Customer Reviews

Trilogy

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Emerson,Lake & Palmer really hit it's stride with "Trilogy".From ambitious epics("The Endlees Enigma" and the title track) to playful Americana-spiced numbers("The Sheriff" and "Hoedown"),from sensitive and mellow("From The Beginning",their sole Top 40 hit)to dark and brutal("Living Sin"),this record neatly encapsulates the full range of everthing ELP had done up to this point into a cohesive,impressive whole.Like the other Shout! Factory ELP reissues Emerson, Lake & Palmer,Tarkus and Pictures at an Exhibition,the remastered sound quality(which,like the other three,was done by Andy Pearce at Masterpiece London)is both stunning-sharp,warm and crystal clear-and a big improvement over the dull-sounding,outdated Atlantic,Victory and Rhino versions of the 80's and 90's.And despite a lack of bonus tracks,no fan of ELP or prog-rock should hesitate to upgrade with this reasonabley-priced remastered jewel.

TRILOGY is another great ELP CD. Shout! has proven that it can do ELP the same justice that it did the Marshall Tucker Band, with this CD being just another example of how a great remastering job can overcome the limitations of the original source. Even the Rhino remaster didn't do right by this album, but Shout! finally did.

This is one of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer's best studio albums. It has a much more polished feel than Tarkus did, and the songwriting (save for one song) is exemplary. The opening song, The Endless Enigma, is one of their signature songs, another epic (running 10 1/2 minutes if you include the fugue), and one that doesn't get put into the category of epic ELP tracks (but it should). It also has some of Lake's best lyrics, brooding and mysterious. From the Beginning is one of Lake's loveliest ballads, and Emerson and Palmer's accompaniment is really subtle and compliments the song beautifully. The Sheriff is really intricate and entertaining, and I love Hoedown. The title track is majestic, with some of Emerson's best piano playing ever. The final track, Abaddon's Bolero, starts out slowly, but builds to a magnificent climax. The only dud here is Living Sin, mainly due to the smarmy, sleazy lyrics. The music isn't bad, but the lyrics (and Lake's vocal) really detract from it. But aside from that one song, the album is pretty damn perfect, and it's one of ELP's best studio albums.

Back in Detroit, in the late fall of 1974; I was still listening to AM radio. Of course, every Saturday, I tuned in to the Casey Kasem American Top Forty. Disco was just beginning and some of the silliest songs started to become the most popular songs. So, my aunt introduced me to an FM rock station, and I started to hear music with more depth and intensity. I started to listen to Robin Trower, Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper, Queen, Aerosmith, and the such.

But then, I started hearing those FM rock stations playing older, more unusual expressions of rock. I paid more attention to the instrumentation of the music, and in turn, I discovered Progressive Rock. In one day, I discovered King Crimson's "In the Court of the Crimson King", then "And You and I" by Yes, and then the title track from Emerson, Lake, and Palmer's "Trilogy." That was it! I never played AM radio again. In fact, I began to hate the songs that I thought I loved earlier. Nevermore. I was on a new path for what music meant to me. I never played my 45's ever again (well, not for quite a long time anyway). My first stereo that I bought was an 8-track tape stereo, with a turntable on top. I started buying 8-track tapes for rock albums, but I definitely bought vinyl LP's for my favorite Progressive Rock albums. I made the mistake of buying Yes' "Close to The Edge" and Pink Floyd's "Meddle" and "Dark Side of the Moon" on 8-track tape. The best songs were cut in half and that was upsetting. Why, on earth, did they make 8-track tapes in the first place?

Anyway, when I bought the album of ELP's "Trilogy", I played side 2 over and over again for several times before I ever played the first side. Progressive Rock artists are Gods. They turned music into Science Fiction and Fantasy. Today's kids have adventurous colorful videos games that take them into other worlds. That is was Progressive Rock did for me back when I was 13 years old. Progressive Rock was a pivot point in my life. And Emerson, Lake, and Palmer is still the music that I cherish the most to this day.

Loved this album back in the summer of 1972 and I can still easily listen to it today. Trilogy could very well have the most beautiful assortment of melodies on any ELP album. "The Endless Enigma" and the title track "Trilogy" would have been enjoyed by Chopin or Tchikovski if they heard them back in the day. Although 1973's Brain Salad Surgery is considered by most to be the defining moment for ELP, this wonderful precursor released the year prior will always be my personal favorite.

I should also add that ALL of the Shout Factory ELP remasters from 2008 sound fantastic........ except for Brain Salad Surgery. For some strange reason, Shout Factory was provided with a muddy and muffled copy tape of "BBS" for their 2008 release. However, this remaster of Trilogy from Shout Factory is absolutely wonderful!!

I originally bought this album back in 1972 when I was 15. At the time I thought it was excellent but somehow I managed to lose my copy. Last week I purchased the CD and enjoyed it all over again.

ELP became one of those bands that the music critics hated. They will never make it into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame just like Yes, King Crimson, Focus, Deep Purple and the Moody Blues. In fact, most of the bands I liked around this time. Zeppelin and Floyd were too successful to be excluded.

ELP's music stands up better than much of the stuff from this era. Keith Emerson really could play the piano. I have always loved Greg Lake's song From The Beginning and I didn't realize that Aaron Copelnd wrote Hoedown until years later. ELP were real musicians and it's sad that rock music started to regress later in the decade. Anything ambitious was viewed as pretentious. Luckily I'm at an age where I don't have to pretend that I like Elvis Costello.
This record is worth listening to.

It's wonderful to see this album on CD. I owned it on vinyl back in the 70's but haven't heard it for God knows how long, so it was like greeting a long-lost friend when I bought this. "Trilogy" is without doubt ELP's most accessible album, released when they were riding a massive wave of popularity (topping the UK'S NME and Melody Maker readers polls in just about every section). ELP were not to everyone's taste however - the late John Peel once famously called them "a waste of eletricity, and talent too".
Trilogy was their fourth and most commercially sucessful album, doing especially well in the USA. I would describe it as a prog. rock album that appeals even to people who don't really like prog. rock (e.g. me).
Keith Emerson's moog playing is more inspired than ever, especially on "Abbadon's Bolero" and on an excellent version of the excellent Aaron Copland's excellent "Hoedown" from the excellent "Rodeo" (pretty excellent don'tcha think?). Lake's largely acoustic "From The Beginning" has a laid back west-coast feel complete with quiet, bubbling synth playing and some lovely Joe Lala style hand percussion from Palmer. A great sounding track, very different from the usual ELP fare, and I for one would have liked to have seen the band produce more material like this. The title track gives the trio space to show how well they work individually and collectively.
All in all this is a great 1970's album which, unlike many of its contemporaries, has not really dated at all.

This isn't ELP's most known album, but it is one of their best. Updated classical(Fugue)to ballad(From the Beginning)to revamped square dance (Hoedown)to more innovative ELP!

This was ahead of its time when it came out in the early '70s and it still rocks!

Emerson Lake and Palmer are just a bunch of self-assured snobs from the Uni who think they know more than the average person. And from listening to 'Hoedown', I'd agree with them. Some sought of classical/country boogie that moves so much it makes you sweat! Who'd have thought such a combination was possible? And who else would put a serious prog number, such as 'Endless Enigma' on the same album as a novelty C&W number (Sheriff?)

Scared to release a 5 star album, Emerson, Lake AND Palmer wisely put a couple of duds at the end of the album. And Greg Lake's standing as 'sexiest man in progressive rock' was not threatened either.

Prog and fun? Not sure if the ABWH(&S) boys have considered the possibility. (Well B did, but that's another matter!) Rating ****