Emerson Lake & Palmer Discography

[Jaq]

In The Hot Seat has more excuses for being awful than Love Beach does, but yeah, let's wait til we get to that one. 

[Orbert]

I'm watching a DVD called "Emerson, Lake & Palmer: The Manticore Special" (yeah there's a comma, they suck) and it's pretty good.  This is my second time through it, so most of this is from memory:

Old-fashioned double-sided DVD.  Side One is from 1977, the Works tour, with orchestra.  The setlist is pretty awesome.  Opens with "The Enemy God", then the short bit from "Karn Evil 9" that they always play on the radio (1st Impression Part 2), Lake does "C'est la Vie" (Emerson does the accordion solo!) and "Lucky Man", Emerson does the third movement from Piano Concerto No. 1 (the "rockin'" movement), we get "Tank" (with drum solo), the shortened version of "Pictures at an Exhibition", both band tunes from Works Volume 1 ("Pirates" and "Fanfare for the Common Man"), and some other stuff.  An hour and a half.

Video quality is very good, especially for the time, and with minimal silly video effects.  Plenty of good close-ups where appropriate, some shots of the orchestra when they're doing specific things (horns when they're blasting, strings when they're stringing, etc.).  They obviously had a lot of cameras, and someone who knew the music well enough to catch specific shots.

Sound quality is pretty good.  Mono, but soundbound mix so nice and clean.  One annoyning thing is that they occassionally crank up the audience reactions louder than necessary, and it's kinda silly.  There are cool parts where the audience breaks into applause, and they felt it necessary to crank the applause way up, which gets annoying after a while.  But it doesn't spoil the whole show or anything.

Side Two is from 1974, and is mostly behind-the-scenes stuff from the Brain Salad Surgery tour, and some concert footage, but not as much as I would've liked.  Still, some good stuff.  It has the feel of "extras" when a greater emphasis on the 1974 concert would've been more interesting.  But the Works concert footage is clearly the main attraction.

Recommended for at least a watch or two.

[Perpetual Change]

OK, I'm learning two things about this discography thread.

1.) I must not like ELP as much as I thought I did, because this much ELP (and we're still on the relatively good stuff) is absolutely exhausting me. Every time a new album gets posted, a feeling of dread washes over me like, "ah, crap, now I gotta listen to ELP again today." It's weird, because updates haven't been too frequent or anything like that. I guess I really just overestimated how fond I was over the band.

2.) Works Vol. 2 is really underrated. It is really ELP's "B-sides and rarities" album, and it's actually very good. Whereas Works Vol. 1 is long, drawn-out, and boring, and also features no songs where the band actually sound like they are capable of writing good music together (Pirates don't count-- someone else wrote much of that), Works Vol. 2 is obviously full of material that hails from a better time for ELP. Yeah, it doesn't follow the traditional ELP album format, but it's pretty good. Two of the Lake songs on here are better than anything on Works Vol. 1, and much of the stuff on the real albums. Palmer's percussion-oriented instrumental is pretty lively, and sounds more ELP-ish than most of what was on Works Vol. 1. There are no band "epics" here, but there are a handful of good full-band tunes.

I feel kinda ashamed that I overlooked Vol. 2 for so long. My experience with Vol. 1 previously had been so uneventful that the last thing I wanted to hear was more of the same, and I'm pleasantly surprised to discover that Vol. 2 is not "more of the same" but actually more of loose ends from ELP's classic run.

Would be kinda cool if Yes had an album full of extra material from their goldern era just sitting around on tapes somewhere

[Orbert]

Works Volume 2 isn't just an album of outtakes and B-sides.  There are the three leftovers from Brain Salad Surgery, but since the Works project was conceived of as a multi-volume affair from the start, I don't realy consider the leftovers from Works Volume 1 to be "leftovers" as such.  They just didn't fit the format.  Emerson's Piano Concerto is cool the way it occupies the whole side.  Yeah, they could've fit the Joplin rag and "Barrel-House Shakedown" onto his side, but that would have been kinda bizarre and even more eclectic than it already was.  Two more Lake songs added to the five would've just been overkill, really.  And the other Palmer tunes and group tunes, same deal.  That's why Volume 2 came out half a year later.  It was the direct follow-up, the rest of the story.

I do know what you mean about ELP being overwhelming.  They're so over-the-top that it can actually be difficult and exhausting to listen to them too much.

[KevShmev]

Very little from this album ever really stuck with me.  I Believe in Father Christmas and Watching Over You are both nice, but nothing else is anything I care to hear ever again.  Even Tiger in a Spotlight is mostly lame, IMO.

[Orbert]

I imagine "Tiger in a Spotlight" being written on piano, and since it's just a twelve-bar blues, the same one featured in thousands of other songs, including Emerson's own "Piano Improvisations" (and he didn't even bother changing the key) it was pretty useless.  But then he got the idea to play it on a polyphonic synth, one of the very first ones evah, and it sounded amazing and they said "This must be the first song on the album!"

It struck me at some point that a good portion of the Keith's songs are basic 12-bar blues.  That's partly why I stressed listening to each song on its own merits, and try not to consider the album as a whole.  As an album, these 12 short works fail (they don't "work" -- ha ha).  And I'm not thrilled with "Bullfrog", though some people seem to like it because of all the percussion madness later on, and some of the others, either.  But I read a lot of reviews for this one, and for every one I thought was a clunker, there were people who liked them.

This one was a tough writeup.  I always wrestle with how objective and how subjective to be.  When I listen to the albums each time, I always come away feeling more positive about albums I originally held in lower regard.  Always, no exceptions (so far).  So I try to point out positive things and maybe things that people can pick up and have a similar, positive experience.  But I'd be lying if I said I don't understand why people slag on this album, and it's certainly not one of my favorites.

[Ben_Jamin]

Give me two essential albums and two rare/obscure albums to buy. I've been looking to get into ELP and this is a good way to start.

[Orbert]

The self-titled first album is essential because it shows where they came from and how they came right out of the gate, screaming.  Brain Salad Surgery is essential because it is generally considered their apex.

Pictures at an Exhibition is more rare/obscure but is awesome if you can handle long-form adaptations of classical works.  I don't know how rare or obscure their first live album is, but Welcome Back My Friends, to the Show That Never Ends is where I started and I was hooked for life.

[ytserush]

Works Volume 2 isn't just an album of outtakes and B-sides.  There are the three leftovers from Brain Salad Surgery, but since the Works project was conceived of as a multi-volume affair from the start, I don't realy consider the leftovers from Works Volume 1 to be "leftovers" as such.  They just didn't fit the format.  Emerson's Piano Concerto is cool the way it occupies the whole side.  Yeah, they could've fit the Joplin rag and "Barrel-House Shakedown" onto his side, but that would have been kinda bizarre and even more eclectic than it already was.  Two more Lake songs added to the five would've just been overkill, really.  And the other Palmer tunes and group tunes, same deal.  That's why Volume 2 came out half a year later.  It was the direct follow-up, the rest of the story.

That was part of what I was trying to say.  I still like Volume 2 quite a bit even though compared to Volume 1 it kind of comes of as ELP-lite, which of course doesn't make it bad, just different.

[Orbert]

Emerson Lake & Palmer: Love Beach (1978)




All I Want Is You  2:35
Love Beach  2:46
Taste of My Love  3:32
The Gambler  3:22
For You  4:28
Canario (From Fantasia para un Gentilhombre)  4:00
Memoirs of an Officer and a Gentleman  20:16
  Prologue / The Education of a Gentleman
  Love at First Sight
  Letters from the Front
  Honourable Company (A March)

----------

1978 was a tough year for Prog.  The "Golden Age of Prog" was clearly over.  Punk and New Wave were gaining traction, and suddenly all that wondrous, experimental, limit-pushing music that was lauded just a few short years earlier was being scorned and ridiculed.  Nobody wanted 10-minute songs where the band showed off their chops.  They wanted songs that you could dance to.  Also, the music business was changing.  There seemed to be a greater emphasis on hits and the next popular song or trend, and fewer labels were willing to indulge artists the way the used to.  Yes released Tormato, an album of eight songs and overall much less Prog than anything they'd done since their first two albums.  Genesis released ...And Then There Were Three..., their first step towards reinventing themselves as a three-piece Pop band who never quite forgot their Prog roots, but they were able to adapt to the changing musical landscape, eventually thriving in it.

Emerson Lake & Palmer's attempt to adapt was Love Beach.  It is overwhelmingly regarded as the weakest of their 70's output, and had ELP not reformed years later, it would have gone down in history as their weakest of all.  That particular superlative, unfortunately, now has multiple candidates.

Atlantic wanted hits; they wanted to sell records.  They knew that most hits were love songs by sexy young artists, so they "encouraged" Emerson Lake & Palmer to adjust their image and approach.  A sexy cover and a album full of love songs, and you're sure to score big.  Because Keith, Greg, and Carl had started in the business at such young ages, they were still still pretty young when they made this album, and actually had a shot at passing for "sexy young artists".  The result is shown above.

Carl Palmer, and youngest of the three and usually the quiet one, was the most outspoken against the cover.  He hated it.  He said that they looked like The Bee Gees.





Love Beach kicks off with a song by Greg Lake and Pete Sinfield called "All I Want Is You".  Pete had been helping out with lyrics since Brain Salad Surgery, helped with all five original songs on Works Volume Two, and was basically Greg's writing partner at this point.  "All I Want Is You" is full of clichés and bad rhymes.  The drumming is solid, but Keith is reduced to providing synth fills here and there.

The equally silly and clichéd title track is next.  It is slightly longer, but still well under three minutes, and no better than the album opener.  Keith's synth patches are a little better, the drumming again is tight... actually the playing and the production on this album overall is quite good.  It's just that the songs are weak.  They're attempts by a band to be something that they are not.

Greg and Pete's "Taste of My Love" is just as suggestive and cringeworthy as you might think, based on its title.  That's three strikes, guys.

Ohhh, you look so hungry woman
How come you strayed in here with your eyes so bright
On this long hot night?
Could it be for a taste of my love?
Down on your knees...

"The Gambler" is a little better than what came before, although that's faint praise.  The fourth track on the album and the first with Emerson in the credits, the music is somewhat more interesting, and at least it's not a love song.  Instead, it's a "swagger" song, full of machismo and false bravado.

I said I'm a gambler, there's no question of that,
but I never gamble on a woman, that's a matter of fact.

My favorite song on the album is "For You".  It seems to me that buried underneath all the unnecessary keyboards, electric guitars, and percussion is one of Greg Lake's most beautiful ballads.  Yes, it's another love song, but this one's actually good.  Greg usually has one per album, and this is it.  I would love to hear a stripped-down, voice and guitar version of this song.  Instead, they've built it up into a huge production number.  It doesn't ruin the song, although it does come close.  Okay, that's not really fair.  It's actually kinda cool what they've done with it.  But musically and production-wise, it's the most complex piece on the album, and they should have just gone the other way with it.

It wouldn't be an Emerson Lake & Palmer album without at least one instrumental adapted from a classical work, and here we get "Canario" by Joaquín Rodrigo, from a suite entitled "Fantasia para un Gentilhombre" (Fantasia for a Gentleman) written for classical guitarist Andrés Segovia.  After a bombastic intro, it breaks into a shuffle beat reminiscent of ELP's version of "Fanfare for the Common Man" (from Works Volume One) but when the synth lead comes in, we realize that it's actually a bona fide 12/8, not a shuffle.  It's actually a fun little tune.  It moves along quickly and doesn't overstay its welcome, which ELP instrumentals have the tendency to do sometimes.

The epic which occupied Side Two of the original LP is "Memoirs of an Officer and a Gentleman".  Apparently, with Keith's music and Pete Sinfield's lyrics, they didn't need Greg at all; this is the only original work on the album with no credit to Greg Lake.  It's a four-part suite which is just what its title suggests, memoirs of a young man in 20th-century England, schooled, sent to officer training, and eventually off to fight in World War II.  It is easily the highlight of the album, but beware; it is not an ELP epic like in the old days.

"Prologue / The Education of a Gentleman" sets the tone with some understated grand piano work and Greg's rich voice.  A young man grows up in pre-war England and, like most young men from well-to-do families, goes off to boarding school.  He will, of course, someday be a gentleman.  The drums, bass, and synths come in for the "Education" part and move things along.

"Love at First Sight" again features Keith on the grand piano, using all 88 keys and laying down a glorious backdrop of chords and arpeggios for Greg's soaring voice.  During the break, an acoustic guitar comes in, then tuned percussion.  All of the music is elegant and beautiful, if not quite what we were hoping for with ELP's new epic.  Our young hero meets a girl, and it's love at first sight.  They marry just before he's sent off to the war.

"Letter from the Front" is excerpts from letters, and through them we follow things both at the front and back home.  It's not explicitly stated, but there's a sudden change in the music (and in Greg's voice) and the implication is that she has been killed during a German air raid.  Decorations and respect inside the club aren't compensation when you lose the one you love.  But in the end, all that is left is the regiment, and what it means to be an officer and a gentleman.

"Honourable Company (A March)" is the closing movement.  It's an instrumental, a march, somewhat reminiscent of "Abaddon's Bolero" from Trilogy but with a bit more pizazz and a military feel.  It fades out at the end, too quickly, leaving a rather unsatisfied feeling.

And for the second album in a row, we're left thinking "Is that it?"  And the answer is Yes.  No crazy synth-driven madness, a few instrumentals, including one that's up-tempo, but nothing particularly mind-blowing.  No Hammond, and not a lot of synth, really, except for the two instrumentals.  The synths add some color to Greg's lame songs, and the real star of the second half is the Steinway grand piano.  Which is actually pretty sweet.  There's some really great playing in that closing suite.  But let's face it, it's no "Tarkus" or "Karn Evil 9".

By this point, it was pretty clear that the well was dry.  After the recording and photo sessions in Nassau, The Bahamas -- generally regarded as one of the most beautiful locations on the planet -- Emerson, Lake, and Palmer were sick of each other and couldn't wait to leave.  Actually most of them didn't wait.  There are Engineer credits, even Art Direction and Photography credits, but no Production credits on the album.  According to Keith, that's because everyone left, leaving him to finish putting the album together.  ELP were contractually obligated to Atlantic for one more album, so here it was.

Emerson Lake & Palmer broke up after this album.  No one was surprised.

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

Not a great album. But at least it's not In the Hot Seat.

[Unlegit]

Memoirs of an Officer and a Gentleman is actually quite good. Everything else is underwhelming.

[ytserush]

I'd still put half of Love Beach (For You, Canario, Memoirs...) up against anything that came before and I think it's not that far off the mark.

The other half of the album is perhaps as bad as you'd think based on that album cover, which remains a lightning rod to this very day.

[Orbert]

That's well over half the album, and my three favorite tracks right there.  The rest is pretty laughable.  But it's not like the album is totally without redeeming qualities.  At the very least, I have to give them credit for trying something different and trying to keep current, even if the effort generally didn't work.

[Orbert]

Emerson Lake & Palmer broke up after Love Beach.  I can't find any references to a tour, and it is known that they left the Bahamas separately, and that there had been a growing rift between Emerson and Lake since the Works days, so I don't think there was a Love Beach tour.  The next release was a live album, but it was from the Works tour.  That album officially fulfilled their contract to Atlantic Recording, but they had already gone their separate ways.

Keith Emerson went on to compose a number of movie soundtracks, including Sylvester Stallone's Nighthawks, and Dario Argento's Inferno and World of Horror.

Greg Lake embarked on a solo career, releasing two albums, Greg Lake in 1981 and Manoeuvres in 1983.

Carl Palmer was a founding member of Asia, along with John Wetton, most recently with the 70's King Crimson, and Steve Howe and Geoff Downes, together in Yes prior to their breakup following Drama.  John Wetton left the original Asia in 1983, and was replaced by none other than Greg Lake.  Wetton and Lake were therefore each the singer/bassist for two different bands (King Crimson and Asia) at different times.  Though it was not promoted as such at the time, Lake's tenure in Asia is now referred to as a "temporary" gig, and Lake left Asia shortly after.

By 1985, Emerson wasn't getting many movie score contracts and Lake was looking for another gig as well, as his solo career had stalled.  They put their differences aside and decided to make a new album together.  As Carl Palmer was still in Asia and therefore unavailable, the album was going to be titled Emerson-Lake.

They did need a drummer, however.  Emerson called upon his longtime friend Cozy Powell, who was well regarded in the rock business, having played with Jeff Beck, Rainbow, Whitesnake, Black Sabbath, and others.  He had a strong presence on the drum kit, and also happened to have a last name that started with "P".  The new album was therefore:

Emerson, Lake & Powell (1986)



Keith Emerson: Keyboards
Greg Lake: Bass, Guitar, Vocals
Cozy Powell: Drums, Percussion


The Score  9:10
Learning to Fly 3:52
The Miracle  7:02
Touch and Go  3:25
Love Blind  3:08
Step Aside  3:42
Lay Down Your Guns  4:20
Mars, the Bringer of War  7:53

----------

With the benefit of hindsight, and the passage of time which had (slightly) tempered their egos, they set out to make an album which played to their strengths.  Keith's progressive sense of composition and ear for creating orchestral walls of synthesizers.  Lake's rich, powerful voice.  And they now had Cozy Powell on drums, known for his big, booming sound.  And even though this wasn't technically the same band, by calling it Emerson, Lake & Powell, they were clearly inviting comparisons to the original ELP, and this would be seen as their "comeback" album.  There were many eyes, and ears, upon them.

The results were not bad at all.  The album opens with "The Score", a nine-minute-plus song which treats us to over four minutes of synthesizers and prog before the vocals come in.  It goes through a couple of themes during those four minutes, and one might even start to wonder if they'd had the guts to open this new album with a nine-minute instrumental.  "The Score" is not instrumental, but it does have a lot of old-school ELP trademarks, a few direct musical references to earlier works, and the lyrics even include "It's been so long, so welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends!"  ELP were back.

"Learning to Fly" is a somewhat different ELP song.  It's a shorter piece, just under four minutes, and it's obviously not a Lake ballad; it's more a collaboration in the tradition of "Knife-Edge" or "Bitches Crystal".  But it's not really a balls-out rocker, as its predecessors were.  It therefore breaks new ground, thus the double meaning of its title.  It's a pretty good song, and features lots of tasty synth work by Emerson.

"Learning to Fly" seques directly into "The Miracle", another longish song.  Once again, we have Keith's wall of synths, Lake's voice (enriched by lots of reverb, as it is on the whole album), and more powerful drumming by Cozy Powell.  Musically, it's quite good, though the lyrics, as with so many previous ELP songs, are the weak link.  Also, by this point, we've heard three songs with plenty of great synth patches and great drumming, but they're mostly the same synth patches and same great drumming.  Impressive, but there needs to be more variety.

"Touch and Go" changes things up.  Emerson introduces a new brassy synth patch, and Lake's rhymed triplets, quadruplets, quintuplets and yes, even sextuplets get to be a bit much, but it's a shorter song that goes through a couple of changes, and was even a minor radio hit, peaking at #60 on the Billboard Hot 100.

"Love Blind" is the Lake love song.  You knew there had to be one, and here it is.  But again, they've changed things up a bit.  It's not a ballad; it's quite uptempo and very much keyboard driven, rather than guitar driven, with Cozy's driving drums moving things along.  And at only three minutes, it doesn't overstay its welcome.  Not a great song, but not horrible, and yet another unique entry in the ELP catalogue.

Rather than a honky-tonk number, we have "Step Aside".  The backdrop is Keith's jazzy piano, shuffling along in something like a 1940's film noir feel, evoking dark wet streets, overcoats, and cigarettes.  It even has some clichéd (but well incorporated) whistling towards the end.  If they'd cut the reverb down to about 1/3 of what they've used here, it would be a perfect period piece.

"Lay Down Your Guns" seems to be a call for world peace or something.  I've never really listened to the lyrics.  What always catches my attention is the synth patch that Emerson uses for the solo.  It's clearly evocative of an electric guitar, and by this point, you're wondering if there is any guitar on this album.  The appearance of Greg's acoustic or electric, preferably both, is always welcome.  ELP is a keyboard-driven band, but there's nothing wrong with some variety, and this album actually suffers from a bit too much homogeneity.

Closing things out, we have the classical adaptation.  From Gustav Holst's The Planets, we have "Mars, the Bringer of War".  As with most of the ELP instrumental adaptations, classical fans probably appreciate this one more than others, but perhaps a bit more than usual in this case.  "Mars" is a very intense piece in 5/4, but by about halfway through, you realize that what seemed like buildup was actually all you're getting.  It never really breaks out into anything.  It keeps up the intense, heavy buildup, and has a few bars of insanity, then returns to the heavy buildup again.  It's an odd piece.  As it happens, I recently played it for the first time in a concert band setting, and I didn't like it any better that way.

The original CD had a bonus track, an instrumental cover of Gerry Goffin & Carole King's "The Loco-Motion".  Another slightly odd choice, it starts like it's going be a balls-out instrumental screamer, then "settles" for a very heavy version of a 60's pop song.  Great playing, just a somewhat strange choice for an instrumental.

Later CD pressings added a second bonus track, "Vacant Possession".  I have to be honest; if there was one song to leave off of the original album, it would be this one.  A slow, moody piece, it just never seems to go anywhere.

----------

And there you have it.  ELP were back.  With a different drummer, too much reverb on the vocals, and the synth/guitar balance not quite right (I don't actually hear any guitar, though Lake is credited as playing guitar), but overall this is a pretty good album.  It starts strong and packs a punch, and it has some variety and even shows that ELP had a few new tricks up their sleeves.

I'm not usually one to point out how "dated" something sounds, usually because I never notice it, but in trying to think of what bothers me the most about this album, it's the production.  Very 80's sounding, with booming drums and echoing vocals, and great-sounding synths all smoothed over into a thick paste as backdrop for the vocals.  If you like 80's production, you'll be in heaven here.  The playing is great, the music is pretty top-notch.  This is definitely a step up from Love Beach, and a return to form for ELP.  Stylistically, I'd put it somewhere in the middle of the 70's output, only slightly lower in terms of quality.

[Jaq]

There is nothing I can say about Love Beach that hasn't already been said, but it is simply the worst album any of the big prog bands of the 70s did. They would have to have gained half an ass to be said they were half assing it. Memoirs of An Officer and A Gentleman is okay, the rest is total dreck.

Emerson Lake and Powell, however, I loved when it came out. Mainly because Cozy Powell is one of the drummers on my personal drummer Mount Rushmore, but there's a lot to like about it in general, once you get past the now dated production style. Which wasn't a problem back then, since EVERYTHING sounded like this and, as 80s productions go, this was a pretty good one. The Score is a great tune, on par with their 70s material, and I have a soft spot for Touch And Go. Emerson's particularly great on this album, and while Cozy Powell doesn't have the same style that Carl Palmer did, he's a fantastic drummer and easily keeps up with Emerson and Lake. It's a shame they only did the one album...them and GTR man, it must have been something in the water for old prog rockers in 1986 or so...because as good as this one was, a follow up, with the trio used to each other, likely would have matched ELP's 70s output. Ah well, at least we have this one.

[ytserush]

Emerson Lake & Palmer broke up after Love Beach.  I can't find any references to a tour, and it is known that they left the Bahamas separately, and that there had been a growing rift between Emerson and Lake since the Works days, so I don't think there was a Love Beach tour.  The next release was a live album, but it was from the Works tour.  That album officially fulfilled their contract to Atlantic Recording, but they had already gone their separate ways.

Keith Emerson went on to compose a number of movie soundtracks, including Sylvester Stallone's Nighthawks, and Dario Argento's Inferno and World of Horror.

Greg Lake embarked on a solo career, releasing two albums, Greg Lake in 1981 and Manoeuvres in 1983.

Carl Palmer was a founding member of Asia, along with John Wetton, most recently with the 70's King Crimson, and Steve Howe and Geoff Downes, together in Yes prior to their breakup following Drama.  John Wetton left the original Asia in 1983, and was replaced by none other than Greg Lake.  Wetton and Lake were therefore each the singer/bassist for two different bands (King Crimson and Asia) at different times.  Though it was not promoted as such at the time, Lake's tenure in Asia is now referred to as a "temporary" gig, and Lake left Asia shortly after.

By 1985, Emerson wasn't getting many movie score contracts and Lake was looking for another gig as well, as his solo career had stalled.  They put their differences aside and decided to make a new album together.  As Carl Palmer was still in Asia and therefore unavailable, the album was going to be titled Emerson-Lake.

They did need a drummer, however.  Emerson called upon his longtime friend Cozy Powell, who was well regarded in the rock business, having played with Jeff Beck, Rainbow, Whitesnake, Black Sabbath, and others.  He had a strong presence on the drum kit, and also happened to have a last name that started with "P".  The new album was therefore:

Emerson, Lake & Powell (1986)



Keith Emerson: Keyboards
Greg Lake: Bass, Guitar, Vocals
Cozy Powell: Drums, Percussion


The Score  9:10
Learning to Fly 3:52
The Miracle  7:02
Touch and Go  3:25
Love Blind  3:08
Step Aside  3:42
Lay Down Your Guns  4:20
Mars, the Bringer of War  7:53

----------

I'm glad you mentioned "the contractual obligation album" otherwise originally known as "In Concert" which features songs live that would never appear anywhere else on a live commercial release and prove that this band hat this time had few musical peers. True that not much was done creatively except for Love Beach, this band still brings it live.


Don't think so?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_db0omTxVs


As far as the break-up is concerned. Carl always seems to tell the story that there was know break up officially. They just left that island and never got back together. There wasn't anything said, supposedly. It just happened.


I'm pretty sure Carl Palmer released  the album1 p.m. at this time, which is a lot more starightforward than his work with ELP. To be honest I don't really listen to it very much, maybe once a year.

I prefer Emerson's soundtrack albums. Never picked up Nighthawks, but I picked up Inferno, World of Horror, Honky, Murderrock and La Cheisa. I also have The Emerson Collection which is kind of a greatest hits of some of his soundtrack work.

Never got into anything Greg Lake solo.

Love the Asia stuff too.



I like ELPowell a lot myself. Saw a show on that tour (Yngwie was supposed to open but got himself booted off of the tour for reasons I was never able to find out.)


If you like this album, you may want to check out The Sprocket Sessions and Live In Concert: The Official Bootleg.

Also as a matter of housekeeping the original CD did not include those two bonus tracks.

I had to rebuy it when it was reissued with the bonus tracks on there. I remember not being very happy about that at the time.


One other thing, Who else but ELPowell would have the balls to puit out an album like that in 1986? Could that have been any more unfashionable?  I not complaining at all, but that has always amused me.

Would have loved to get another album.

[Orbert]

That's weird.  I had a friend who bought the ELPowell CD right when it came out, or so he said.  It had "The Loco-Motion" but not "Vacant Possession".  All the info I can find indicates that the later CDs had both, but I know that the CD my friend had had nine tracks and "The Loco-Motion" was the bonus track.

But what you're saying is that the original CDs didn't have either track.  So there are three versions of the CD?

I didn't realize that Carl did any solo albums.  It's definitely a failing on my part, but I never even checked, and nothing I've dug up has mentioned anything about them.  This is the first I've heard.

I guess it's pretty obvious that I only followed ELP up through Love Beach.  I figured they were through after that (and for a while, I was right).  I've been trying to find out what I can about what they've done since, but I'm apparently not the only one who just isn't that interested.

Funny how Carl says that they didn't break up, they just stopped working together.

[ytserush]

That's weird.  I had a friend who bought the ELPowell CD right when it came out, or so he said.  It had "The Loco-Motion" but not "Vacant Possession".  All the info I can find indicates that the later CDs had both, but I know that the CD my friend had had nine tracks and "The Loco-Motion" was the bonus track.

But what you're saying is that the original CDs didn't have either track.  So there are three versions of the CD?

i don't know. I bought the vinyl first and picked up the CD a few weeks later on the Polydor label. The only reason I knew there were even bonus tracks, actually I only thought there was one bonus track-"The Loco-Motion" because I walked into one of the many cool independent record stroes that used to be around and saw a promotional 12 inch (which I never bought because at the time I thought $20 was too much for an unreleased single.)

I never realized there was a second bonus track until I saw the reissue (which I bought in 1992) and sold the original CD.

I didn't realize that Carl did any solo albums.  It's definitely a failing on my part, but I never even checked, and nothing I've dug up has mentioned anything about them.  This is the first I've heard.

I guess it's pretty obvious that I only followed ELP up through Love Beach.  I figured they were through after that (and for a while, I was right).  I've been trying to find out what I can about what they've done since, but I'm apparently not the only one who just isn't that interested.

Funny how Carl says that they didn't break up, they just stopped working together.

Well, Carl was also involved with something called the Quango project (which I don't have) --I think this was after he left Asia.

Then he's got a compilation album from all of his projects called "Do Ya Want To Play Carl?" and three volumes of live albums with his Carl Palmer Band (now called Carl palmer's Legacy band)

Emerson has his Keith Emerson Band and they have released a few recent albums including a live one.I have his Christmas album too.

Have no idea what Greg LaKe has been up to creatively. I think he played with the late Gary Moore in the '80s.

I'd love to find out exactly how the band dissolved as far as the buisness arrangement is concerned. There must have been some acknowledgement that they were done at some point.

[Orbert]

Have either of you guys (ytserush or Jaq) or anyone else found any guitar on this album?  Lake is credited with vocals and guitar, but I honestly can't find any.  If there is any, it's mixed in with the keyboards for texture or something.

And Jaq, you're right.  The 80's production wasn't a problem then because everything sounded like this in the 80's.  I love Greg's voice, and hearing it booming and echoing like that is really impressive, but it gets distracting after a while, and downright annoying (to me) shortly thereafter.

[ytserush]

Have either of you guys (ytserush or Jaq) or anyone else found any guitar on this album?  Lake is credited with vocals and guitar, but I honestly can't find any.  If there is any, it's mixed in with the keyboards for texture or something.

And Jaq, you're right.  The 80's production wasn't a problem then because everything sounded like this in the 80's.  I love Greg's voice, and hearing it booming and echoing like that is really impressive, but it gets distracting after a while, and downright annoying (to me) shortly thereafter.

I think so. There's not a lot if there is. I'm thinking Love Blind right now, but that's really a shot in the dark. It's been a few months since I've listened to it. Might be harmonics?

Good question. Looks like I have a mission this weekend.

[Jaq]

I have searched for the guitar on this album for years and haven't found it. If it's there, it's being overpowered by an identical synth line. I used to think I was missing it because when it came out I owned a lousy stereo, but I can't find it on much better sound systems.

[Azyiu]

Despite some ELP fans' negative feeling toward this album, I still like Lay Down Your Guns and Mars, the Bringer of War off this album... oh, and I believe I got it for just $3 bucks in either 1993 or 1994! GREAT value!

[TAC]

I like ELPowell a lot myself. Saw a show on that tour (Yngwie was supposed to open but got himself booted off of the tour for reasons I was never able to find out.)

Just popped in to say that I saw this tour at the Providence Performing Arts Center on 9/15/86.
You are right about Yngwie. Originally this show was at the providence Civic Center. I actually pulled a second row seat for it. Then due to lack of sales, they moved it to the PPAC. Plus, not only did I lose my second row seat, but Yngwie was off the bill too.
But I still went, and even not knowing hardly any ELP, other than what was on the radio, it was a really enjoyable show.

Even met Cozy powell after the show and he signed my ticket!

[Orbert]

Sweet! 

[KevShmev]

*still waiting on the Black Moon update*

[Orbert]

Dude, that's not even the next entry.  3 to the Power of Three is next.

[KevShmev]

UGH.  I am still not sure why albums that aren't even by Emerson, Lake & Palmer are being included, but it's your thing, so whatever.

[Orbert]

There's only three guys in the band, and if two of them get together with some other guy, and the basic band dynamic is clearly the same, then I consider them a very close offshoot, essentially the same band with one substitution.  I included ABWH in the Yes discography for the same reason despite the word "Yes" not appearing on the cover.  ELPowell and 3 are both clearly part of the evolution of Emerson Lake & Palmer.

The idea is not simply to discuss the material on the albums, but also how the band and their music have changed over the years, due to changes in the music landscape, changes in personnel, and anything else.

[Orbert]

Emerson, Lake & Powell toured their one and only album, playing material from that album and also some Emerson Lake & Palmer material, but there were some problems, and they ended up firing their management.  Cozy Powell left and Carl Palmer actually came back for a while, so it was a bona fide Emerson Lake & Palmer reunion, but the old Emerson-Lake tensions returned and ELP self-destructed again before getting anywhere near a studio or a stage.

But with Asia on hiatus, Carl Palmer was ready to play with Keith Emerson again, so they enlisted singer/bassist/guitarist Robert Berry and continued on.  Without even the initials ELP in their favor, and the idea of calling the band Emerson, Berry & Palmer apparently distasteful, they settled on the name 3.

3 to the Power of Three (1988)



Robert Berry: Bass, Guitar, Vocals
Keith Emerson: Keyboards
Carl Palmer: Drums, Percussion


Talkin' 'bout   4:02
Lover to Lover  4:11
Chains  3:42
Desde la Vida  7:08
  La Vista
  Frontera
  Sangre De Toro 
Eight Miles High  4:11
Runaway  4:44
You Do or You Don't  5:06
On My Way Home  4:46

----------

Whereas Emerson, Lake & Powell had essentially the classic ELP sound, updated for the 80's, 3 to the Power of Three was clearly shooting for something else.  Something like what Yes and Genesis did in order to stay current and actually sell records, which ultimately is what bands have to do, the band 3 stripped away most of the prog and instead went for a pop sound, here based on keyboards, heavy drumming, and the occassional guitar.

Now here's the surprise: This isn't a completely horrible album, as far as 80's pop goes.  Berry's voice reminds me of someone, but after listening to this album four times, I still can't think of who it is.  It's something like Lou Gramm from Foreigner or maybe Richard Page from Mr. Mister.  A rock tenor voice with just a bit of depth to it, so you don't realize how high it is until you try to sing along.  Emerson's keyboards make a surprisingly good pop backdrop; he learned something from the Love Beach experience, and also Emerson, Lake & Powell, and honestly, between Berry's soaring voice, Emerson's keyboards, and Palmer's presence on the drums, it's easy to forget that this is 80's pop without guitars.  Weird, huh?

The album opens strongly, with the Berry-penned single "Talkin' 'Bout" (#9 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart) and the group composition "Lover to Lover" which is, yes, as cheesy as the title suggests, but the music is good so what the heck.

"Chains" is pretty weak, and the only song by outside writers (who I've never heard of and won't bother naming here).

The highlight of the album is the three-part suite "Desde la Vida" which features a great instrumental break and, as always, some great keyboards and powerful drumming.

Side Two opens with a rather strange choice: a cover of The Byrds' "Eight Miles High".  The classic hook line has been replaced by a strange, syncopated line by Emerson, although the hook does appear on Hammond during the break.

The rest of the album fizzles out a bit, with the remaining three tracks pretty much filler.  "Runaway" and "You Do or You Don't" are both by Robert Berry, and aren't really bad, just not any better than most 80's pop.  The closer, "On My Way Home" is credited solely to Emerson, making it one of the few songs (as opposed to instrumentals) written by Keith.  Like the rest of Side Two, it's not bad, just nothing special.

----------

The problem is that "Emerson Lake & Palmer" was both the band name and the names of its members.  When your band is named Yes or Genesis, you can have members come and go (or just go) and your sound can change over time, and people might make some association between the two, or maybe not.  But if you're Emerson Lake & Palmer and Palmer isn't there, or Lake is off pouting again, then you have to get someone else in the band, and you can't call it Emerson Lake & Palmer.

3 to the Power of Three will bother most progheads, unless they also have a tolerance for late-80's pop.  Most of this album reminds me of Foreigner from the same period.  I didn't like this album when I first heard it (again through my former neighbor, the same guy who lent me his copy of Emerson, Lake & Powell) but if you stop trying to judge it based on its prog roots and accept it for the pop that it is, it's not bad.  How not-bad is it?  I've had some of the songs stuck in my head for the past few days, and actually wanted to hear them again.

[Jaq]

The best Robert Berry related ELP music are the songs he produced and played guitar and bass on on Magna Catra's ELP tribute album. I've tried more than once to get into this album and it just never clicks for me. Maybe if I approach it as not being part of the ELP story it'll have more luck.

[Orbert]

Yeah, tribute albums seem to be Berry's specialty now, which I find kinda weird.

I honestly didn't expect to like 3 to the Power of Three, and I didn't "try" to like it, but I did try to keep an open mind about it.   After a couple of listens, I was getting into it, and after a couple more, the weaknesses also became more apparent.  It's not "really" ELP, but I consider it close enough that it makes sense to include it here.

[Orbert]

Emerson, Berry & Palmer toured as 3, playing songs from 3 to the Power of Three and some older ELP material.  But since Robert Berry's voice was so different from Greg Lake's, the ELP material was all performed as instrumentals.  After the conclusion of the tour, they went their separate ways.

In 1991, Emerson Lake & Palmer decided to give it another shot.  Carl Palmer was still working with Asia, but divided his time between Asia and ELP.  Eventually, he left Asia to participate full time in the ELP reunion tour.  In June of that year, two albums were released featuring Carl Palmer on drums.  They were Asia's latest, Aqua, and

Emerson Lake & Palmer: Black Moon (1992)




Black Moon  6:56
Paper Blood  4:26
Affairs of the Heart  3:46
Romeo and Juliet  3:40
Farewell to Arms  5:08
Changing States  6:01
Burning Bridges  4:41
Close to Home  4:27
Better Days  5:33
Footprints in the Snow  3:50


Keith, Greg, and Carl had been through a lot in the 14 years since the last Emerson Lake & Palmer album.  The music scene had also changed a lot during that same time.  Keith had learned to use his keyboards in a way which better supported more commercial music, Carl's thunderous style of drumming was actually pretty popular at the time, but most notably, Greg's voice had continued to deepen as he got older.  He'd gone from a tenor to a baritone.  The new album utilized these changes as strengths, creating a big, powerful sound which you would not guess was made by three people.

Black Moon opens with two songs credited to Emerson, Lake, and Palmer.  This was the first and last time this ever happened, but apparently the idea was to put forth a united front.  The two band-written pieces, "Black Moon" and "Paper Blood" are also two of the stronger tracks on the album.  Both feature Lake's lyrics which tend to sound good but not make a lot of literal sense.  (No one knows what "Black Moon" means, but "Paper Blood" is a metaphor for money.)

"Affairs of the Heart" is left over from an aborted project between Greg Lake and Geoff Downes while Asia was on hiatus.  It's a typical Greg Lake ballad, maybe a little sappier than most.  When Asia reformed in 1988, they had six songs written, and this was one of them.

Since this is a genuine Emerson Lake & Palmer album, there had to be a classical adaptation, so "Dance of the Knights" from Prokofief's ballet Romeo and Juliet became simply "Romeo and Juliet" here.  It features a great lead synth patch, but it gets a little repetitive, waiting a bit too long to introduce the second theme, and ends up seeming longer than its 3:40 length.

"Farewell to Arms" is an Emerson-Lake song, an idealistic song about an end to war.  I always get it confused with "Lay Down Your Guns" from Emerson, Lake & Powell.

"Changing States" is the second of three instrumentals on this album, and the only really uptempo one.  It moves right along and sounds rather like a fanfare or the theme from a TV sports highlights show, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.  It's a fast-moving, exciting little tune, and goes through a few changes, but at six minutes, it might be just a bit too much of a good thing.

"Burning Bridges" is confusing.  It's the only song in the ELP catalogue proper which isn't either written by one or more members of ELP or a cover of a classical work.  "Burning Bridges" is a song by Mike Mancina, known mostly for his work on Hollywood movies.  He collaborated with Phil Collins on the soundtracks for Disney's Tarzan and Brother Bear, and did the scores for Speed, Bad Boys, and Twister.  The only real mystery is why one of his songs in on an ELP album.

"Close to Home" is the third instrumental.  A solo piano piece by Keith Emerson, this is beautiful, romantic etude in the classical style, but with a few contemporary twists and turns.  I've been trying to figure out who it reminds me of, but basically it's Keith Emerson, and it's a blend of some of his styles and influences.  It's probably my favorite Emerson piano solo.  Really.

Emerson-Lake's "Better Days" and Lake's mellow "Footprints in the Snow" finish out the album.  They're not bad songs, just not particularly memorable.  "Footprints in the Snow" is pretty nice.

----------

Let's face it, the boys were getting older and running out of steam in a few departments, but still had a few tricks left in them.  With Greg's voice noticeably deeper, they tried to play to this as a strength, and it does sound good for the most part.  But overall, they went for the "heavy, driving" sound which characterized Emerson, Lake & Powell because they were no longer capable of doing the "insane, atonal" ELP of years gone by, and it's a bit obvious.  Keith's keyboards sound great, with greater diversity and texture than ever before, and Carl's drumming is rock-solid, as usual.

Overall, Black Moon is not a bad album, and a pretty good comeback album for ELP.  But I'd be lying if I said it rivaled the ELP of old.

[KevShmev]

I love this album, and while I will freely admit that nostalgia is a big part of it - I got into ELP with this album - I still think it holds up well.  Every song is good, and the majority of them range from very good to great, the best ones being Paper Blood, Romeo and Juliet, Farewell to Arms, Changing States and Close to Home.  I also adore the beauty of something like Footprints in the Snow. 

Emerson's blistering solo at the end of Farewell to Arms is one of my favorites by him.

I remember when I took a college course that was an intro to playing piano (or something like that), we were all allowed to bring in one song one day, and I brought in Close to Home; the instructor was pretty much blown away by it. 

I love how Changing States sounds like something that should be played when showing great moments from the Olympics.

I get why some are not overly crazy about this CD; it's not very proggy, Lake's voice is different, and it just doesn't sound like the classic ELP many knew and loved.  But as an 18-year old who had never heard them before, I thought this was great, and so did my girlfriend at the time.  In fact, we both owned a copy of the CD, and she even went with me and a group of friends to see them that summer. Good times.

[Orbert]

Okay, that was unexpected.  I knew you were anxious to get to this one, though I didn't know why.  But the 3 to the Power of Three discussion didn't go anywhere (only one person here has even heard the album?) so what the heck, on we go.

But a positive review of this album?  That was unexpected.  As much as I keep reminding myself that each album, each work by any artist, should be judged on its own merit and not relative to the artist's body of work, I find myself not always taking that advice.  It's hard.  But now I think I finally know how to do it.  Start with "What if this was the first thing you ever heard by this artist?"  Literally a fresh set of ears, free from the prejudice imposed by knowing everything that Emerson Lake & Palmer had done prior to this point.