Live at the Royal Albert Hall [Live, Original recording reissued]

Emerson Lake & Palmer | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 21, 1996)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live, Original recording reissued
• Label: Rhino / Wea
• ASIN: B0000033PC
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  DVD
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #339,363 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Karn Evil 9

2. Tarkus Medley: Eruption/Stones of Years/Iconoclast

3. Knife Edge

4. Paper Blood

5. Romeo and Juliet

6. Creole Dance

7. Still...You Turn Me On

8. Lucky Man

9. Black Moon

10. Pirates

11. Finale: Fanfare for the Common Man/America/Rondo

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but nowhere near "Welcome back my friends...", September 21, 2001

By 

Manny Hernandez "@askmanny" (Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Live at the Royal Albert Hall (Audio CD)

When you approach the discography of Emerson Lake and Palmer, you are sure to find a dozen or maybe more "Best of" albums trying to summarize the true essence of the band. The truth is that none of them accomplish that. If you want an album, live or recorded in studio, that brings out the soul of the band, "Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends," not this one, has to be your choice.

ELP was a trio of virtuoso musicians, each of which continues to be recognized as one of the best at his instrument of all times. Keith Emerson played the piano and keyboards as a true maestro. Greg Lake (who started with prog-rock school, King Crimson) was a magician with his voice, the bass guitar and the acoustic guitar. And Carl Palmer, who ended up in Asia after ELP part I, I consider to be one of the fastest and most precise drummers there is, along with Phil Collins and Rush's Neil Pert.

Unfortunately, at this point in their careers (1992), you can tell that they're not the same as they were back in the 70s: Lake's voice has grown thick, and Emerson has suffered from severe health problems which affected the band for a few years after the release of the "Black Moon" (their studio recording that preceeded this live album). Thinking about it, it's not fair to expect them to be the same giants of 20-30 years ago, but being objective, this is not their best live production. However, I give it four stars.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best live concerts, October 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Live at the Royal Albert Hall (Audio CD)

ELP together again and touring a great new album (Black Moon, 1992).

Highly recommended. You get a good selection of songs, the older ones improved with the benefit of the latest Keyboard and Drum technology.

"Pirates" sounds incredible on this disc. Emerson is amazing, and Palmer is at his energetic best, adding fierce double-bass patterns to an already complex song.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Some very good, some bad, but mostly boring, September 19, 2002

By 

kireviewer (Sunnyvale, Ca United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Live at the Royal Albert Hall (Audio CD)

This is a live album to support the Black Moon album after the group got back together in 1992. It is 70 minutes long. I doubt that it represents the whole concert, because the group usually plays for 2 hours. There are only 3 really good tracks on this album.

The sound quality is pretty good, but there is a buzz that comes and goes. It is most pronounced at the beginning. The dynamic range is OK but could be better. Sometimes the mix is muted and at times, you don't get to hear Palmer the way he should be heard.

Don't be fooled by the first track, Karn Evil 9. It is only a one minute excerpt where there sing Welcome Back My Friends to the Show That Never Ends. It is how the group always starts a show, just like Roger Waters always starts with In The Flesh.

The album moves right into a fantastic 9 minute excerpt from Tarkus. This is one of the best things ever by the group. It is very lively and much better than the studio version. It sets up high hopes for the rest of the album, which are soon disappointed.

Next is Knife Edge, which is fairly good, but rather short and not the best version of the song.

From there, the album becomes boring until the end. The new material is not very good, and the band plays it just like the studio versions. For those who hated the acoustic version of Lucky Man on Welcome Back My Friends, here is a complete version with the Moog solo at the end. But, it is played just like the studio version.

In the middle is one very nice track, Creole Dance, that is an interesting keyboard solo.

The second to the last track is Pirates, which sounds like a boring show tune. It wasn't good on Works, and nothing is done to change it on this album. The group should leave this kind of thing to Gilbert and Sullivan.

The last track is a medley of Fanfare for the Common Man, America and Rondo. It's start out fairly routine, just covering the main themes of Fanfare and America. It gets very lively when it breaks into Rondo. America and Rondo come from Emeron's days with the Nice.

This album is definitly better than the dreadful Works-Live. But, Welcome Back My Friends is far superior to either. Another great album to get is Nice-The Swedish Seesions. That has a really raw, energetic version of Rondo.