a bit apprehensive about this DVD considering some of the negative reviews, but for once a DVD exceeded my expectations. I normally spend more time reading the negative reviews, as glowing positive tributes are really not to be trusted. I look for balance and objectivety.

A notable highlight for me was Carl Palmer. I normally don't pay much heed to drummers, but Carl (along with Keith Moon) are the only drummers I find noticeable. His drumming is quite unbelievable. I expected virtuosity from Emerson and an excellent voice from Lake, but I'd had no expectations of Palmer. He is amazing.

The most important feature of ELP is the one I haven't yet mentioned, and that is the quality of their compositions. I have long believed that the secret to success of many bands is the intensity of competition between composers, such as Lennon and McCartney, and Lake and Emerson. Although I now prefer the Emerson compositions, I still believe ELP would be nothing without the balance between the Lake and Emerson songs. Endless, frenetic, discordant Emerson compositions might just be unlistenable, but interspersed with pretty Lake compositions, and it's a masterpiece.

I just got this today. Watched the entire 200+ Minutes. WOW! I have to say that this is the ELP I have been waiting for. I was a "Lucky Man" in the 70's and attended at least 15 ELP Shows in Los Angeles. I saw JOURNEY Open up for ELP in 1974 at the Long Beach Arena. It was the Brain Salad Surgery Tour. I consider Emerson Lake And Palmer one of the Great Super-groups of the 20th Century. I watched the California Jam on a ABC show called IN CONCERT. Someone said it was Don Kirshner. No it was not. The show aired Friday Nights at 11:30pm on ABC every week. It was great. For all these years I have searched for that ELP performance. Now, I have it. Someone also complained that they should of fixed the Transfer from Video to Digital. I don't agree. This is the way it was shown and this is the way it should be viewed. It is awesome. Too bad there is not an entire version of TARKUS. I am going to see CARL PALMER perform here in Los Angeles at the Roxy Theater. That is a Small Club Setting. He will do Tarkus. Seeing and hearing all this great ELP gave me chills. I was there in the day when ELP sold out every venue they performed in. Of course at that time tickets were about 7 bucks or so. The Crimson clip does not show Robert Fripp. I guess that may have been shot on 8MM Film. For Progressive Rock Fans and ELP Aficionados, this is the Ultimate collection of one of the Great Rock Trios EVER! Don't hesitate to purchase this for your collection. I have no complaints. It seems great care was taken to put this collection together. I admire that in any artist. Welcome Back my friends to the SHOW that Never ends.

I purchased my vinyl copy of Tarkus at the time of it's original release in 1971. Super Groups were a current flavour, and musicians from the sixties pop era who could play better than others, and who wanted to take certain music forms and blend them further, formed new partnerships and sought new progressions. Emerson Lake and Palmer established their own direction with complex virtuousic keyboard forays, supported by equally complex drum and guitar runs. Elements of classical and baroque structures were (fairly) seamlessly incorporated.

It never occurred to me that there was a dynamic tension at work between the band members then, or that the mix of melodic pop and driving jazz-aligned tracks was anything more than an exercise in contrast, clever album production of the period.

The DVD contains interviews with the three band members, who, with the passage of time, discuss those tensions in a relatively objective fashion, illustrating the various directions they sought to take with video sequences. Their commentary is fleshed out with interview comments from the managers and promoters around them. There is a sequence of music videos from their career path right through the seventies until they eventually fracture as a group entity.

If you seek to make sense of your era of musical history, this sort of material offers much assistance. Video quality is naturally a product of the era, but if you are interested in setting your music heroes in their historical context, releases like this are very valuable

As a hardcore ELP fan with most of the available bootleg videos, I was curious as to what the band's first "real" official DVD documentary would look like. In short, this is an excellent two-disc anthology that collects nearly all of the known video footage of the group's career minus those shows already out on DVD (the 1970 "Pictures At An Exhibition" film, the Montreal '77 show and the '92 Royal Albert Hall performance, although good excerpts from the latter two do make an appearance here).

The spotlighted reviewer who complains about most of the songs being edited must be on crack; as someone who owns most of this footage on bootleg video, I can say for a fact that these tracks appear fully uncut and in outstanding audio/visual condition. The only tracks which are cut (Rondo/Pictures from the IOW festival, Rondo from Brussels) were cut on the original source films and not edited for the DVD; the same goes for some of the California Jam footage (and despite what some hopeful reviewers out there may believe, it's probably safe to say that the ABC TV footage is the *only* existing footage of that show, and in any case it appears here in sound and visual quality far, far surpassing any bootleg, and also presented in the *original* performance order, not the butchered order ABC broadcast it in). As for "Take A Pebble", "Watching Over You", "I Believe In Father Christmas" and "Karn Evil 9: 3rd Impression", these all appear complete, uncut, perfectly in synch and again in outstanding quality...I wonder just what copy some people here saw!

The only disappointment, really, is the footage of "Eruption" from the '72 Tokyo show: yes, the bootleg is better and contains a complete performance of the song, although the Japanese camerawork is so shoddy to begin with that perhaps the DVD producers felt it unworthy to include all 25 minutes of the piece.

The one-hour documentary "Beyond The Beginning" is better than the early 90s documentary "Welcome Back My Friends"; the band is more candid and revealing in the interviews, and the history is more comprehensive and not so focused on the 90s reunion tours. The segments with Bob Moog, the '73 rehearsal footage and the piece on the album covers are all revealing and completes a very welcome set. If the ELP fan gets this along with "Pictures At An Exhibition" (although it's too bad that *that* DVD is edited to include only the title track), "Montreal '77" (which comes with the 30 minute '73 Manticore documentary to boot, although the only complete concert performance on it is "Hoedown" from Milan which is indeed included on disc one here) and "Live At The Royal Albert Hall", they will have pretty much all of ELP that's worthy on video with only a few exceptions like the Tokyo footage and perhaps the "Knife Edge" from Beat Club.

In short, if you are an ELP fan, get it and just be thankful that all of this priceless, outstanding performance footage is now officially available in great audiovisual quality, along with a fine documentary. And let's not forget the almost never-before seen King Crimson Hyde Park footage in the extras...