Vivacitas: Live at Glasgow 2002

Keith Emerson | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 26, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 3
• Label: Sanctuary Records
• ASIN: B00064VQB2
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #81,287 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You can decide if it is worth the price, March 12, 2004

By 

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

This review is from: Vivacitas: Live At Glasgow 2002 (Audio CD)

I will tell you what this is exactly, and then you can decide if is worth the price. If you search you might be able to find it at lower price. If you don't want to pay this price, you might want to get the Nice's Swedish Radio Sessions instead.

Keith Emerson went on a short tour with the two members of the Nice (Lee Jackson and Brian Davison)plus a three other musicians who were in an ELP tribure band. This is from the show in Glasgow.

The first disc is around 50 minutes long and features the Nice, plus David Kilimister, from the tribue band on guitar. The second CD is 40 minutes long and does not feature the Nice. The first two tracks are keyboard solos from Emerson. The remaining tracks feature the members of the tribute band. The sound quality is very good to excellent. The third disc is a 22 minute interview with the Nice, talking about what is was like to play in concert 30 years ago.

The first disc, featuring the Nice, is very good. Unlike what another reveiwer said, it is not a note perfect copy of the original Nice. They play every song in a new and different way. Some of the new renditions are great.

It starts out with a Rondo/America medly. Both tunes have been overplayed by Emerson, both with the Nice and with ELP. So, hearing them again can be tedious, especially on some of the later ELP live records. But, here they are given a new treatment with other bits of music mixed in. So, for the most part it is fairly interesting. Here, as on a number of the tracks, the addition of Kilimister's guitar adds new depth to the work.

Next is a really fun and very good jazzy rendition of Little Arabella and a rocky version of She Belongs To Me, with a searing guitar solo. This is followed by the worst track on the album, Cry of Eugene. This is the worst version of the song I have ever heard, and it has a very lame guitar solo. Jackson never had a good voice and it is really rough here. The best version of Cry of Eugene done by Lee Jackson's group called Jackson Heights (and it is the best song that group does).

The version of Hang On To A Dream is completely different than any other version and features a long accoustic guitar solo. It is extremely good. However, I still prefer the version on Elegy, which features one of the best keyboard solos of all time. But, I am glad that the group just didn't try to duplicate what it has done before.

Country Pie is fairly good, but suffers from the keyboard playing at the end, which sounds like it was pulled out of Van Halen's Jump.

The final track is a searing version Karella Suite, which has some firely guitar and keyboard solos.

Overall, this is a 4 to 5 star disc, and would be worth buying on its own at a reasonable price.

On the second CD, the first 2 piano solos are fairly interesting, but nothing significantly different than what Emerson has done before.

These are followed by a complete 20 minute version of Tarkus. It is played differently than how ELP has done it in the past. It is very good and very energetic. It is played differently enough that it is worth owning (unlike the live version of Pirates, by ELP, for instance). The only downside is Kilimister's vocals. He sounds like a screaming corporate rock lead singer, like something you would hear from Kansas or Foreigner.

The final tracks are Hoe Down and Fanfare for the Common Man, which are 2 more tracks that have been overplayed by Emerson. The odd thing is that the original studio versions of these 2 tracks still remain the best and most energetic versions. These tunes are played different than the originals, but I don't think anything is added to make these worth owning.

The Nice started out as a quartet, with David O'List on guitar. O'List was more of a leader than Emerson in the beginning. The CD, The Swedish Radio Sessions, captures the Nice before their first record was released. It is a great album. The band was more jazz oriented and O'List was an amazing guitar player. O'List only stayed for two albums. The group continued on without a guitartist and became more classical oriented. The Nice was on the leading edge of "Art Rock".

The Nice's lead singer has been Lee Jackson, who really doesn't have a good enough voice to lead a band. He would be a great secondary singer, doing choruses. At times, he has this very unique whine that adds an interesting texture and atmosphere to some of the songs. Jackson even admits on the interview CD that he isn't a lead singer, and if the Nice reformed, he would like to add a guitarist and lead singer.

I think the Nice's two best albums are Elegy, (with the fantastic Hang on To A Dream) and the Swedish Tapes. This CD is a nice addition, but it is questionable if it is worth the price.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Some very nice parts, February 22, 2006

By 

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

This review is from: Vivacitas: Live at Glasgow 2002 (Audio CD)

This is a US release of the very expensive British import. The cover on this release is black on white. On the import, the cover is more colorul with a black background.

Keith Emerson went on a short tour with the two members of the Nice (Lee Jackson and Brian Davison)plus a three other musicians who were in an ELP tribure band. This is from the show in Glasgow.

The first disc is around 50 minutes long and features the Nice, plus David Kilimister, from the tribue band on guitar. The second CD is 40 minutes long and does not feature the Nice. The first two tracks are keyboard solos from Emerson. The remaining tracks feature the members of the tribute band. The sound quality is very good to excellent. The third disc is a 22 minute interview with the Nice, talking about what is was like to play in concert 30 years ago.

The first disc, featuring the Nice, is very good. Unlike what another reveiwer said, it is not a note perfect copy of the original Nice. They play every song in a new and different way. Some of the new renditions are great.

It starts out with a Rondo/America medly. Both tunes have been overplayed by Emerson, both with the Nice and with ELP. So, hearing them again can be tedious, especially on some of the later ELP live records. But, here they are given a new treatment with other bits of music mixed in. So, for the most part it is fairly interesting. Here, as on a number of the tracks, the addition of Kilimister's guitar adds new depth to the work.

Next is a really fun and very good jazzy rendition of Little Arabella and a rocky version of She Belongs To Me, with a searing guitar solo. This is followed by the worst track on the album, Cry of Eugene. This is the worst version of the song I have ever heard, and it has a very lame guitar solo. Jackson never had a good voice and it is really rough here. The best version of Cry of Eugene done by Lee Jackson's group called Jackson Heights (and it is the best song that group does).

The version of Hang On To A Dream is completely different than any other version and features a long accoustic guitar solo. It is extremely good. However, I still prefer the version on Elegy, which features one of the best keyboard solos of all time. But, I am glad that the group just didn't try to duplicate what it has done before.

Country Pie is fairly good, but suffers from the keyboard playing at the end, which sounds like it was pulled out of Van Halen's Jump.

The final track is a searing version Karella Suite, which has some firely guitar and keyboard solos.

Overall, this is a 4 to 5 star disc, and would be worth buying on its own at a reasonable price.

On the second CD, the first 2 piano solos are fairly interesting, but nothing significantly different than what Emerson has done before.

These are followed by a complete 20 minute version of Tarkus. It is played differently than how ELP has done it in the past. It is very good and very energetic. It is played differently enough that it is worth owning (unlike the live version of Pirates, by ELP, for instance). The only downside is Kilimister's vocals. He sounds like a screaming corporate rock lead singer, like something you would hear from Kansas or Foreigner.

The final tracks are Hoe Down and Fanfare for the Common Man, which are 2 more tracks that have been overplayed by Emerson. The odd thing is that the original studio versions of these 2 tracks still remain the best and most energetic versions. These tunes are played different than the originals, but I don't think anything is added to make these worth owning.

The Nice started out as a quartet, with David O'List on guitar. O'List was more of a leader than Emerson in the beginning. The CD, The Swedish Radio Sessions, captures the Nice before their first record was released. It is a great album. The band was more jazz oriented and O'List was an amazing guitar player. O'List only stayed for two albums. The group continued on without a guitartist and became more classical oriented. The Nice was on the leading edge of "Art Rock".

The Nice's lead singer has been Lee Jackson, who really doesn't have a good enough voice to lead a band. He would be a great secondary singer, doing choruses. At times, he has this very unique whine that adds an interesting texture and atmosphere to some of the songs. Jackson even admits on the interview CD that he isn't a lead singer, and if the Nice reformed, he would like to add a guitarist and lead singer.

I think the Nice's two best albums are Elegy, (with the fantastic Hang on To A Dream) and the Swedish Tapes. This CD is a nice addition, but it is questionable if it is worth the price.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars tjdigit, December 1, 2003

By 

"tjdigit" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vivacitas: Live At Glasgow 2002 (Audio CD)

I just got the CD box a few days ago and enjoyed it very, very much. When I came here to write a review, I was rather shocked to see so many low ratings for this collection. While some of the criticisms are valid, I still believe this CD collection is at least a 4 as there is a lot of good stuff here. Here is the breakdown on my rating:

CD1 - All Nice titles; I don't think I ever heard the Nice sound so good! With the addition of Dave Kilminster on lead guitar and Pete Riley/Phil Williams backfilling on drums/guitar, I think all of the Nice titles sounded rich, full and delicious. My favorites were America/Rondo, Hang On To a Dream and Country Pie. This whole disc was a real pleasant surprise. Total score: 5+

CD2 - This was the Emerson/ELP side; Some pluses and minuses here. Tarkus was a slight disapppointment; virtually no vocals and they gutted Battlefield to just a few bars (my favorite part!!! Damn!) but I liked the guitar riffs. Also, Aquatarkus sounded just like it was off the original album so I enjoyed that (except the ending which sounded a little thin). Fanfare for the Common Man was OK; the Albert Hall version has yet to be beat IMHO. Hoedown was tasty. Overall, I rate this disc as slightly uneven. Total score: 3.

CD3 - No score. Just a BS interview that was OK, but I wish they put music here instead of meandering banter.

Overall score: 4 If you're a die-hard ELP fan (like me), you'll still enjoy this collection.