Customer Reviews

Emerson, Lake and Palmer: The Show That Never Ends

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's nice to finally read a book on the mighty ELP, but this is too much of a fluff piece to address the concerns of serious fans. There are mistakes (the string sound on TRILOGY was from an ARP string synthesizer not a mini-Moog), and the musical analyses are laughable (Piano Concerto No. 1 is clearly a Romantic composition not a serialist work; and while we are told that "Abbadon's Bolero" resolves into a C chord at the end, something anyone with a copy of the sheet music would know, the authors fail to notice that the second impression of Karn Evil 9 is performed in the style of Dave Brubeck as a tribute to the "Rondo" composer). Moreover, the important question is not addressed: what happened to Keith Emerson? Emerson has gone from writing the concerto to endlessly performing "America." What happened to his ambition and why has he produced so little new music over the past twenty years? Even for the "comeback" album BLACK MOON, he simply recycled three-year old songs from CHANGING STATES. Does he have writer's block? I guess we'll have to wait for another ELP book to find out.

George Forrester, et al, have created a straightforward and earnest look at Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, a band incorrectly reviled for their musical excellence, showmanship, and pretentions. In the early 1970's, few events were more exiting than hearing a new ELP release, and then seeing them perform live. In an era plagued with boogie rock, nascent glam, and the brewing punk, ELP plunged ahead towards a modernist reading of music. Combining their classical chops, jazz free-styling, and heavy-metal sound, they created not just a sound, but a world around their music.

George Forrester's book explains the history of the band, their musical steps, and mis-steps in clear, straightforward prose. While other works such as Paul Stump's The Music All's That Matter seems written with a distain for Prog and ELP, ELP: The Show Never Ends is an unabashed love letter for the devoted fan.

The books concludes with a musical exegesis of Keith Emerson's work, and to anyone who understands music, these analyses are enlightening, and thought-provoking.

If you want to learn about ELP, this is the place. If you want to relive the salad days, this is the place. If you want a picture of the rollercoaster ride of 1970's rock, this book will show you how a band was greeted with great hope and then dismissed into oblivion mostly because they knew how to play their instruments well.

Once I began reading this book it was hard to put down. This is the definitive, end-all story, from beginning to end, of ELP. Its all here: the early days of E, L, and P, the formation of the "Show That Never Ends", the hits, the misses, the fights, the breakups, the reconciliations, more fights, more reconciliations and tours, etc. etc. Also, there is plenty of trivia, behind the scenes information, and analysis of the music, instruments and people connected with the band. This book is laid out very logically, in a chronological order and represents the first time a publication has been available which tells the entire story, in a professional manner, from beginning to end. George Forrester and company are to be commended on being factual without being opinionated or judgmental. ELP had plenty of "wrong turns" and less than successful changes in musical direction through the years, but those events are all reported in a factual manner rather than a condescending one. One of the hidden gems of this book is the information provided in the back. George Forrester gives us a piece by piece analysis of all the major album tracks. Even more valuable is a chronological listing of EVERY concert ever played by the guys, from the beginning all the way through recent years, along with radio broadcasts and interviews. There's even internet sources listed for staying current on the band's activities. This is one of those must-own items if you are, or ever were a fan of the greatest band in rock n roll.

A very weak effort on a band deserving of a real bio. Most of the research appears to have been cribbed from publications like Circus, Contemporary Keybord and the like. The members are not interviewed, nor are the folks who could give real insight into the band and it's era: Stewart Young, Ahmut Ertegun, Godfrey Salmon and on and on. In the end it's a fannish puff piece that adds nothing to the story of rock's most (unjustly) reviled band.

This is a fan's book about ELP. That's good; I've read enough condescension about ELP from rock writers, who aren't always the bravest of people when it comes to expressing an unfashionable opinion. So it's good have a book focussing on the music, and recognising that at this band's best they were extraordinary.

And I can recommend it to fans, for the usual things books of this kind are good at: stories behind the pieces, such as the power struggle over producing "Tarkus". And it solves some long-term puzzles - eg who was the "Frazer" who co-wrote songs with Lake on the first two albums? It turns out he was one of their roadies, not some mysterious Pete Sinfield character...

Its weakness is not wanting to talk about the downside: Lake's vocal problems, the reasons behind the atrocity that was "Love Beach", and other such things. There a little more probing, and a preparedness to write unpalatable truths would have made a useful book better.

That said, this is a useful, honest and admirable book. I read it more or less at a gulp: after all, I've been waiting for it for about 25 years... If you're ELP fan enough to have looked up this book at all, then I'd recommend that you get it.

Cheers!

Laon

A long awaited book that totally lives up to all expectations. I was completely hooked from the first paragraph on. It has great detail, it is thoroughly researched and it offers surprises even for those who have been familiar with ELP's music for decades. My compliments to the authors. If you like ELP as a band, do not hesitate add this book to your collection. It is super.

An entertaining and informative read from cover to cover,The Show that never ends covers the bands history from beginning until now. The music analysis chapter by George Forrester is enlightening and fascinating.

Nice to see ELP getting some exposure and coverage again,if you havent heard them,get Tarkus or Brain Salad Surgery.

Bring on the Hammonds,Moogs&daggers!!!

As the only extant full-length bio of ELP, "Welcome Back My Friends" serves the purpose of telling their story in as straightforward a manner as possible, going year-by-year and covering all of the high and low points with a fair amount of detail and research. It could be much more detailed, and as mentioned it is somewhat of a whitewash, since the authors are so clearly in love with the band that even low points like "Love Beach" and "In The Hot Seat" are given positive spins.(Ironically, one of ELP's best projects, the "Pictures At An Exhibition" film from 1971, is one of the few things that is harshly criticized here).

As a basic resource and information manual, the book does its job by providing in-depth song analyses, a very complete discography and complete concert date list. The song analyses are interesting, although some tracks are reviewed in much greater detail than others. The information on the bandmembers' personal lives if perhaps the weakest, although there is as much as could be gleaned from interviews. Until Emerson's elusive autobiography is released, this is the best way for ELP fans, both old and new, to read up on as much info as is currently available on the group. However, the best rock bios tend to put the artist in question against an overview of the era they influenced and were influenced by, and this is largely ignored outside of passing references to other prog acts, making it seem unusually insular.

This long awaited book lives up to all expectations. I was hooked from the first paragraph on. It has great detail, the research is excellent, and the book has many surprises, even for those (like me) who have been familiar with the music of ELP for decades. Yes - if you like ELP - this one should be in your collection.

As a 25 year fan of Emerson, Lake and Palmer, I've read many a newspaper, magazine, Fanzine and authorized press release. These are all faithfully reproduced in this book. This is more a collection of media reviews and quotes than anything a hard-core fan couldn't find on the web. Any decent fan of ELP will not learn much here. Novices, who (Yeah, there are tons of these in 2002..I'm kidding of course!) might find the grandiosity of the tours interesting, yes, a 60 piece orchestra is still pretty impressive, the long and short of this book is a dissapointment to fans. A group this 'instrumental' in the progressive rock genre deserves a far more detailed and much more researched chronicle. The photo plates are even poor.(They're black and white and out of focus) The musical dissertations are also uneven. Piano Concerto No.1 is excellent, but the rest range from good to completely useless. However, it is nice to see them included. What can I say? I've always wanted a book about ELP. Now I want a good one.

Theres no pleasing me!