Customer Reviews

Emerson Lake & Palmer - Live at the Royal Albert Hall

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Don't misunderstand me, I am a long time ELP fan however my expectations go back all way to concerts in the 70's when they toured with a full orchestra. Certainly the last two tracks of the concert bring life to this dvd and finished strong. If you are a long time ELP fan you will not be dissapointed. Gregg Lake voice sounds good but stage presence was lacking but did he ever have stage presence. Keith Emerson was the highlight of the concert and truely shows what a great talent he brings to ELP. That in itself is worth getting this DVD and seeing his talent... Pirates is reproduced very well and was the highlight of this dvd. ...

Yes, I was a big ELP fan back in the 70's, and I was excited to get this DVD in the hope of bringing back memories of when I saw them in person decades ago. Overall, I was a bit underwhelmed by this disc.

Although never extraordinary in terms of stage presence, I must say that the band members exhibited some pretty tight playing at this performance, which took place in 1996 at the Royal Albert Hall (London). They did an especially good job with "Welcome Back" and "Pirates," and I was pleasantly surprised by their rendition of the classic theme from Prokofiev's "Romeo & Juliet." Although I consider "Tarkus" (one of my all-time favorite LP's) and "Pictures at an Exhibition" to be absolute masterpieces, this show presents only excerpted versions of both. Typical of live performances, yes; however, I'm always left a little disappointed. One major blemish to the show was Keith Emerson's theatrics of pounding, jumping on, then tipping over, one of his keyboards near the end (sooo 70's). Lots of noise. Maybe he hung out with Keith Moon when he was younger, but I wasn't impressed. Besides, this wasted valuable time that could have been used for another song or two.

What weighed most heavily in my rating was my total annoyance with the poor camera direction in this production. For example, Emerson was true to form with his trademark arms-apart keyboard stance between stacks of synthesizers. Why then was there so much close-up filming of just his face? I mean, REALLY close-up! Same with Carl Palmer: too many camera views angling between cymbal stands or over tom-toms, with only his head in view. Somehow, the director failed to understand that watching a keyboardist or drummer means focusing on the hands and arms. Too bad. I felt cheated out of some incredible drumming. Also, see how many OTHER cameramen you can count sneaking around between the amps.

Bottom line: it's an acceptable performance, but I wouldn't recommend this disc to anyone but a serious ELP fan.

I've been a fan of ELP since 1974, when I first heard "Brain Salad Surgery". It blew my mind. I was in the 8th grade at that time. Kind of hard to believe an 8th grader could appreciate that kind of music, eh? Well, I did, and still do.
I have to admit I haven't listened to ELP much at all in the past 20 years or so. The other day I was in the video store to rent some movies, and saw this DVD, and I grabbed it instantly. I was not disappointed. Keith, Greg and Carl are in top form. They are every bit as amazing here as they were when I saw them live in 1975, levitating piano and all, at one of the best concerts I've ever seen. Emerson is still up to his old tricks here. He's the Jimi Hendrix of keyboards: doing backflips, jumping up and down on, and abusing his shreiking Hammond organ, until he finally tips it over on top of himself and plays Bach on it backwards!! Pretty amazing for a 52 year old geezer. Over the top, yes, but then so was Jimi. ELP have always had quite a bit of theatrics in their performances.

As for the music, Emerson's playing is just as jaw-dropping as ever. Palmer's drumming is as precise and intense as it always was. Lake does a good job but seems to have trouble with his voice hitting some notes and doesn't seem (to me) to be having as much fun as the others. The selection of tunes is good, I just wish "Hoedown" would have been on here. Great version of "Pirates" without all the orchestration cluttering things up. The reason I give it four stars instead of five is the camera work is not very good in places, showing close-ups of Keith's face when he's playing amazing lines on the keys, come on! It's like films of Hendrix where he is playing incredible stuff on the guitar and they are just filming his face. Drives me nuts. Also, I heard several noticable glitches in the audio, which other than that is quite good (could have just been a bad copy). I had it blasting through my home theatre system and it sounded great. I'm thinking I need to add "Welcome Back My Friends..." (a great live album) to my CD collection now, I miss listening to this stuff.

I would highly recommend this DVD for any ELP fan or fan of classically based rock, and I plan on purchasing it for my collection.

I miss Emerson, Lake & Palmer very much and was disappointed they did not produce one last concept CD before they went their different ways. I don't know what it was about them that excited my blood, and still does. Sure there was the music, the lyrics, the showmanship. I was lucky enough to see the BSS tour and have seen ELP live four different times since, sharing the last concert with my 11 y.o. son. This DVD captures the remarkable talent of the trio. Their incredible unique ELP sound! This DVD is the next best thing to being at the Royal Albert Hall, front row. Sadly enough Black Moon was cut from the show for this DVD. Why do they do that????? Thank you Keith, Greg, and Carl for all you have given over the years on stage and disc. I wanted MORE. But that's how it goes, C'est La Vie. Alas, the Show That Never Ends lives on on this DVD.

I am a big fan of ELP but must admit that this DVD is a big dissappointment. If I compare it to other DVD concerts I own, especially those recorded in the Royal Albert Hall, the sound quality is frankly just poor. Gregg Lake's vocals, a trademark of ELP's sound, are not strong and very difficult to discern. The performance is okay, but again, without superior sound, it makes it difficult to sit through.

This DVD captures the expansive career of this supergroup trio in one concert. All three performers live up to their resumes and give it their all. Carl Palmer is impeccable and precise, proving why he is tops on many drummer's "favorite" lists. Keith Emerson delivers all the goods that made him the legend he is. Unfortunately, you can see how his carpal tunnel syndrome acts up on occasion as he frantically shakes his left hand to bring back the feeling to it (As a fellow sufferer, it happened to stick out to me). Greg Lake is adequate in his role (although you can catch Carl making irritated faces at Greg when he doesn't pick up on a tempo or drive the beat as Carl wants it).

As a DVD, the camera work and sound is perfectly fine. I might want to hear the vocals out front a bit but, lately, most live mixes that I've heard for ANY genre can't provide that so it's no surprise that it came out the way it did. Crisp visuals and some nice virtuoso hand shots when Keith or Carl are doing some inhuman things.

Pick this up if you're a long time fan like me or if you're a novice who just wants to see what all the fuss was about.

It's very hard to find good material on this band, one of my favourites. I've read in some of the other comments that this is not a good performance, Lake's voice is not what it was, the selections were not the best, bla, bla. I had the chance to see the band live in Buenos Aires in 1997 (the same show) and all I have to tell is that they sounded terrific, perhaps my opinion is not as impartial as it should be, because the emotion of seeing them could overweight strictly technical reasons, but the profesionality and performance literally blew our heads.
If you are an ELP's fan don't doubt a sec and buy it. I don't know if we could have more oportunities to enjoy them live!

I saw this tour performed at the always wonderful theatre in the wood,Wolf Trap,in Virginia and was very pleased to see this performance pressed into CD so imagine my added delight to see it released as a DVD.
BTW: They played Wolf Trap again!!! a few summers ago and their performances were even better that time.
Greg Lake must have quit smoking because he went for and hit notes he obviously could NOT reach ( and knew it) with this 1992 tour.
All that said this is "the" DVD to have and to appreciate. I'm having a blast introducing younger friends to ELP's level of virtuosity which, they are all the 1st to agree, is sadly "absent" anything passing for musicianship today ( Dave Mathews & Pat Metheny Group accepted). Anyone who witnessed any of ELP's mega-performances in their prime will wince like I did wondering out loud why oh why ELP, at the height of their craftsman talents and virtuosity, "failed" to have professionally produced and filmed a Concert Hall performance with full symphony orchestra ( the way Martin Scorsesse brilliantly directed "The Last Waltz") instead of the fiasco "Works" tour with orchestra that fell apart halfway through the tour and damn near bankrupted the band.
With that in mind true ELP afficiandoes will also wince at the
" in-the-moment" random camera scramble shooting gallery style which the editor had to make some structure out of. Those who know the pieces by heart will ALL want to just scream at the tube " No, you bloody twits, camera 2,camera 2
on Emerson's hands. Not the close-up of Lake who's playing is not the featuree here. You're fired!!!"
I mean I can forgive the 1st Brit twits on bad acid whom have absolutely ruined, for all time, the original document of ELP debuting "Pictures at an Exhibition" live, but you'd think a 1992 Royal Albert Hall performance would've been more expertly handled. Shame on the Brit-twit production crew for their apparent slip-shoddiness of the shoot and editing. No excuse this time lads. Now there may never be another oppurtunity lads. It would have been nice to finally see some actual professional film "production" at work in the 1990's, but there it is.
Past my rant over what might've been I'm glad for the truly grand document of "Lucky Man" ( with the original Moog epilogue" ) "Pirates" and the Emerson solo of "Creole Dance" alone made the DVD worth it. The "Pictures at an Exhibition" medley deserved to be done, but a far more classy choice would've been alive performance of "Hoedown", the full 1st Impression of "Karn Eval 9" segueing directly into the actual original song "Brain Salad Surgery" that could then sugue into the SciFi-story of the 3rd Impression. Add a full symphony orchestra to all that and that would've been "the" Last word definition of an ELP "Tour de Force" for one of the MOST instrumentally innovative band of craftsman virtuosity.
I'd often imagined how much more an ELP concert would take flight if they had an equally craftsman guitar virtuoso... say a Steve Howe , Steve Hacket , of even a Pat Metheny. Unfortunately a concert we will never get, but for now there's atleast a solid record of what was always there to begin with.... that talent of pure craftsman musicianship not seen or heard since.
Oh well, perhaps there will be some young muscians who will want more than just Blimp Bisquit,Britney, and already played out & exhausted rap and pick up challenge of where bands such as ELP pioneered and take us into a 21st century rennaissance of new musician
I live for that day.

I don't need to tell any ELP fan how great it was to finally get a top quality concert available to us,this is absolutly top notch performances of most of their classics and a terrific example of what DVD can be ,the picture is so sharp you'd think you were there.The sound as well has a nice balance to it as if you were in the hall hearing it,I would also mention to anyone who happen to have the Japanese Laserdisc version of this from a few years ago,dump it immediatly and run out and buy this,that L.D. was an extremly botched job ,as anyone who has seen both will attest to.

Having been an ELP fan since around 1973, I enjoyed this DVD "for the show" but I must warn you that the sound quality was, in my opinion, very poor. Much like what was written in another review, I had a very hard time picking up Greg Lake's vocals - his voice was literally drowned out by the instruments. Granted, he's lost a bit of the luster in his range but I still would have liked to heard him better. They're still a blast to watch!!