Customer Reviews

King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents in Concert

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

 

 

This is not only a Greg Lake concert but a Gary Moore one at that. Greg brought Gary on tour with him and Gary does play guitar on Greg Lake's first solo album. But live in concert, Gary Moore just blows Greg, the audience, and you away! Gary probably rates 3rd on my live guitarist list(behind Steve Morse/Ted Nugent) but that doesn't make those 2 any better. Anyway, Greg Lake kicks things off with Fanfare which leads into Gary's Nuclear Attack, an explosive version where Greg sings lead. Greg does do solo material like The Lie and I love You To Much which are really good. There is also Lucky Man and another Gary Moore song Parisenne Walkaways, which Gary does a blistering solo, OUCH! There are more songs but the encore is just terrific, Greg does some King Crimson. 21st Century and In The Court Of The Crimson King. Gary's guitar just blows away Robert Fripp. This must be heard to be believed! This is one of the best King Biscuit shows ever!

Another nice CD release from the King Biscuit label archives.One thing about this eleven track disc that I couldn't help but to notice is that Mr.Lake and crew does sound quite a bit different than ELP.Keeping that in mind,'In Concert...' is a pretty decent assembled live recording.There are a couple of ELP staples here,like "Fanfare For The Common Man","Karn Evil 9" and one of Lake's signature songs "Lucky Man".Included also are three cuts from Lake's self-titled debut lp "Nuclear Attack","Retribution Drive" and "Love You To Much".Since guitarist Gary Moore was on this tour,there's a decent Moore/Phil Lynott tune that I don't believe I've ever heard before "Parisienne Walkways".Something that we may never get the chance to hear live again are two King Crimson tracks that closes the set,a sizzling "21st Century Schizoid Man" and an incredible performance of "In The Court Of the Crimson King".CD is a REAL treat for fans and collectors alike.

Recorded in 1980. Greg Lake's voice has lost a lot of its bloom.

But this performance, after I'd thought he'd shot his bolt, musically speaking, is a real surprise. Lake still sounds pretty good; and the band, featuring Gary Moore, is easily the third best band I've ever heard Lake sing with.

Er, that's a joke, considering the other two bands are the hallowed King Crimson and ELP... What I mean is, this band is a much more ordinary, straight-ahead rock band, but they're incredibly good, especially Gary Moore.

It features a lot of songs from Lake's just-released solo album with the same line-up, which I think is called "Greg Lake". The live versions on this King Biscuit Flower Hour CD are better in every case than the studio versions on "Greg Lake".

The weakest song is a piece of utter rock wierdness. Can you imagine Bob Dylan co-writing a song with Greg Lake? I certainly can't. As you'd expect from two such utterly different talents, the song, "I love you too much" by Dylan/Lake, isn't a very good example of either writer's work. But it's a real curiosity, though.

As a bonus you get "Lucky Man" and the Smokey Robinson and the Miracles soul classic "You really got a hold on me", on which Lake is reasonably fly, for a white guy. Then there's the BIG bonus, dynamite versions of "21st Century Schizoid Man" and "Court of the Crimson King" that don't just hold their own against the King Crimson versions - in some ways (heresy alert!) these may be the best-ever recordings of these two songs. So there!

Pretty good stuff.

Laon

I'm a fan of Emerson, Lake & Palmer with my tastes leaning towards the Greg Lake-sung compositions. His voice was simply majestic.
"Pirates", "Lucky Man", "Karn Evil", his side on "Works". The musicianship of Keith Emerson and power of Carl Palmer (especially) is integral as well. What seperates ELP from other groups of talented musicians (Led Zep, Pink Floyd, Allmans) is that this group did get carried away with self indulgence. Musicianship is great but this is a rock and roll band where the "songs" should be the focus.

Taking Greg Lake's vocals out of the mix also takes the heart of the song as well. On this live performance "Lucky Man" and an abridged "Karn Evil 9" is superior to the ELP versions since you get the cream.

Having virtuoso guitarist Gary Moore on this doesn't hurt. "Fanfare for the common man" takes on a whole new look as a scorching, guitar-infused rocker as opposed to it's previously keyboard-driven version. It works wonderfully and is a great opening number coming from a member of ELP.

The King Crimson classics, "20th Century Schizoid Man" and "Court of the Crimson King fit perfectly into this show since Lake was part of that band.

The other songs are of quality and allow Gary Moore to emerge from the side and have his playing take a deserving equal billing.

This cd is great for any fan of ELP, prog music and scorching guitar work. It also shows, in hindsight, thhat [perhaps] ELP should have pared down some of their songs focusing on the melody rather than pomp and circumstance.

Greg Lake's voice is absolutely beautiful!

I have owned this CD for a while. My copy was released in '95 and has different packaging from what is shown here, but it is the same CD. Most of the tracks are okay but nothing particularly special. In fact, when I play this CD, I won't even both with the first five tracks, because not even the performance of "Fanfare for the Common Man" is particularly good in my opinion. "Lucky Man" is a decent live rendition, worth listening to if only to hear a different live rendition. But it doesn't really stand out as special, and after that, there are three more forgettable tracks, and then we get to what makes this CD worth buying. The live rendition of "21st Century Schizoid Man" is truly special. For anyone who particularly appreciates this song, this live rendition is a must-have, itself reason enough to buy this CD. The performance of "In the Court ..." starts out promising but deteriorates about midway through, first by the onslaught of some very nasty high-pitched feedback that occurred during the live performance (this might have been cleaned out of the later release, but I doubt it), and then by some really unnecessary effects that only manage to mimic a street siren, which are annoying and which sealed the deal on this rendition of this track for me. So to summarize, what you get here is a truly special live performance of "21st Century Man", and for me, that is reason enough for this CD to belong in my collection.

Recorded on Guy Fawkes day November 5th 1981, this concert was certainly full of fireworks. Recorded during the world tour at the Hammersmith Odeon, England, for his first solo album (simply titled "Greg Lake"). The show presented Lake on a London stage for the first time since the demise of his previous band "Emerson, Lake and Palmer".

With its Massive American radio audience, the King Biscuit Flower Hour gave Lake's fans in the states a chance to hear him with this powerful guitar driven band, before they started their American leg of the tour. Now, gladly, it's out on C.D, a concert to be cherished.

It was imperative for Lake to have a solo band as good as the one he was able to assemble for the tour this album comes from. After all he was rising from the ashes of E.L.P., one of the most successful bands in the history of music. At the time of their break-up, E.L.P. had gone out with a whimper. With this band behind him, Greg Lake re-emerged with a blinding bang.

Lake was able to assemble a crackerjack line-up that included guitar virtuoso Gary Moore (fresh out of one of his many stints with hard rock legends Thin Lizzy and at the onset of his own solo career), Sensational Alex Harvey Band and Rory Gallagher drummer Ted McKenna. Very talented and very mercenary keyboardist Tommy Eyre (he jumped bands so often that he had played the Reading festival eight different times with eight different bands), and the marvelously monickered Tristram Margetts on bass. All five had worked on Lake's solo album along with members of Toto, ex King Crimson drummer Mike Giles, and Bruce Springsteen sidekick Clarence Clemmons on sax.

First as a founding member, lead vocalist, writer and bassist for King Crimson, and then, as a superstar for a decade in E.L.P., Greg Lake was among the pioneers of the Progressive Rock Movement. From the bombastic crunch of "21st Century Man" to the acoustic simplicity of "Lucky Man" at the time he launched his solo career, the voice of Greg Lake had been a staple on both top 40 and album-orientated radio.

Though the tour was used primarily as a way of promoting his solo album, Lake was not afraid to utilize the best elements from his past or his fellow band members. He was able to re-invent a few of the E.L.P. and King Crimson classics. He even did a re-make of the old Miracles hit "You Really Got A Hold On Me".

From their opening medley of "Fanfare" and "Karn Evil 9" through to the ethereal impact of "In The Court Of The Crimson King", this Biscuit performance exhibits the scope and depth of Greg Lake's contribution to contemporary music.

As in any real live album (no chance of overdubs here) there are a couple of minor flaws - the odd burst of feedback, a couple of notes that go off the mark, but then again that's what Rock `n' Roll is all about.

Of the four tracks from the solo album, stand out track is "Love You Too Much". It was co-written with none other them Bob Dylan and an all-out belter it is, too. A fine concert on a fine night by a fine band.
Mott the Dog.

Greg Lake's voice is legendary, and here he displays the power and emotion that made ELP chart-toppers. His voice is still rich and resonant, though a little deeper, and when he hits five notes in one word it makes you understand what using a voice as an instrument is all about. Best rendition of "Lucky Man" I have ever heard (and not one of my favorites); not bad for what is admittedly a last minute filler for ELP's first album.
The rest is what you'd expect from an 80's type album. If you liked Aldo Nova, you'll like this. Gary Moore's guitar sounds like Carlos Santana's on 'Pariesenne' and is quite good if you like lots of guitar riffs. Excellent tracks from his King Crimson days for the ending. If you want to hear Lake's famous vocal hits from ELP, better to get the 'From the Beginning' retrospective, at least for disc one. If you like Greg Lake's voice no matter what, this is not a bad CD.

For those who liked King Crimson ( original) were excited by ELP forming, and like rock music ( and gary Moore )this is very good. Good covers of classics, tremendous guitar from Gary Moore and a couple of tunes I didn't know, put together with good quality sound.

Had I been there I am sure this gig would have been way up there, as a live CD the quality is excellent.

A seriously good value purchase.

This CD is a recording of a 1981 live show broadcasted on the King Biscuit syndicated radio show. It is 58 minutes long and the sound quality is very good. The sound quality is much better than some recently recorded live albums, like anything by Dave Matthews. The CD was originally released in 1995 with a slightly different cover than it has now. Note that the track listing is slightly incorrect. The one minute excerpt of Karn Evel 9 is actually at the beginning of the second track and not part of the first track.

Greg Lake's backup band is a group of "studio" musicians. These are capable to very good musicians who have been in and out of many bands. Sometimes, they are an integral part of the band, such as Gary Moore in Colosseum II. But, mostly, they are hired guns that fill in a gap for one or two albums, or for a concert tour, such as Gary Moore in Thin Lizzy.

The CD is a combination of Greg Lake's classic work with Emerson, Lake and Palmer and King Crimson, plus his new solo career.

The solo material is in the style of corporate rock of the eighties, with screaming over-emotional vocals, cheap guitar tricks and bad lyrics. Songs like Nuclear Attack are just horrible.

On these songs, Lake's vocals are not very good. He sounds hoarse and his voice strained. He sings Smokey Robinson's You Really Got a Hold on Me without any soul what so ever. It sounds like he is at the end of a very long concert tour. His vocals are slightly better on classic material, where he doesn't try to force it. But, they aren't up there with some of his best performances.

Love You Too Much is a song that Lake co-wrote with Bob Dylan. Just because a song has Dylan writing credits, doesn't make it a good song. Just listen to Dylan and Dead. The song is played in a pedestrian way with no emotion.

The star of his backup band is Gary Moore. But during the solo material, he resorts to the cheap guitar tricks that every imitator of Eddie Van Halen was doing at the time. This is surprising, since he is such a good guitarist. Like Lake's vocals, his guitar playing really improves on the classic material.

The versions of the classic material are OK and are what prevent this from being a one star CD. They are slightly different interpretations of the originals, which keep them interesting. There are some good guitar and keyboard solos during them. However, they are not so different that they make this CD worth buying.

I am not a prog-head or someone who thinks Lake should continue doing ELP or KC forever. I am not one who wants to hear all the old classics revisited. I applaud him trying to do new things. It is just that there is a stark difference between the way this band plays new material and classic material and how it sounds.

This is a nice concert by Greg Lake from Emerson Lake & Palmer. He played some great songs on this concert. Highly recommended!