Customer Reviews

Works Live

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

 

 

That's the reason for the 'flat' sound on the majority of this recording...most of the Montreal Works '77 show was recorded on a two-track machine out at the board ( due to the multitrack recorder having failed on location, according to Keith Emerson ). Listen to the difference in sound quality between "Knife-Edge", "Fanfare", "Pictures"...and "Peter Gunn", "Tiger in a Spotlight", etc ( the latter ones from multitrack mixes done at a different venue, regardless of what this CDs liner notes claim ). They did the best they could to salvage this show for posterity, which was the PA mix feed going into the 2-track ( hence the predominantly mono sound on those cuts ).
What baffles me, after all these years, is that they obviously went to the trouble to have professionally recorded at least one other concert, sans orchestra ( Wheeling, West Virginia, according to the King Biscuit CD liner notes ). I'm convinced that multitrack versions of Tarkus, Hoedown, Pictures, Nutrocker exist from 1977...why they didn't go back to these tapes for the "fleshing out" of this album is simply beyond me. While I'm indulging in speculation, for that matter, why didn't they opt for recording with the orchestra during the three nights at Madison Square Garden instead? Might have been able to get another 24-track out to the venue, at least to have recorded the remaining one or two shows...ah, what could have been!

An air of melancholy and finality always haunted "In Concert" (1979), the last of three live albums that progressive rock supergroup Emerson Lake & Palmer released during the 1970s. It lacked most of ELP's signature songs from the early 1970s, suffered from lackluster production values, and always paled next to 1974's "Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends...", a triple live LP now available as a 2 CD set. Progressive rock's critics seized upon the relative briefness of "In Concert" - and the truncated tour it documented - as emblematic of ELP's decline. But the CD era brought new life to this formerly moribund collection. "Works Live" expands "In Concert" to a double CD, giving ELP's late-70s period a live record worthy of its output.

All the tracks from "In Concert" are here: a spirited rendition of the "Peter Gunn" theme; a surprisingly energetic "Tiger in a Spotlight;" the exquisite Greg Lake ballad "C'est La Vie;" a boisterous adaptation of Prokofiev's "The Enemy God Dances with the Black Spirits;" and a magnificent, 15-minute condensation of ELP's adaptation of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition." I actually (and somewhat heretically) prefer this focused version of "Pictures" to the longer, sloppier version on the earlier album of the same name (1972). Unfortunately, the remastering job didn't help "Knife-Edge" and "Piano Concerto No. 1," two tracks that still suffer from lo-fi mixes.

To the original "In Concert" set, "Works Live" adds seven tracks, most of them from ELP's two "Works" albums that this tour (which featured a full orchestra) supported. Of the added tracks, "Abaddon's Bolero" and "Fanfare for the Common Man" benefit the most from orchestral accompaniment (the latter sounding particularly majestic with live trumpets). "Watching Over You" and "Closer to Believing" further demonstrate Lake's considerable talent for balladry. "Maple Leaf Rag" and "Show Me the Way to Go Home," admittedly minor entries in the ELP oeuvre, add diversity to the proceedings. A twelve-minute "Tank," complete with Carl Palmer drum solo, provides a grand finale.

"Works Live" represents ELP's proper farewell to the 1970s in a way the abbreviated "In Concert" failed to do. It effectively captures the ambition of ELP's "Works" albums and tour, warts and all.

Originally released as a terrible-sounding one-disc recording, this expanded version is a major improvement. It's still not on the level of 1973's epic 'Welcome Back My Friends, to the Show That Never Ends', but it's definitely worth owning, just for Pictures At An Exhibition (complete with orchestra) and Tiger In A Spotlight (light years better than the studio version on Works II).

It's got exactly the same cover as the album "In Concert", which was a very skimpy offering as ELP live albums go. That one consisted of the Concerto and a handful of stuff on the other side. Apparently the band decided that a switch to a new label gave them the chance to put the rest of the Montreal show back in, more than doubling the size of the earlier release. The Concerto's still here, but now we get more than 5 lousy songs. This is what an ELP live album is supposed to be--BIG. Lots of music. Lots of variety in the music. Except for the fact that the whole thing is from the same performance, what we have here is "Welcome Back My Friends Vol. 2"!

Just when you thought ELP couldn't get any bigger, they get a whole flippin' orchestra to back them. And the outcome is absolutely incredible. Recorded live in 1977, this record features some of the band's best music to date. Some highlights include the orchestral arrangement of "Pictures at an Exhibition," the Lake ballads, Emerson's "Piano Concerto No. 1, 3rd Movement," and the awe-inspiring Palmer-feature "Tank." Even though the Emerson-run-amok solo in "Fanfare for the Common Man" is ... eh ..., I think the rest of the album makes up for it many times over.
Considering that I was -5 years old at the time of this recording, I'm grateful for anything that captures ELP in their prime. This CD, along with "Welcome Back...," does that very well, and I am very happy with this CD. I cannot rave enough about it. Also try to get the video that goes along with this concert. There are a few different songs and some wonderful 70's hair. Good stuff.

I bought this cd used in mid-December 2011 to recover some old albums in my collection and I am not of those who buy by download, because the files are often cut for reasons of bad rip. Pay 2.60 and the seller sent me the U.S.A. edition of 1993 2 CD's Label: Victory (distributed by Polygram in those years) and is supervised by Bill Levenson, who has remastered most of the material of Universal Music in the last 20 years at least. I am no fan of this band at all, just bought it for the Intro + Peter Gunn and but the price what I paid not expect a first-class audio, but not bad could be even worse. But for those who want to recover material without such excellence (I am, Yes, but in this case...) recommend it and I assure you will be better to do download. Scans can see where the picture of the product and see front, back and info on my purchase with my name. JASP.

When I was younger there was an condensed version of this same concert on LP that I loved. Not only is the music I was already familiar with as good as I remembered but there are also extra tracks on the CD that just added to this great live album. I would recommend this album for it's inventive and ecclectic use of various styles of music to anyone.

This was originally released as a single LP, called "In Concert". It was only 43 minutes long. It was also released as a CD.

This "new" album is now a 2 CD set which is double in length, at about 87 minutes. The name was changed to "Works Live" and the hue of the the album cover was changed from a dark blue to a sickly light blue-green.

If they went through the trouble of expanding this album, you wonder why they didn't include the whole concert, instead of just 87 minutes of it. You know they were playing Pirates at the time (there is even a skull and crossbones over the stage). Maybe with an orchestra, Pirates would have been more interesting.

For this concert, Emerson, Lake and Palmer was touring with an orchestra and chorus. The tour was a financial failure and the orchestra and chorus had to be ditched part way through. I think it was also an artistic failure, which is why it was also a financial failure. The latter part of the tour, without the orchestra can be heard in the King Biscuit CD. I think it is better for the most part.

Except for the wonderful version of Tank, I don't think the orchestra added any value to the songs. In many cases, like on Knife Edge, I think they made the songs worse. This is Emerson, Lake and Palmer, with Keith Emerson and his deck of synthesizers and Carl Palmer sometimes playing synthesized drums, and Greg Lake sometimes playing a guitar through a synthesizer. They create a wall of sound. Why would they, of any group, need an orchestra?

The original "In Concert" was just horrible, with a terrible song selection. The only good tracks are the new ones added for "Works Live".

The good new tracks are a great version of Tank, that does put the orchestra to good use. There is a very nice jazzy section at the beginning of the track. Show Me the Way to Go Home is done in a great blues style. It is different than anything the group has done, and it is very nicely done.

The 2 "Works" studio albums are not ELP at their best, although "Works 1" includes few of ELP classics (like Pirates and Concerto and Fanfare, that personaly i think has too many live versions). "Works live" sounds tired and heavy as the 2 studio albums, plus a "bonus" of a "flat" sound. The earlier "Welcome back my friends..." from 1974 is much better and "happier" album, that represents the good old ELP. 25 years after the recording, "Works live" sounds boring, tired, fat and unimportant album. No wonder, that it took them one more album to end the band for the first time - they locked their musical direction in a dead end street as a band, (and if i understand right, their relations were as bad at this time). Lucky us - 15 years later, during their comeback, they recorded a great live album (Royal Albert Hall, 1992) that brought us back the good old spirit, and also sounds much better. The rest, including Greg Lake's voice - is history.

First of all, I believe some of the recordings on the first side, where the band plays as a trio (without orchestra) were not recorded in Montreal, but in West Virginia in November, 1977! Very odd that these recordings would be included, and orchestrated versions of The Enemy God, Pirates, among others; would be left out...?

I saw ELP in New York with the orchestra in July, 1977... it was a strange show. Very good, but not quite ELP. I never liked the shortened version of "Pictures". In NYC "Tarkus" was shortened also, though Tarkus is not on this CD. In NYC, it was obvious the band was having trouble, and that was a bit sad.

This album is sad too. You can perceptively feel difficulty and strain. The music is good - they hit all the notes and the orchestra sounds good; but the (then) confirmed idea that this huge tour was a big mistake seems palpable. All of them - Emerson, Lake and Palmer - seem to have a collective broken heart. I was struck by this fact when I first heard it.

I also agree with a previous reviewer who wonders why they didn't release music from the entire concert. Why put the 3 piece stuff in there from West Virginia? ...and why leave Pirates out? ... it sounded very fine live in NYC, and it was probably the best ELP piece with the orchestra. Bewildering. Probably the record company's idea... makes those of us who didn't make music a career glad we didn't I guess.

This CD is worth having, particularly if you know the history behind it. It's a good reminder to any artist to always try and do the impossible. But "Works Live" seems somehow filled with melancholy. It has none of the exuberance of the 1975 "Welcome Back..." live album. No doubt odd that an album like this could have an undercurrent of regret and disappointment in it, but it does.