Customer Reviews

Emerson Lake & Palmer

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

From the booming bass that kicks off "The Barbarian" through the final Moog synth squiggle of the "Lucky Man" outro,"Emerson Lake & Palmer" is the powerful opening salvo of ELP's mixture of classical,jazz and hard rock-best known to the world as "progressive rock"-that presented such obscure classical pieces as Bela Bartok's 'Allegro Barbaro'("The Barbarian") and Janacek's 'Sinfonietta'("Knife-Edge")in fresh contexts.Other highlights-on an album featuring nothing BUT highlights- include Greg Lake's 12 minute-plus epic "Take A Pebble" and Carl Palmer's fusion-esqe drum piece "Tank".This record has been remastered on CD a few times,first on the dismal-sounding Atlantic one from the 80's,and again on the Victory and Rhino in the 90's which,while an improvement from the first one,were pretty below the standards of most remasters from that period.This Shout! remaster(done by Andy Pearce at Masterpiece London)is right in the class of the Yes Rhino remasters and the Genesis CD/SACD/DVD hybrid's,with Lake's bass guitar sounding big and beefy,Palmer's drum work crisp,and Keith Emerson's keyboards as clear as pure mountain water.Despite the lack of bonus tracks,ELP and prog-rock fans should not hesitaite in picking up-or upgrading with-this reasonably-priced remastered jewel.

If you check my older reviews, I gave the Rhino disc a great review but the improvement here even over that one is astounding. I don't think I've ever heard clearer vocals on my system - how the hell did these guys record this album so well, a DEBUT album no less? On my rig, sibilants are outstanding, smooth as silk and not harsh at all - it IS a brightly-mixed album, after all, and your speakers' high end had better be up to the challenge. The soundstage is also a mile wide and just when I thought I knew every musical nuance of this album, I found myself hearing "further back" into the recording than ever before - stunning. This also makes me realize just how BAD those old Atlantic CDs were. And I have heard the K2 and sorry, but for my taste the treble is just a bit bright and the music sounds slightly compressed to my ears. Horses for courses, as long as we all enjoy the album, guys. Right?

And with that, let me publicly state that I will NEVER buy another version of this album on CD.

First of all, I do Not understand why "Bob" from Los Angeles feels the need to give this ELP offering a 1 star rating, just because ELP's catalog has been remastered numerous times. I don't care how many different labels remaster and distribute their music. What does that matter? Why does he think that fans must now "dutifully purchase these newly remastered editions?"

If you own early 1990 first edition Atlantic releases, and you are satisfied with them, then that's the end of the story. No one is trying to force you to buy something, just entice you purchase their product. I have an old version of ELP's Live "Welcome Back My Friends..." on Atlantic records and it's fine. Sounds just like my original 3-LP set, just in a more convenient package.

I also own The Atlantic Years, a two disc compilation of ELP tacks which came out in 1992. This past year I started researching ELP and noticed one of my favorite re-issue companies, Rhino Records, had released all of ELP's original albums. As I looked at all the track listings, I realized there was a lot of Emerson, Lake and Palmer music that I did not own and had not heard before. I thought about picking up these individual discs, but just never got around to it. Now, the Rhino Remasters are over 10 years old. Recording and Production Technology continues to evolve, so when I noticed these new Shout! Factory re-issues, and read some of the rave reviews about the quality, I decided now was the time.

I purchased the debut Emerson Lake and Palmer album. First of all, it's a bargain price at only $11. I compared some of the tracks to my Atlantic Years cd. The Shout! version was definately more dynamic, with the loudest parts of the songs just peaking at -0- Db on the VU meters of my Denon Digital CD Recorder (the older Atlantic version only reached the -4 mark). Admittedly, the Shout! disc had slightly more analog tape hiss, but a much crisper high end. You would only notice the hiss in the absolute quietest passages in a quiet setting. Bass response was good, not "boomy", nice and flat over-all frequency response across the entire sound spectrum.

I have already decided to purchase all the Shout! Factory versions. Even though it's not listed yet on Amazon's site, an advertisement included in my disc shows they are planning to offer Brain Salad Surgery and the Live Welcome Back My Friends, to the Show that Never Ends also.

Some would probably suggest that "Days of Future Passed" by The Moody Blues is the first true progressive album. True, it was innovative. Classical, yet mixed with rock. But, that doesn't quite define "Progressive". I think the first progressive rock concept LP has to be "In the Court of the Crimson King", by King Crimson. And I'm sure other countries had their "prog" concept bands beginning around 1969.

But what makes Emerson, Lake, and Palmer's debut LP so important is that the three members came from other experimental rock projects. Three individuals, and three individually powerful performers. Three people who could entertain an audience doing a solo performance, not necessarily needing the others to help enhance their performance. Yes, three commanding forces in their own spotlights on the stage before the world to see.

Before ELP, the only bands that we knew all the band members by name were really only The Beatles and maybe The Rolling Stones. ELP was the first band to really give us all pre-conceived expectations of what they can do. The first SuperGroup! Who would have thought that all that "ego" could work together without competing with each other, or get in each others way?

This first album by ELP was either going to be a super success, or sudden death for the Prog genre! This was an album that sounded like nothing else out there. It was definitely the one first album to shape the future of many Progressive Rock bands throughout the early to mid Seventies. It was the one album that other experimental Prog bands measured their concepts and goals to. The one album all Progressive Rock lovers praised, and, still to this day, cherish. Often imitated, but never equaled by any measure.

ELP's first album is what defines what progressive rock truly is. ELP's follow-up albums were unique as well. New ideas always came to ELP. But, new progressive bands were growing all around and were competing with ELP with the concept that they created. And eventually, ELP was just lost in the wash of other Prog bands during that era. But, loyalty always goes to the first, of course. The innovator must never be overlooked.

Although other famous Prog bands followed, such as Strawbs, Yes, Pink Floyd, Triumvirat, The Moody Blues, and many others, but Emerson, Lake, and Palmer is the most famous, and most recognized Progressive Rock band in history.

Why does this (absolutely terrific) album cost $9.99 to download, when you can individually download each of the six tracks at $.99 each? What am I missing?

Emerson, Lake, and Palmer are my favorite prog rock band, and this is arguably their most balanced album as a band. On most of their albums, Emerson and Palmer dominated the proceedings, while Lake diddled on his bass guitar, usually playing a simple riff or two while Keith and Carl ripped their instruments a new one. Lake only really shined during the ballads, and probably resented Emerson and Palmer (Emerson especially) for their domination of the band. This album strikes a beautiful balance between all three. The opener, The Barbarian, opens with a killer guitar riff (yes, guitar), then breaks into a blistering version of Bartok's Allegro Barbaro (even though Emerson, Lake, and Palmer are credited with the song). The second song, Take a Pebble, is Greg Lake's most underrated ballad, and it's a damn shame, because it is one of his best songs, and one of ELP's best songs. It's an epic Greg Lake song running 12 1/2 minutes (usually the epic were courtesy of Emerson), and it boasts some great lyrics and amazing beautiful piano work by Emerson. Knife Edge has some great bass playing by Greg, which blends it beautifully with Emerson and Palmer. The Three Fates is mostly Emerson, until the final segment, when they all join in. Tank is a great Palmer drum workout, with excellent keyboard work from Keith and another great bass line from Greg, and Lucky Man closes it. It's Greg's signature song, and it's really all him. The synthesizer solo at the end was an add on. Greg wanted to give Keith something to do on the song, so Keith improvised the solo. ELP would get bigger and better with longer tracks (Tarkus, Karn Evil 9), but here they share more of the music. I'm not saying this is their best album (that's the triple live one), but it's certainly as good as anything they ever put out...

Having worn out many LP copies of this album, the Shout Factory cd is a sonic emprovement over the previous Victory or Rhino versions. Only thing better is the Japanese reissues mentioned by the other reviewers, if you can still find them. If not, this version sounds great to me, although the other Shout Remasters sound much better than this one for some odd reason.This album totally was a revelation to me as a teenager in the 70's. It still is. Emerson was the Beethoven of our generation. A+++ Ricky in KY.

Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Emerson, Lake & Palmer (3.77 stars)
Original Release: November 00, 1970

Songs:

The Barbarian (3 stars)
Instruments combine to evoke the image of a heavy, plodding Barbarian moving across the landscape. The quick work of the drums, however, evoked a sense of listening to the soundtrack of a silent film however. The busy-ness of the instrumentation on this instrumental tends to tire the ear and detract from the passages that creatively evoke the mood that the song aims at.

Take a Pebble (4 stars)
The bass and a profound piano accompany the haunting vocals in the first part of this song. Then with a cascading rhythm layered piano takes over. In the middle of this there is a quiet section with a thoughtful acoustic guitar playing amidst the sounds of water drops. the lyrics are difficult to interpret but I suspect that what they are getting at is how the moments of our lives, successive moments in time, disturb, distort and destroy our memories causing them to fragment and to dissipate as the force of the latest experience propagates in our minds like a pebble thrown into a pool. The quiet mid point of this song might represent a moment when the knower achieves a reflective clarity regarding this relentless process and finds a place of stillness within the perpetual succession of time. Layered piano work has both a timeless cascading part and an ever changing timely part. The end of the song concludes this pleasant and disturbing journey with further descriptive words.

Knife Edge (4 stars)
The menacing lyrics walk you through a mad world with a mildly hypnotic rhythm. The instrumental middle section expands the musical theme and moves briefly to a more ethereal passage. Then its back to the plodding guitar-organ of the openning hard rock theme.

the Three Fates: Clotho/Lachesis/Atropos (4 stars)
Big evil organ opens the song. After a while a piano emerges. The piano playing is strong, colorful, then quiet, gentle. Then the piano swells with a rising passion like ocean waves. Emersons piano work moves through many themes and takes you in many directions with skillful ease. There are lots of interesting textures and moods painted in succession by Emerson in this instrumental. There is a good balance of variety without becoming a tedious jam session. The song ends in an explosion that dissipates just as the next song kicks in.

Tank (3 stars)
In this instrumental the percussive melody paints the picture of some persistent machine moving over the landscape. A drum solo appears which seemlessly fits into the feel of the song as a whole but sounds still like a drum solo. I have a sense of a tank negotiating in its plodding yet nimble way an obstacle course of a landscape as I listen to this song. In the last half of the song a sinister rhythm of synthesizer, drums and and bass kicks in. Then a high-pitched harmonica synthesizer sound plays a strange blues. It is as if the tank has done something of consequence and now lumbers on in some new realm or mad reality. Although the song did engage my imagination it was more difficult to connect with emotionally.

Lucky Man (4 stars)
the lyrics describe a man with women and wealth who performed his duty for his country and found death as ready to take him as anyone else less fortunate. The haunting chorus underscores the lyric's irony. The vocals sound Beatlesque. The song ends as a synthesizer comes in and brings an electric energy that is taunting and haunting all at once.


Album:
The often dense style of Emerson, Lake & Palmer is the best asset and greatest liability. The songs on this album tend to succeed in balancing these things but not always so well. The band's style of play lends itself to themes of madness and relentless motion. The imaginative lyrics and themes seem concerned with dark spirits. The darkness in this album is akin to that of King Crimson's "In the Court of the Crimson King". Lake's vocalizations help to cut down on the density of the instrumentation. This density tends to soure me to their music over time but I have found this album one that has suffered less from than than there other albums from the 70s.

This album is an early progressive rock classic with exceptional musicianship combined with fantasy sound textures that transport you to another world and I recommend the album as a whole to prog rock fans.


MP3 recommendation:

4 Star Songs (4/5 stars)
1. Take a Pebble (4 stars)
2. Knife Edge (4 stars)
3. The Three Fates: Clotho/Lachesis/Atropos (4 stars)
4. Lucky Man (4 stars)

Emerson, Lake and Palmer's debut is a really awesome listen. Even though plenty of rock bands out there have mixed rock with classical bits, the results were never as interesting and as close to classical as this album. This is not only a pretty impressive debut for a band, but a groundbreaking debut from a band that never quite was able to come up with the same level of brilliance ever again.

"The Barbarian" is a great keyboard-dominated fast-paced track that sort of resembles Deep Purple. "Take a Pebble" really changes course by featuring soothing vocal melodies and lush keyboards. There's a short boogie jam in the middle. I forgot to mention that the entire album is dominated with keyboard solos. It's not just a few short solos here and there- it's a pretty lengthy and complex listen.

"Knife-Edge" again reminds me of Deep Purple (the two bands must have been friends). The track 4 medley almost sounds like something recorded in the 1800s with its really powerful and old-fashioned sounding keyboard work. "Tank" actually reminds me of a tank rolling over the hills, though I will admit it's probably the only track here where you can tell it's 70's music. "Lucky Man" is just a beautiful and popular song that doesn't really resemble the rest of the album, but managed to make the band known to the public. To me this song remains fresh even after thousands of listens.

Emerson, Lake and Palmer was never able to come up with another album as enjoyable as this one, though honestly they did come close with their next album. Buy this one first, then the second one.

Here it is 40 years later after first hearing this album as a freshman on a crummy little stereo in my dorm room where I was totally amazed at the sounds coming from the junky speakers.

Now at 58, and with a terrific stereo (Jeff Rowland & Thiel), I am even more amazed. These guys were incredibly talented and I think this is their best work after all is said and done. Even if they had pulled a Blind Faith on us, and only released this album, I think it would still be relevant today. I do not much care for Tarkus, Pictures, or Trilogy, and do not play them anymore as they did not age well for me. BSS has some great moments such as Toccata and it is still in rotation in my library. But it is this first album that I think is overall the most consistently interesting and exciting of all their "Works".

I thank them for their use of classical music in their repertoire, as it steered me toward hearing the original works such as Pictures and Sinfonietta by Janacek. I discovered The Nice and that led me to Sibelius and Tchaikovsky among other. Now my primary choice of music to listen to is classical but it was the influences of ELP, along with Jon Lord, Rick Wakeman, and a few others that took me in that direction.
The sound quality of this cd is truly wonderful and even if you have older versions, it is worth getting if you really like this album. After 40 years, along with Fragile, Machine Head, and a few others, it still is some powerful and complex music and has much to offer the listener. This review is for the Shout Factory reissue.