Customer Reviews

Welcome Back My Friends to the Show That Never Ends

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I was hesitant to purchase this remastered copy, since I had already purchased, what was then a "remastered" copy back in '93, on the Victory label that ELP had just begun having their back catalogue released. However, there is a definite improvement in the sound quality of this remaster. There is greater presence and clarity to the mix and the separation between instruments sounds improved. Previously, the overall sound seemed "far away" in its quality. This has largely been improved with this new remaster. Well worth the double dip if you're an ELP fanatic.

This was my introduction to ELP, and it is still one of my all time favorites. When it came out, it was a triple album (most bands can barely fill one album, let alone three). Triple albums were rarely done back in the vinyl days. Only Frank Zappa (who released many triple albums, like Thing-Fish and the Shut Up and Play Yer Guitar series) and The Clash (with Sandinista!) are the only ones that ring a bell. ELP have enough invention and creativity to fill a 3 LP set and then some. The album reached #4 on the chart, which shows the immense popularity (deservedly so) for this band. Many found them bombastic and over the top, but that's the bloody point, isn't it? The music is larger than life, it's spectacular! There are only 8 tracks on the whole album, and it covers ELP's best stuff. The live Karn Evil 9 is worth buying the CD for. If bands today had only half the imagination and stamina of ELP, the world would be a better place. Critics found them pretentious, but who would you rather see? Rock critics performing, or 3 great musicians performing. This is a band that never released a godawful album (even Love Beach and In the Hot Seat have their moments). Their sheer talent came through in every note. ELP rules!

And it was the: "Biggest Show on Earth", three musicians with more raw talent and power than anyone else of their time. I was a fan of ELP from the first album onwards. These three guys were the kings of something that would later be tagged: "Progressive Rock". To most of my friends that were into Grand Funk Railroad and Alice Cooper, the only songs by this band that they could stand were: "Lucky Man" & "From The Begining".
You didn't play: "Tarkus" at a party in 1972 {unless you wanted to clear the room!}

I was one of the 350,000 freaks, that attended California Jam at The Ontario Motor Speedway in 1974. Emerson, Lake and Palmer closed that very long Show following Deep Purple to the massive stage. Everybody remembers that grand piano 25 feet over the stage doing somersaults as Keith bashed away at the keys {most of us thought that we "Flashed" that event into happening!} The computer exploded at the end of: "Karn Evil 9" and fireworks filled the skies at the end. What carried all that into the history books was that some incredible music was played that night by ELP.

This was a three LP set, it was taken from various locations from the 1973-1974 tours of the world. Yes, "Hoedown" is played too fast and "Toccata" needs to be seen, to be believed {Carl Palmer is an Octopus!} But for me, the selection that I have listened to more times than anything else here is: "Piano Improvisations", that provides a little taste of what Keith Emerson can do on any given stage on any night of the week.

Is this music over the top? Is this music too bombastic? Are these musicians a group of show-offs? Yes, they are guilty on all the above charges. And it was well known in the early seventies, that no other band could take a stage after them. No other band could follow this spectacle called: ELP.
This is the band at their pinnacle, and it is captured here on: "Welcome Back". Here is one of the greatest live albums from the 1970's.
Impressive to hear in 1974, and still sounds like no other in 2008.
Four Stars !!!

This is a classic live album. I've never heard more talent and energy come out of any band before. Great remastered version by Shout Factory. Starts off with "Hoedown", every review states that it is played too fast. Huh? The faster version is more exciting. Then Keith announces that they're going "to get into a little Brain Salad Surgery", which is met with thunderous applause. How many bands get THAT reaction from new material? Most people come to hear the "old stuff"....."Jerusalem" is great on this album, Greg's vocals are beautiful. He was blessed with the most awesome voice in all of progressive rock. Not to mention being a founding member of both King Crimson and ELP. This qualifies him for a special detached wing in the Progressive Hall of Fame (if there ever was one). The complete, extended, perfectly played version of "Tarkus", taken from the Anaheim Convention Center show, is the main reason you have to purchase this CD. I attended this show and all 3 members of the band took turns completely blowing us away. Keith had a portable keyboard and jumped off the stage and ran down the center aisle poking his instrument into peoples' delighted faces. Emerson the showman was unmatched. "Piano Improvisions" proves that he has as much total command of the piano as his array of sythns and other keyboards. His favorite is the Hammond B-3, he always turns to play it at the best moments. This is how the Hammond should be played. "Karn Evil 9" is awesome on this album, much better than the studio version if this is possible. At the end of the very long song, Keith's massive cordboard moves to the front of the stage BY ITSELF and begins to spin.....it then blows up! Too much! The lights go up and the 3 of them are standing there with towels waving goodnight. The album doesn't even include the encore, which was "The Great Gates of Kiev"....didn't fit onto the vinyl, which was already a triple LP. I've always wished that the band would have FILMED this unforgettable tour. The professionalism and talent were immense. This was one of the all-time greatest bands ever and this CD should be in your collection. Compare this to anything that has come out in the last 30 years. There is no comparison.

There are some who liked this Shout Factory remaster better then the Rhino Records version, but I didn't hear any significant improvement. I have the original Rhino / Wea CD release and this one, and they both sound about the same to me, doing a careful A/B with audiophile headphones, a headphone amp, and audiophile CD player. It's a great live album though, and has what I think is the best-ever recorded rock drum solo, thanks to Carl Palmer. The live version of "Aquatarkus" is worth the price of the album alone, as is "Tocatta." But sonically, this wasn't any miraculous re-mastering job....what we need is a re-mixing of this album. I do think this version offers sound improvement over the Victory release of the early 90's, which I also have.

Astonishing as much for its energy as its originality and versatility, this CD documents a mind-blowing concert tour by the legendary progressive power trio. The band rips through the opening "Hoedown" at breakneck speed and never looks back. "Jerusalem" is suitably inspiring, and the piece by Ginastera is totally off the hook, Palmer going crazy on the synthesized percussion. Before you've caught your breath, they're into a complete "Tarkus" (including a much expanded "Aquatarkus") that just blows the doors off the studio version, which now seems awkward and mechanical by comparison. After this revelation they finally downshift for an acoustic set built within the framework of "Take a Pebble" (from their debut album) and including Lake's solo performances of "Still... You Turn Me On" and "Lucky Man", this latter probably being the only real disappointment of the concert. Emerson takes over for the piano section, doing an amazing 12 minutes of what's called "Piano Improvisations", demonstrating that much as he enjoys his toys and gimmicks, he's still a spectacular musician without them. Then to continue in a lighter vein, the band gives us a playful "Jeremy Bender/The Sheriff" medley before settling down for the brutality of "Karn Evil 9". Since this piece was from their current album at the time, the difference between the live and studio versions isn't as dramatic as "Tarkus" for example, but the power of their playing still carries the material to new heights. Palmer's drum solo from the "1st Impression" is especially noteworthy, a self-contained composition evocative of a train leaving a station. Music with this kind of grandeur and technical bravado may not be to everyone's taste - it's not called art rock for nothing - but to my mind it's ELP's intensity, the way they attack the material rather than just reciting it, that makes this the greatest live recording of the progressive era, and a legitimate contender for the best live album of all time.

It was November, 1973 and at 16 I was still a novice at concert viewing. Before this show it was shows like Three Dog Night, Chicago and Bread! Wow! What a surprise! Never before and never again have I seen a better show! To see the massive speaker assembly on stage and the same on the opposite end of the arena was a sight for the eyes as well as the ears.
Those of us who got to see the show in Salt Lake City got a little different intro than the classic album title phrase. The night before their show the boys decided to go skinny dipping in the hotel outdoor pool. (In freezing temps mind you!) They were quickly arrested. So the intro at the show was "Direct from the Salt Lake County Jail..."

I play the cd and my youth is revisited! Still the best live album ever made! Enjoy it! I still do!

Well, I imagine most people purchasing this on CD probably had it on vinyl or tape many years ago. But if there's anyone who's never heard this live recording of ELP, I'll try to explain. ELP was one of the top progressive rock bands of the 70s, combining rock with jazz and classical, and wanting to remain entertaining the whole time. They released many very successful studio albums, but on this live album you can really hear how the energy of the crowd feeds the band and pushes them up yet another notch. It is noteworthy that the music is amazingly "full" sounding....this is a band of only three people, there is no backing tracks, no midi, no sequencing...in fact, there wasn't even a polyphonic synthesizer invented yet.

A gem of an album by the best progressive rockers of their period. No one can come close to the talent of these three. A must have....

Recorded in 1974, this marked the best live recording of ELP (the original release was a triple disc LP, something very rare indeed). The full versions of Tarkus and Karn Evil 9, a wonderful version of Hoedown, and the splendid Piano Improvisations by Keith Emerson mark the high-points of this grand recording. What a power trio -- they broke ground with the use of synthesizers in live venues and defined progressive rock for a decade. Still to actually see the trio in a live setting is something that can never be fully captured, even by a live recording.