Customer Reviews

Here Come the Nice: Immediate Anthology

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4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
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Discussions about the birth of that equally feted and reviled musical genre known as progressive rock usually award a little too much credit to the original King Crimson line-up. Their 'pioneering' debut tour de force 'In The Court Of The Crimson King' brought ecstatic praise from most quarters - the sort of praise that often eluded the true pioneers of prog, the Nice. Indeed the group have garnered more fame in the thirty years since their demise as 'that band that used to play with P. P. Arnold and had Keith Emerson in them' than on their own merits. To dismiss the Nice merely as the experimental nursery ground of one of the greatest pianists/organists in rock history, is to do the band a serious injustice. For Emerson, Lake & Palmer fans there is no further excuse not to give Keith's former band a thorough reinvestigation with 'Here Come The Nice' available. The packaging of 'Here Come The Nice' is admittedly somewhere just above shoestring but within there is the band's first three albums - 'The Thoughts Of Emerlist Davjack', 'Ars Longa Vita Brevis' and 'The Nice' - four previously unissued live tracks and a plethora of alternate versions, demoes, stray b-sides and singles. The Immediate label have managed to cram all these delights onto just three compact discs. Also included is a fairly comprehensive history of the band so little needs to be said of that here. A reevaluation of the music of the Nice is, however, long overdue. Their debut LP 'The Thoughts Of Emerlist Davjack' can, quite rightly be seen as one of the epochal releases of the late 1960s. Reviews have been written claiming that ultimately it is too psych for prog fans and too prog for psych fans. This view is easy to understand but doesn't stop their first album being a must for fans of prog and psych as it neatly traverses both genres. It is the most psychedelic of their first three LPs probably because it is the only to feature original guitarist Davy O'List who became disenchanted with Keith Emerson's increasing dominance - a dominance that would lead to Keith himself quitting also in a few years. On 'The Thoughts Of . . .' The Nice show themselves to be capable of being just as bombastic as ELP but also more willing to be subtle and understated at times. The band are probably sick to death of constant comparisons with ELP, but it is worth noting that the standard of recording on Nice records is undoubtedly inferior to that on ELP albums - a fact particularly noticable on 'The Thoughts Of . . .'. There is not even the merest hint of a filler on 'The Thoughts Of . . .' however and the companion singles are also exemplary, particularly their version of 'America' which was legendarily accompanied with a ritual burning of the stars and stripes at Nice gigs. The band's sophomore effort 'Ars Longa Vita Brevis' is remarkable for the side-long title-track subtitled 'Symphony For Group And Orchestra' which is a hugely entertaining, eminently successful and surprisingly enduring experiment in what would come to be termed 'classical rock' with its pioneering use of an orchestra. The group's self-titled third album shows them shorter on ideas than they had ever previously been and they devoted the second side of the record to two, nevertheless brilliant, live performances of 'Rondo' from the debut and extraordinary progged up version of Bob Dylan's 'She Belongs To Me'. There is even the feeling on 'The Nice' of Emerson somewhat taking on the role of band-leader of a jazz combo, especially in the extended, syncopated workouts of 'For Example'. Subsequently the length of the Nice's tours and Keith Emerson's piano and organ soloes would increase exponentially and the pressure would rise to boiling point within the band. This anthology leaves us at the point when the Nice were on the verge of their biggest commercial successes and then their acrimonious split. Progressive, psychedelic, either, neither or both, the Nice remain one of the best kept secrets of the late 60s - a group many have heard of but that few people own material by. The Immediate label have compiled an excellent and exhaustive box set here and with the band's two other CDs 'Elegy' and 'Five Bridges', this is an essential purchase.

The rarities included in this box set overcome the one or two shortcomings.

PROS:
1. The Sampler for the Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack LP is an extremely rare radio promo for the great 1967 first album.

2. America : I) America/II) Second Amendment [Live Newcastle '68] is a rare live track that contains Davy O'List who is obviously on something here as he barely gets through the beggining of the number and is out of sync with the rest of the band, no wonder he was fired soon after this live recording.

3. Pathetique Symphony 4th [Live Fairfields Hall '69]- They had already released the Pathetique Symphony movement 3, this is the rarely performed movement 4 with Lee Jacksons eerie narration.

CONS:
1. single 4 minute version of the Brandenburger is right after the long version of ARS LONGA Vita Brevis(brandenburger suite) which is a little redundant, they should of placed it on the 3rd rarities disc.

2. Between Rondo "69" & She Belongs to Me (Live at Fillmore East, New York)there is an awful edit not heard on the original record "everything as nice as mother makes it" Keith originally says "this is a song by Bob Dylan call She Belongs to me" here he says "this is a song by Bo.......then the song starts abruptly,a bad edit of a classic live show from the Fillmore.

On a positive note, IF you get this, Five Bridges and Elegy, you'll have a complete Nice collection.

This three CD set is an absolute must for anyone interested in the music of the nineteen sixties. It is difficult to understand that there was an awful lot more to music in the 1960's than the West Coast rock which dominated the latter part of the decade.

Some of that music re-emerged with the new Van Morrison album of May 2002 with it's early sixties r'n'b styles evocative of the music that the Beatles, Stones and Them were listening to and playing and the jazz of the period. The Nice were part of a trend that came to be known as Progressive in Britain which grew out of the growing number of musicians who were influenced by a wider musical heritage. If Fairport Convention were the progressive side of folk music then the Nice were the progressive side of classical - long before Yes got the idea.

The music on the CDs is not all of the legacy of the Nice. Other recordings for other labels still exist but some of the most powerful compositions and performances of the Nice are contained here on these three discs. There are some novelties to be sure but in the main each one is packed with excellent songs, playing and virtuosity. The Nice were a band with an awesome stage act not just because of Emerson's dagger throwing antics. Only Steve Winwood could coax better sound from a Hammond organ.

Standout tracks for me are the incredible 'Rondo' especially the live version from Newcastle upon Tyne. A crowd favourite this was a regular at the Mecca in Sunderland well into the early 1970s; and the spectaculr live version of 'America' at the same venue.

Emerson Lake and Palmer, and the much inferior Atomic Rooster tended to obscure the music of the Nice as the 1970s eclipsed much of the sixties music but as the passage of time allows for greater scope for investigation their seminal work in the progressive area is at long last being recognised and given the credit it deserves.

This is an awesome collection which certainly bridges (sorry about the pun)the worlds of classical and rock in a way that no other band has done either before or since. It certainly is a clear signal to other labels to dig out those other Nice tracks out from the vaults to perhaps give audiences access to a fuller recording of the 'Five Bridges' for example.

Two thumbs up

I own all three The Nice CDs, Elegy, The Nice with Keith Emerson and now this box set, which contains additional material etc. I first learned about The Nice many years ago, after following everyone else, listening to ELP/YES, In retrospect, I think the body of music made by The Nice appearing in this collection compared to the collected works of ELP/YES (albeit some of their stuff was good) - put The Nice way ahead because the bulk of ELP/YES music is/was inconsistent.
It is amazing The Nice recorded & split over 20 years ago! While it has been some time since I played their CDs - the music is always "new" for me. It is all here in this anthology notwithstanding, some dated lyrics & Keith's capable tinklings, I especially like the tracks from the first CD with Davy O'List - where the guitar is used more for rhythm than as a "lead". Jackson & Davison are also an excellent back up to their main "star" Emerson.
This set is a MUST HAVE in my Desert Island collection!

My only real complaint is that everyone is talking about Emerson and his B3 Hammond - Emerson played a C3 Hammond in ELP and an L-100 in the Nice - to my knowledge has NEVER used a B3- Oh this 3 disc set is nice (probably MORE than you needed!)

It was great to revisit some of the classic recordings. Everything else just seemed like overkill. How many different versions of America does any one listener really need? Apparently, judging by this set, there's always one more that they can pull out. Thank god for the skip track button on my steering wheel.

As the author of the Jefferson Airplane book "Take Me To A Circus Tent" and a former radio disc-jockey, I am often asked to write and or discuss various recordings from the 60's and 70's.

As a fanatical collector of Emerson, Lake, & Palmer material I can tell you first hand how the Nice should have gotten more accolades and into more record collections. When people discuss the birth of progressive rock they may talk about the Soft Machine or the brilliant second album by the Moody Blues ("Days Of Future Passed"). Factual history shows the Nice were formed and rehearsing music the same time the Moody Blues entered the studio for "Days Of Future Passed" (May 1967).

The Nice did sell their share of vinyl but it should have been in greater quantities. Even though many would discover the music after the fact as ELP's stellar albums and stage shows had the masses take note of the bands previous musical activities. Sometimes the only representation was a greatest hits package. While it gave an introduction to what the Nice were capable of, you need to fully digest the original recordings.

"Here Come the Nice: The Immediate Anthology", enables you to experience the first three releases- "The Thoughts Of Emerlist Davjack", "Ars Longa Vita Brevis", and "The Nice." As an added bonus you'll get to feast on previously unreleased live recordings, demos, alternates, etc. On the first record the band had four pieces, Keith Emerson, Lee Jackson on bass and vocals, Brian Davison on drums, and Davy O'List on guitar and vocals. Davy and Keith didn't always see eye to eye and the band would soon become a trio.

During the festivities you most likely will recognize the definitive versions of "Rondo" and "America" but there is a plethora of additional genius. "Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack" is mesmerizing in capturing a bit of psychedelia, pop, and progressive in a short time span, "Cry of Eugene" is spellbinding in the way it attacks the mind with ferocious sounds, "Brandenburger" gives an insight to Keith Emerson's magic touch on any piano or keyboard, Tim Hardin's "Hang On To A Dream" is hauntingly arranged, and "Diary Of An Empty Day" fits into the neighborhood of "Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack."

These are only a handful of the standouts. Be prepared to explore something nice, very nice.

Enjoy the music and be well,
Craig Fenton
Author of the Jefferson Airplane book "Take Me To A Circus Tent"

"Here Comes The Nice" collects all the albums, singles and a whole bunch of outtakes from their time on the British independent label Immediate. This is an excellent collection for anyone trying to familiarize themselves with the Nice or update their old vinyl copies. In fact if you bought the string of reissues from the early 90's or some of the dodgy compilations that appeared on CD in the 80's, you certainly owe it to yourself to purchase this collection as it is unbelievable the improvement in sound quality. The Nice features Keith Emerson, who is better remembered as one-third of 70's rock supergroup Emerson, Lake and Palmer. While Lee Jackson (bass and vocals), Brian Davison (drums) and David O'List (guitar and vocals) don't have the chops of Carl Palmer and Greg Lake, they are pretty good musicians and add a human element that makes The Nice far more listen-able than any ELP album. This predates Emerson's Moog wizardry as he sticks to mostly a Hammond A100 organ and piano with an occasional Mellotron.

My only gripe is this collection only features the monaural mixes of "Diamond Hard Blue Apples Of The Moon" and "Azrael (Angel of Death)". While only the monaural versions were released on the original singles, the stereo versions of those tracks have appeared as bonus tracks on their later (and not as good) albums "Five Bridges"(1970) and "Elegy" (1971) as well as the 1972 compilation "Autumn '67 to Spring '68". As those mixes are markedly different and all the other tracks from the "Autumn '67 to Spring '68" collection appear here, that sort of leave the collection slightly incomplete. Other from that very, very minor problem, this collection is essential to anyone interested in sophisticated late 60's psychedelic music.

This is a compilation of the three albums the Nice put out during their time together. There were 2 posthumous releases after they broke up (The Five Bridges and Elegy), but The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack, Ars Longa Vita Brevis, and "Nice" were the three main releases, and this is what comprises this anthology. Any fan of prog rock (especially ELP) has got to give these a listen.

The first one, The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack, sounds, at times, like a pyschedelic artifact, with distorted guitar and echoing vocals. In other words, very pyschedlic effects that everyone was doing at the time. But then, there's Emerson's organ/keyboard work, which gave this band (and ELP) their unique sound. There seemed to be a bit of a battle here for dominance between the guitarist David O'List and Emerson, which Emerson won handily. The album also has the first rendition of Rondo, a favorite piece of the Nice that Emerson took with him when he joined ELP. The version here, while good, seems a bit tentative. The shorter version on the "Nice" album is actually tighter and better. This is my least favorite of the three albums, as Emerson is still finding his voice.

The 2nd album, Ars Longa Vita Brevis, is better. It has a great, famous cover of America, a song that the Nice played often and made them infamous when they burned an American flag on stage at the Royal Albert Hall when playing this tune. ELP put this one in their repetoire, and played it in concert quite often. The cover of Karelia Suite by Sibelius is awesome, one of the signature tunes of the Nice. And this album has their first side long suite (a staple of ELP), the title track. It's very good. O'List appears briefly on this track. He quit the band midway through this album because he couldn't compete with Keith Emerson's keyboards. After O'List's departure, Emerson really dominated the band, leading to....

Their final official studio album, just titled "Nice". This is the best of the three, with one side studio (the first four tracks), and one side live (2 tracks). The live tracks are the best, with the Nice's best rendition of Rondo (called Rondo '69 here). It's tight and intense. It's just as good as ELP versions of the songs. The album also has an epic cover of Dylan's She Belongs to Me. The Nice completely deconstruct the song, and turn it into a monster prog rock jam. The studio tracks are pretty good, too. Azrael Revisited and For Example are the best (with some horns on For Example), and there's a studio version of Hang On To a Dream. I personally like the extra long version on Elegy (which ran 12 1/2 minutes), but this one is pretty damn good.

Overall, the Nice were a good band, though not a great one. Emerson easily outshone his band members. Lee Jackson, the bassist, lyricist, and singer, was average at best. He really couldn't sing too well (especially compared to Greg Lake), and his lyrics and bass playing is workmanlike. Brian Davison is a good drummer (and a better musician than Lee Jackson), but no Carl Palmer. And many of the songs are not especially well constructed (especially the studio tracks on the first two albums). But if you really dig prog rock, there is enough here to make it a worthwhile listen.

In this compilation you will find everything you know about the Nice...and more!
Great presentation and better compilation of studio and live recordings.