of the two only sure things in life and all that. Hence the horns that announce the start of this piece.
So to 1976. The forgotten men of prog, Keith Emerson (keyboards), Greg "I Believe In Father Christmas" Lake (guitars) and Carl Palmer (bass), who lets face it, did have a tendency to take themselves a little bit too seriously, record this magnum opus, taking the opening and stretching it in that manner so beloved of 70's proggers.
It's got a great rolling bass line, the timing is perfect, just as you would expect from classically trained musicians, and the trio get their groove on to a T. This is just a fabulous example of good musicians letting the jam take them where they want to go. The musos among you might even recognise the fade out as being copied by Nick Cave on The Birthday Partys "Release The Bats", ask me if ...
Advantages: some great clips, well designed package Disadvantages: frustrating editing of some clips, repeated material, much padding, not enough music!
Jimmy Page really set the bar high with the recent Led Zeppelin DVD. That set was a faultless document of a 70s supergroup throughout its entire career, and here we have another "Dinosaur" group from those halcyon days, the "Classical Rock" pioneers Emerson Lake & Palmer, attempting to cement their place in Rock History for posterity via a marathon trawl through the visual archives.
Do they achieve it? Well, yes I suppose they do...except that in my opinion, the place they have cornered for themselves is marked "Novelties and Musical Jokes".
Yes folks, welcome to the Emerson Lake and Palmer show. A four hours plus, double disc Gift from the Gods/ Horrific monstrosity, depending on your view of Progressive Rock music.
First impressions (in-joke intended) are favourable, though I must admit to being surprised it was only a double set ...
Advantages: A must have for ELP fans Disadvantages: none
There were not many 3-piece bands that created as much sound and energy on stage as Emerson, Lake and Palmer.
Greg Lake had already walked out on one of Progessive Rocks main-stayers King Crimson, after their much-aclaimed and hugely sucessful debut album, 'In the Court of The Crimson King', to follow Keith Emerson's dream of an orchestral 'Super-Nice'. Drummer, Carl Palmer made up the final part of the trio.
This was an era when experimentation, LSD and the British invasion not only ruled the musical waves, but they could do no wrong. ELP were no exception.
Taking a composition from a 19th century Russian composer named Modest Petrovich Mussogsky, Pictures at an Exhibition is one of ELP's finest.
The title's of each song are pretty meaningless, what is important is the interaction between the trio and how well they perform ...
