ELP | Ranking the Albums
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- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
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“Trilogy” is actually my favorite rock album, not only my #1 Emerson, Lake and Palmer album but out of all of rock. I think that and Yes’s “Close to the Edge”, both in 1972, are the pinnacle year in rock.
Thick as a Brick and Foxtrot were also from 1972. Truly a banner year.
@@jc3drums916 wow, do not forget the best live album ever - Made in Japan !!
Monty Python had a record called "Contractual Obligation Album"
Love Beach should have been called that
"love peach" would have been a better album title, too.
Finest Columbian polyvinyl.
@@donkeyshot8472 Sure. And a better cover design. It's a great album and has its own original atmosphere within the band's discography.
@@elpelp1878 I admit there were albums I refused to listen to by sheer aesthetic weight of their horrid covers: "love beach" would have been one of those.
the last great ELP album in my view was "brain salad surgery", anyway: magnificent artwork, too! I lost interest after that; what with new wave happening and all.
@@donkeyshot8472 I agree with you. BSS is ELP's latest exciting album. It was disappointing to hear Works Vol I and II when it was released. The same happened with everything they produced afterwards. But, you know, after so long, Love Beach, just this one, started to have a certain interest for me because it has good moments of inspiration that if they were better developed without the pressure they were under, it could be an excellent album. Contrary to my expectations at the time, today I listen to Love Beach as a refuge of simplicity coming from a band that satisfied us by always going one step further in virtuosity and musical daring, and that I love and have the greatest respect for what they did. Thus, I could perceive the unpretentious beauty of this album, the talent and intelligence of making creative arrangements, even without the previous virtuosity, are implicit there.
I certainly wouldn't have this consideration with other bands from that time. I allow myself to make this exception only to ELP and Led Zeppelin. ✌
I dove into Elp after seeing/meeting Carl Palmer at a Drum clinic in 1987. I only knew him from Asia back then. To say that that clinic was a game changer for me, is an understatement...
The young me even did a Drum solo during that same clinic while Carl was sitting on stage watching and clapping his hands for the young fool that I was ... :-)
Around that same period I went to see Jethro Tull in concert, only because Don Airey was in the band ...didn't know much about Tull but I was about to find out.
Those were the formative years...
Cheers
Like you, I went from not really caring much for ELP to having them become one of my favorite bands of all time. I will chalk this up to the wisdom of old age.
If I had to go to live on a deserted island and could only take one ELP album with me, it woud be Trilogy. If I got a new state of the art sound system and could pick one song to be the first song to hear on it, it would be "Endless Enigma."
To me Tarkus and Trilogy is a 2LP set. My favourite 2!
Truly ahead of their time! Even Miles, Herbie, Chick and Zawinul must have freaked out hearing this in 1971/72
Bernie Worrell from Funkadelic was a big fan
I'm glad you moved over to the light from the Dark Side There's Hope for the world yet
Awesome that you are doing a ELP album ranking. Have gotten into them the last year and along with Yes and Gentle Giant they are my favorite Prog Band. I kind of feel they are underrated at this point.
Where Brain Salad Surgery and Trilogy win over the first album, for me, are the memorable tunes. Great video Andy.
Welcome back to the ( ELP ) fold !
I was lucky enough to see them live many times at the height of their powers , usually in Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto .
They were something to behold live .
I saw most of the prog bands live throughout the 70's , and both Jethro Tull and ELP put on the most entertaining concerts out of all of them .
Genesis and Yes were also great live , as well , but not quite as entertaining as ELP and Tull .
In one of the concerts , ELP had quad sound , with banks of speakers at the back of the arena , and other banks up front , so that the music was swirling around your head . Then you would get Emerson going behind the Hammond B3 , and he would start playing something from Bach just as smoothly as if he was in front of the keyboard . I guess that he had to think in reverse to play it from behind .
Lake's voice was just as beautiful live , and Palmer's drumming was spectacular .
In terms of how I rank the albums , it changes between the debut , Tarkus , and Brain Salad Surgery as to what my number one is .
I also love Trilogy , and both Works' albums , as well as their live albums ( especially King Biscuit Hour , which has the definitive versions of Karl Evil 9 and Pirates , as far as I'm concerned .
Thanks for an excellent video !!!
Another great video Andy. All the best
GREAT GETTING INTO EMERSON LAKE AND PALMER ANDY 🎹🎸🥁.
SUPERB COMMENTS ON ALL BRUM LIKE ME AND CARL PALMER HA !.
MY TOP 3 ALBUMS BY THEM
3.TRILOGY
2.THEIR FIRST ALBUM IS JUST EDGED OUT BY
1.TARKUS WHICH IS AN INCREDIBLE EXPERIENCE .
MY DEAR LATE FATHERS FAVOURITE ROCK BAND USED TO ALWAYS PLAY THAT ALBUM ON HIS OWN ON HIS MAGNIFICENT STEREO SPEAKERS IN THE FRONT ROOM 😊🍾.GREAT COUNTDOWN
Brain Salad Surgery is number one every day of the week for me. My favourite prog album ever. Great retrospective Andy.
First concert I went to was ELP back in 1974. Great album rundown. I find myself always coming back to Trilogy.
I love the fact that after ELP's 1st album ? They had humor in their music, starting with the jokey Jeremy Bender & Are You Ready, Eddie ?
Otherwise, they'd have been as serious as cancer; they well knew this, and it worked....
🚬😎👍
My introduction to ELP was two accidents. The first was a swap of Queen's Killer Queen single for a 2nd hand copy of Trilogy. Why oh why my schoolmate not like ELP, I don't know.
The second was hearing Lucky man on the Alan Freeman radio show. Super, smashing, great.
Chas 'n' Dave. Prog? Looking forward to that video.
In The Court Of The Kingson Crim.
One of my favorite prog albums!
😊
It's bombastic with gusto!
The Dutch band Ekseption led by Rick van der Linden was very much inspired by The Nice and clasical music.
Their debut album was released in 1968.
Thanks Andy you summarize what I think about the importance of ELP.
About BSS, the cover of Brain Sallad Surgery is made by H. R. Giger.
He was part of the special effects team that won an Academy Award for the visual design of Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi horror film Alien, and was responsible for creating the titular Alien itself!
Another curiosity, the photo in the open sleeve of Trilogy is taken where had happen the Battle of the Epping Forest, the Genesis’s song from Selling England by the Pound.
As a kid I thought Brain Salad Surgery was the best. My older brother had it and I loved the cover therefore it had to be the best. However years later I heard the first album and have loved it ever since. Great videos as usual. I might even say it was bombastic.
I agree with you Andy. I loved the Nice in the late 60s..they were new, pioneering and did some wonderful stuff on “Ars long Vita Brevis’. “The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack”, “Five bridges” and “Elegy” and I was miffed when they dissolved. I loved King Crimson too…what a shock hearing “In the Court” and “In the wake of Poseidon” in the late sixties/early seventies . Then when ELP announced themselves with their first Album, I thought ‘wow..this could really develop’,,,but unfortunately it was all downhill from there. They seemed to loose their spark, lost that inventive pioneering an became self indulgent ‘Prog Gods’ …and i gave up on them. What a shame they couldn’t move forward and try new things like Crimson did or even yes did…so I moved on to other artists which I found more inspiring….which reminds me …..you still haven’t looked at Kevin Ayers yet, have you?
Bombast & Gusto.
The first prog albums I ever bought were ELP - Tarkus and Yes - Close To the Edge, and they are still two of my favourite albums.
I love Tarkus, have from the first time I heard it, I don't mind the second side.
You have been very objective once again , I see where you are coming from, the fact they nailed prog and a certain sound on the first album probably means it should be number one. Trilogy is also amazing, I cannot play that album without having to play Hoedown at least three times.
Now you have highlighted the fact that BSS has a different engineer, I get why I don't rate it as high, id probably put it in the same place as you.
The only 90's album I have is Black Moon and I love that album, some of Greg Lake's finest songs.
I would also agree that Love Beach is not a bad album, however, with a cover like that, I can never own it 😅
"I Believe in Father Christmas." Lyrics by Pete Sinfield. Music by Greg.
I fell in love with the debut album because of Luck Man. But as an older man now. I realize the song that stuck with me the longest is Take A Pebble.
Not been mentioned I think that Knife Edge is based on Janacek’s Sinfonietta. The first album is definitely my favourite. Saw them in ‘71 supported by Michael Chapman, whose music I came to love just as much. Seems an odd match now but the early ‘70s were a different age.
BSS remains my favorite ELP album over the years. I've had it on practically every format, including 8-track. As far as the quality of that album's production, there was a nice 5.1 release on DVD that addressed that issue.
There is also a studio version of Pictures that was released in the "Return of the Manticore" box set. It was also encoded in 5.1 and is probably my favorite version of the song.
I'm not sure there was actually anything bad going on between Emerson and Palmer at any point as suggested. I understand that Palmer was obligated to do Asia stuff at a time when ELP was basically inactive, and Palmer said it was cool for an album to be recorded with Powell...partially because it still made money for Palmer as more ELP back-catalogue albums were sold along with the new album with Powell. But all that's just what I gathered from various sources, and I'm not sure what the real story is about this period.
Great video, Andy!
I owned their entire catalog at one time. The only album I've kept is Brain Salad Surgery. Volume cranked, the mix is urgent. As you say, it is the complete package. The last to go before that was Trilogy. I enjoy the Lake ballads. I really like the Nice 'Autumn to Spring' album. I can greatly appreciate the brilliance of Emerson when he is 'kept in check', with a few exceptions of virtuosity. Below in the comments I see shared sentiments I relate to, that though appreciated, ELP just didn't move them/me. I can't exactly put a finger on it. I still have the Yes, King Crimson, 70's Genesis, etc, full in the collection, but the ELP material failed to resonate with me for the long haul. Footnote: I remember in the late 70's, 'Love Beach' and 'Works two' were readily available in the cut-out bargain bin. Thanks Andy!
Keith Emerson - ground zero. Finally getting his props. His work with Moog to bend the notes and 'jimi-fy' the keyboard sounds ( on top of classic and 'knees-up' underpinnings ) stopped you in your tracks. What is THAT sound ? The synth break on Lucky Man launched 1000 prog fans. An actual genius. And a really nice guy - his relationship with Rachel Flowers. And his tragic demise. Top 5 music influencers on me. Thanks.
When I think ELP, I think Tank and Knife Edge. It’s like what the hell is this? It happens to be the only ELP album I own. Amazing nuff said. Keith Emerson spinning around at Cal Jam makes Bon Jovi look like a piker.
I remember when Pictures at an Exhibition was in the record shops, it was sold for half price, which was practically unheard of for any album at the time, especially
a newly released one. It always made me think that the record company and possibly ELP themselves didn't seem to have much confidence in it.
And in a way, released between Tarkus and Trilogy, it never seemed quite up to par. Psychological perhaps, I don't know.
Love Beach. To me the issue with Love Beach is the anemic keyboard sound. Especially on Memoirs of an Officer and a Gentleman. At this time Keith Emerson was using a Yamaha GX-1, which at the time was the worlds most sophisticated synth. It cost about £40,000 at the time. And yet it sounds like? I think he programmed it quickly, it sounded near enough and that was recorded.
If it had been produced with more care and the keyboard sound addressed it would have a better reputation.
Brain Salad Surgery was recorded in a cinema converted into a studio which could be why the sound is a bit muddy.
Keith Emmerson e-mailed me in 1997 to explain what the phrase "Brain Salad Surgery" meant. As an ELP fan I was over the moon.
Carl Palmer was committed to Asia and Carl recommended Cozy Powell to the other two guys. Greg Lake was in Asia for about three weeks to fulfill a contract with MTV for concerts in Japan. John Wetton had been fired and Greg did it as a favor to Carl. The Asia in Asia concert was broadcast live on MTV and is available on UA-cam.
C'est La Vie
Gusto baby, Gusto.
Agree with this list. Love Pictures At An Exhibition, but I think the recording would have benefited from having a snare bottom microphone as well as the top, but it’s such a great performance and that makes it such a great live album 🙂
Allegro Barbaro, is B Bartok, friend .. the 1st track
Yes, "Knife Edge" is the one based on a Janáček piece, "Sinfonietta."
Great video. Prog has been enjoying a renaissance but ELP are still treated with disdain. Keith Emerson still doesn’t get the recognition he so richly deserves. Maybe this video will help to change that. Thanks Andy. Ps. BSS number 1 for me.
ELP played huge stadiums. It’s kind of inexplicable. Great video Andy.
Yes, I saw them with 300,000 other people.
@@eximusic yes I believe it.
bomboclat!
Brain Salad Surgery- Karn Evil 9 … case for distillation again.
ELP completely lost me after Brain Salad surgery. I liked their first couple records and bought them both when they were released but the rockified classical stuff wasn't my cup of cannabis tea lol. Truth is Emerson's playing sometimes gets too bombastic for me. Given the choice nowadays between ELP or Beefheart I will listen to the Beefheart record every time (or Zappa or Crimson).
Yeah their first album is my second favorite and then Trilogy is my third I have learned to like pictures that an exhibition much more in my older age than I ever did as a teenager but I think you've done an outstanding job and thank you for showing respect to a frog group that I've enjoyed all my life
Love it! Now give Dream Theater another chance 😁
Brain Salad Surgery is my favorite but Trilogy is not too far behind.
It's like watching ketchup come out of a bottle the anticipation is killing me but I'm still not going to smack Andy on the bottom
I agree that a big part of the problem with "Love Beach" is the awful lyrics. I always wonder how much of the blame for ELP's lyrics should be heaped on Lake and how much Sinfield deserves. I never thought much of the latter's lyrics with KC, and think "Islands" would have been an excellent album if they could only have enlisted Richard Palmer-James as a lyricist just a bit sooner than they did. So it's my inclination to point my finger at Sinfield when excoriating Love Beach. Side 2 of Works Volume I, on the other hand, contains what I think are some very good lyrics (really the only ones ELP produced), and because of this bias of mine, I assume that Lake was the sole author of those.
IMHO great music transcends any category one may put it in and so ELP transcend prog rock just as e.g. Dr Feelgood transcend R'n'B. I think the key thing about them is that they rocked even when playing the classical stuff whereas - and nobody will agree with this - the likes of Genesis and Yes just progged but I don't think they could ever have rocked even a cradle. Trilogy and Brain Salad Surgery are just sublime, intelligent, technically brilliant and entertaining, which latter I suspect might almost be a dirty word in refined prog circles.
You mentioned that it was viewer comments that encouraged you to reappraise ELP. In light of this may I highly suggest that another band you should reconsider whether you have unfairly written off or not is the Grateful Dead.
In another video on overrated bands you said something to the effect of 'they sound like a bunch of untalented muscians tuning up for twenty minutes'. I've listened to hundreds of live shows and in my opinion the Dead are up there with any of the greats you talk about on this channel, Coltrane, Mahavishnu, Zappa, Davis etc. May I recommend you check out the archival live releases Dicks Picks volumes 1,2 and 3 to begin with. This will start to gives a picture of how diverse the band could be and something in there will maybe catch your ear.
If for some reason you are only willing to listen to albums released at the time I'd say the 1975 album 'Blues for Allah' will probably be most up your alley. Thanks for the videos by the way, I think you have some of the most insightful jazz/prog/rock videos on UA-cam (minus not liking the Dead of course).
I have done. I may do a video on Terrapin Station...its fantastic
Totally agree that the first album is their best one!
A good heads up Andy.
I have an aversion to ELP that dates back to TOTP appearances in the 70s. Prefer the Nice. Thanks for the homework.
Would love to see you do a video on Emerson, Vincent Crane, Brian Auger, Rod Argent, Jon Lord and Gregg Rolie. I always feel the latter is underrated.
Frank Zappa and ELP didn't lead up to New Age and Environmentals, YES did.
All i can say is that love beach is not the stinker its made out to be. Its more of a cohesive album than works 1 and works 2 which although good show cases solo work and off cuts. I have always favoured the first album as there best followed by trilogy then brain salad surgery. Tarcus has a great first side but hit and miss second side.best wishes tim
1 tarkus 2 trilogy 3 brain salad surgery
I've always thought that the divide in the "old wave" universe was around 1974. So many artists were great up until 1973 then the 70's proper took over from the 1960's overhang. The baton changed hands around then. ELP were essential listening up until Brain Salad. They made the mistake of having a long break and subsequently lost their mojo. MOR started creeping in after 1973. The first Works is an okay listen but a very conservative listen. I found the second Works cringeworthy. The only new music that sounded really dynamic in the later 70's was New Wave/Post Punk. Cheers.
So Love Beach has a terrible cover?....... coming from a guy wearing stripes and plaid together ...
Are they wearing stripes and plaid on the cover?
I'm just having fun. Great video. This was my all time favorite band. Are you from Poole? You and Greg Lake have very similar accents.
“The Barbarian” comes from Bartók’s “Allegro barbaro, BB 63, Sz. 49” and there’s an interlude in there by J.S. Bach.
And the church organ part of Knife Edge is inspired by Leos Janacek.
@@zootallures6470 a practical transcription of Sinfonietta! The middle part of Knife-Edge is, I think, from one of Bach's French Suites.
I've seen Carl Palmer's ELP Legacy show twice and he has still got the chops. When I was at school, the legendary percussionist James Blades gave us a demo of his skills. He was Carl's percussion teacher. How cool for a 14 year old ELP fan.
When I used to go on drum forums, a lot of players criticised CP for not having perfect time. I always loved his playing - fire, speed, feel and imagination. I'd rather Carl than 100 metronomic session-y drummers.
People who denigrate Palmer's drumming need only listen to that Emerson Lake & Powell album. How boring it was to hear him replaced by Cozy laying down a solid, steady beat.
@@Hydrocorax Yeah, I loved Cozy's playing with Beck and Rainbow but he didn't offer what Carl provided with ELP
I like the sound of their debut most. That raw old school production sound worked brilliantly with their music - kind of opposite to the Brain Salad Surgery approach to sound. The music was already so flamboyant that a dry, faithful production keeps things from becoming OTT to the point of being grating.
Been an ELP fan since 1971. A lot of variety in their catalog.
Love Tarkus and Trilogy.
From the beginning is the first song I learnd properly on guitar and one of a few i still remember.
Andy! That is the best breakdown of ELPs music that I have ever heard on UA-cam! Well done!
Wow, thanks!
To be continued…… (look forward to it).
Let’s not get carried away though …. ELP better than Genesis ???
Time to dip back into the ultimate English aesthetic band that could suddenly burst into fusion level instrumental passages, and dip straight back out without labouring the point so to speak.
😉
Love it...but staying with TARKUS as the best here, always ...
Brain Salad Surgery is my personal favorite but I was of the age that I was highly malleable and that was my first connection to ELP and then I saw them in concert in '74 and to see it performed was just mind blowing
Me too!! First concert ever!
I only bought three of their albums; ELP, Trilogy and Pictures (which was ‘given away’ at £1.79). Trilogy was played to death but it’s ELP that I rebought on CD and remains one of the best prog albums ever.
Great video Andy! I do agree, KE was probably the first one with those incredible live shows by The Nice, but i would also consider keyboardist Tony Banks who since Nursery Crime onwards also embodied the prog distinctive sound, aswell as Yes bassist Chris Squire
I first saw ELP two nights after they recorded Pictures at an Exhibition in Newcastle. Checking their archives the ticket cost me 50p. Tracks from the first LP, Tarkus and Pictures finishing with the Nice favourite Rondo. I can't disagree with your first three picks.
The first three albums are all brilliant: Self Titled, Tarkus, and Trilogy. I love those, and Brain Salad Surgery is quite good also.
But my favorite is the live album Welcome Back My Friends... for me it has the definitive versions of Hoedown, Tarkus, Take A Pebble and Tocata. It's got a wonderful piano improvisations section and a fantastic reading of Karn Evil 9. The only complaint people have about it is the production. I happen to really like it as it sounds like you're listening to the band from dead center about 20-30 rows back. The band is just fantastic! That is really what I think, oh and by the way Pictures At An Exhibition isn't bad either. They lost me after Works Vol. 1. Love Beach is an abomination with Greg Lake and Pete Sinfield contributing the worst rock lyrics of the 70s on Gregs horrid songs on side one. I'm not exaggerating.
Love Beach cover,’a gay version of the Bee Gees’😂😂😂😂😂.Sorry Love Beach is dreadful.I own it and I have tried and tried to like it while not looking at the cover.But no.
From the beginning may well be the best acoustic guitar - based rock song of all time. It's a stunning piece of music.
Nobody could touch them on their prime apart from YES. Genesis had to become a pop band before they could sell out arenas & stadiums.
33:27 Great overview of Keith Emerson influences and evolution 👏
When you see Carl Palmer's drum set live and he's got the double Bongos coming down either side of his kit and the big Chinese gong behind them and he's breaking drumsticks he's got a couple of bucket fulls by his sides and Keith Emerson surrounded by keyboards and there's Greg Lake standing up front like a conductor it is a glorious sight in concert and when you're 16 17 you are just so enthralled that is impossible not to be a Prague fan and it also gave me a desire to learn more about classical music
We were very lucky ! Incredible
Yes, how could one not love Prague?
The first album I ever bought was Trilogy when I was 13 in 1974. By age 16, the Sex Pistols had arrived and I couldn't stand the ELP bombast.
However, I got two things from it which have stood me in good stead through life. The first was my introduction to Aaron Copeland which, in turn, led me into classical music.
Second was the song, From The Beginning, which to this day is still one of the loveliest songs ever. It held a place on my bonking tape for much of my 20's.
The album got sold or swapped but I rebought it second hand in my 40's for the inner, gatefold cover which is framed and up in my music room. It takes me back to a time and place.
Occasionally I hear some ELP and it generally does my head in, particularly their classical covers because they are never as good as the real thing. But even after all that, I still really, really like that overdriven Hammond sound.
One thing;- in - I think - The Sheriff - there's a drum intro in which Carl Palmer drops a stick and says "shit".
Yes The Sheriff, I love that they kept it in 😀On your point about their classical covers, I do think Toccata is brilliant. I think they invent techno in one section of that.
@@jimmycampbell78 It seemed so very naughty when I was a kid. Friends would come around and say, "Play that bit where he says shit".
@@jimmycampbell78New Wave lead to Techno, not ELP
@@DrMidnight-oz1rk I'm just talking about a 20 second or so synthesiser section in one particular track. It's basically techno years before it emerged but its only about 20-30 seconds so no one will give ELP/Keith Emerson credit for it.
@DrMidnight-oz1rk You can’t have heard Toccata to say that. That aside, techno comes out of house and disco, eg Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love.” Nothing to do with new wave.
Fuck me, I thought you meant ELO.
Can’t wait Andy !
Carl Palmers recently released box set has a fantastic 240 page book written by Carl included.
Essential purchase Andy
Cheers Jonathan
Andy I have a couple of differences of opinions relative to ELP. Sonically speaking, Pictures At An Exhibition is one of the great 70s live rock recordings. I've turned countless audiophiles on to the original British Island pressing (black label HELP1). Its a spectacular sounding album and also a gateway into the world of classical music. With respect to BSS - it was compositionally and technologically the most advanced rock recording of its era. Nothing sounded like that in 1973. Where it was held back was by the production. The material for Trilogy was difficult for them to play live, so they approached the recording of BSS much differently. I think in that respect it suffered. BSS is my all time favorite album - its engrained in my DNA - and ELP is my favorite band. I was fortunate enough to see them perform at Madison Square Garden with the 70 piece orchestra, on July 8, 1977. One of the best concerts I've ever seen and I've been to more than a few. If you are ever in New Jersey I'll give you a spin of Pictures and blow you mind.
Yeah, Pictures is amazing, one of a kind. My first ELP experience and first love. Incredible atmosphere on that recording and Greg Lake's singing is haunting.
Was able to see them live in early 70‘s. Emerson was amazing on multiple keyboards. Somehow they had a row of flames that were altered by the notes he played. I’m sure it wouldn’t be allowed now by any fire marshal.😏
You should do an episode on Eddie Offord
I’m giving Andy another two years of sober reflection before elevating Ummagumma and Astral Weeks to their rightful positions in the rock pantheon.😅 No mention of the parallel adventures and influence of the Brian Auger Trinity? No mention of the resemblance of the first three minutes of the Trilogy album with the soundtrack for Planet of the Apes? Perhaps a few more years and Andy can see Soft Machine (Wyatt years) in the context of the avant garde of the South of France and the lens they put on bebop and Schoenberg et al in the 60s. I guess all the best music has its own World and suffers by comparison outside of its environment. One request: look at something truly esoteric, like the relationship between Peter Green and Ralph Vaughan Williams 😊.
Great Show! I've tried for almost 30 years now. I just can't do it. Tarkus is it.
You are redeemed.
I remember when ‘reaction’ had barely started on t’internet, I was always asking for ELP, Crimson, etc. No one seemed to have a scooby to who they were. I just spammed them all with requests. Hard to believe it now.
Takus is my favourite ELP album. The 2nd side is not as strong as the first side but I think is still good, but that first side is epic and takes it across the line for the win.
Is this going to be an empty list?
A great breakdown. I've been a huge ELP fan since my early teens and started buying their albums in 1973 when Brain Salad Surgery came out and ended up with every album they released as a band to the end. Sadly, they all got let behind after splitting with my first wife 😞
Anyway, your ranking, in my opinion is spot on with my assessment, even the struggle between their first album and Trilogy as their very best.
Cheers!
Oh, and if your not already aware of it, check out the Trilogy cover by the Jad & Den Quintet with Thierry Eliez on piano and vocalist Ceilin Poggi. Absolutely amazing and an incredible tribute to Emerson's work
Love Beach and In the Hot Seat at the top obviously. Mine is:
1. Brain Salad Surgery
2. Trilogy
3. Tarkus
4. Emerson, Lake & Palmer (I love the first side, but the second not so much)
5. Pictures at an Exhibition
6. Welcome Back My Friends (the sound is not very good)
7. Works vol.1
8. Works vol.2
9. Black Moon
10. Love Beach
11. In the Hot Seat
I forgot Emerson, Lake & Powell.
And 3
The sound quality of Pictures at an Exhibition is much, much better than the sound quality of Welcom Back My Friends, which sounds like it was recorded with a couple of microphones at the back of the arena.
1. Tarkus
2. Brain
3. Trilogy
4. Pictures
5. First
6. Welcome Back
I don’t care about the rest.
"I Believe in Father Christmas"
No…no, you don’t 😉🤣
I'm a believer too. I'm clinging on to some vestige of hope.
@@rothwellaudio Um, I'm not sure if you're joking, but that's the title of the Greg Lake anti-christmas song ("I Believe in Father Christmas") that Andy was trying to remember. This was not a call for those two delusional, anti-intellectual expressions of cognative weakness - "faith" and "hope".
@@hermancharlesserrano1489 Huh?
@@alextinsley9117 Come back when you have a sense of humour.
Welcome home, I have been a fan since age 11, 52 yrs ago. You demonstrate quite admirably it is never too late to change ones musical mind. Bravo! You did say on another vid that P.A.A.Exhibition was the first E.L.P album you bought.
Hey Andy - here's an idea from far left field: A whole episode dissecting the hugely underrated NEXT album by Journey. Amazing album and quite a bit around it to sink your teeth into.
These guys have been animating the Tarkus artwork and it RULES!!!!
ua-cam.com/video/yjwo1fh7jOo/v-deo.htmlsi=BOz5p19oexIurrBH
If Emerson and Lake had formed a band with Hendrix and Mitchell it would’ve been HELM, not HELP. ELP plus Hendrix would have been HELP.
I bought BSS without any knowledge of the music, just because of the album cover, and because I thought "Palmer" might be Carl Palmer, whom I only knew from the BBC show Rockschool (and I suppose Asia, although I didn't know who any of the band members were at the time). To me, it's a perfect prog album, with its variety of styles, experimentation, virtousic playing, the massive dystopian epic...and Toccata, while not an original work, encapsulates everything ELP is about (minus Lake's voice) in one piece.
I have Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's gold CD remaster of Tarkus, but sadly, not Trilogy. I wish they had done the same for BSS.
The Sheriff was very Copland-ish, a counterbalance to Hoedown and Coplands ballet work. Loved the homage to Eastwood. I always consider From the Beginning to be a 60s style song influenced by the Momma's and the Poppas harmonic potentials. Sacreligious ? 😊
Carl Palmer came back, but Greg Lake was with Asia? Greg and Keith brought in Cozy because CARL was with Asia. Greg was with Asia for a big performance in Japan that was broadcast on MTV because John Wetton was off the wagon in a huge way.