ELP #4- Trilogy

Trilogy- 1972

Rating: 13

If I hear Greg say "Coca-Cola" ever again, I'm going to smash something

Best song: The Endless Enigma (all parts)

Worst song: Living Sin

     This album is Greg Lake's favorite album by ELP. To quote him: "I do like Trilogy. It is my favorite ELP album. It couldn’t be anyone else. It truly is a definitive album. It is the very best of ELP in a way. It’s got flashes of all the best things of what we were." I would agree it does have quite a few of the best things ELP was, but the album does have it's mistakes (one in particular).

     The first song is "The Endless Enigma Pt. One", which is the 1st part of the three-song suite. It begins with the heartbeat drum made famous by Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon". However, this was the first use of that skill, and gives the song a cool effect. After the first minute and thirty second of stop and starting piano, the song features his Emerson's Hammond and turns into a nice Lake song. The lyrics are great, even if occasionally questionable. Suddenly, the song starts it's ending by going into a weird piano part that transitions into "Fugue", the next part. "Fugue" is simply a very beautiful Emerson piano piece. It is perfectly placed between both parts of "The Endless Enigma".

     "The Endless Enigma Pt. Two" is a lot shorter then the first part, and begins with good piano that eventually turns into a synth part with a bell as the only percussion. That turns into the next part of the Lake ballad. The lyrics are pretty good. Lake then yells out the final word, and the synths quickly end the song. The entire suite is incredible. After that is "From The Beginning", which is another excellent Lake song. It starts off with just some nice guitar and Lake's singing. The lyrics are, as usual, great. There also appears to be bongo drums in the background, but I can't confirm if that is what they are. After that part comes an electric guitar solo. That solo goes into an Emerson solo until the song ends.

     "The Sheriff" is the next song, which proves that ELP developed a formula: One suite each album and one joke song. This formula was started in "Tarkus". Anyway, "The Sheriff" begins with laughing and talking until Palmer does a couple drum fills. These eventually lead up to the song. The lyrics tell the tale of Josie, who is wanted by the sheriff. Josie hides, gets caught, and then shoots the sheriff. This is highly entertaining, and Keith's keyboard solo in the middle serves as sort of a break. The song ends with a gun shot, followed by Keith playing his awesome Honky Tonk piano. Then comes "Hoedown (Taken From Rodeo)". This is a superb cover of Aaron Copland's original piece, and the Hammond organ plays the main melody. Lots of synths are added around that part.

     Following that is the title track. This is a very cool song, and has two parts. The first part has Emerson playing some nice piano while Greg sings his lyrics. Then Emerson slowing transitions into a faster piano piece that turns into a fast paced keyboard/synth war. It sounds pretty amazing, and is basically a giant Emerson solo fest. Eventually, the song changes and Greg begins singing again. The lyrics are good, but not anything special. After the short singing part, Emerson solos again until he creates a slow ending. Now, the album may seem as though it is spectacular. That changes quite a bit with the next song.

     The song that comes after "Trilogy" is the horrible "Living Sin". Greg delivers a deep voice, which sounds stupid and unpleasant. The keyboard line that starts the song sounds almost awkward, but Emerson quickly starts to play better, but he really doesn't do anything special to make the song stand out. Palmer's drums are good, but, as with Emerson's line, nothing special. Normally, the lyrics would be good, but this song's lyrics are really bad. I mean, the line "Hooked you up with coca-cola coming... nice and slippery" is a new contender for "WLE (Worst Lyric Ever)". Not only is that lyrics bad, but it sounds even worse with Greg's deep voice. The only good thing about the song is that Greg uses his regular voice during parts of the song, but this still classifies as garbage.

     The last song is "Abaddon's Bolero", which is pretty good in all. It starts off quietly and with not too many instruments, and then slowly increases in instruments and volume. These parts also have a better keyboard line, and the rest of the instruments have to build off that keyboard line. This effect sounds pretty awesome.

     I believe that this album is very good. It's just a shame that they included a terrible song such as "Living Sin". Fortunately, after reviewing this album, I never really have a purpose to listen to it again. Anyway, "Trilogy" is a great album, even though it has some bad flaws.

ELP #3- Pictures At An Exhibition

Pictures at an Exhibition- 1971

Rating: 13

Greg's lyrics don't make any sense, but not that I'm complaining

Best Song: The Curse of Baby Yaga or Nutrocker

Worst Song: The Great Gates Of Kiev

     This release is weaker then the last two, but is still a superb album. Anyway, before the band performed their first concert, they got the idea to create their own version of Modest Mussorgsky's original piece. However, this is VERY different from that version. 

     This is a live album recorded from ELP's first ever concert. Each piece is supposed to symbolize some sort of painting (except for the "Promenades" and "Blues Variations"). It starts with "Promenade 1", which is just a simple keyboard melody from the original classical composition. It is harmless to the album itself. After that is "The Gnome". That too is similar to the original piece, just with some added keyboards. The drums are an important part of the song, and both the bass and keyboards sound pretty cool. This song symbolizes a gnome running in short bursts. After that song comes "Promenade 2", which, like the 1st one, doesn't hurt the album at all. However, this time it is only Greg's voice driving the melody. The lyrics really don't make any sense, but Greg's voice sounds very nice. Then the album starts to stray away from the original.

     After that comes a Greg Lake original, "The Sage". This purely contains acoustic guitar and Greg's singing. Yet again, none of the lyrics really have any meaning, but they sound perfect. Parts of the acoustic guitar line sound suspiciously like the guitar part on the song "The Court of The Crimson King" by King Crimson. However, this song is different enough from it. I do not quite know what this part symbolizes. Then comes "The Old Castle", which barely sounds like Mussorgsky's piece. Some of those weird noises in the beginning are actually rather interesting, and no longer bore me like they used to. However, once the "current song" goes into an actual song, it sounds pretty awesome. The original symbolized a peaceful castle, but this symbolizes a castle under attack and on fire. That song goes straight into "Blues Variations". This song is pretty cool, and Emerson's Hammond line is excellent. It just runs a little bit too long. Then things change even more.

     "Promenade 3" comes in, and that has the melody from the first two, just drums have been added. It would hurt the album if there was another "Promenade", but this was the final one. After that comes "The Hut of Baby Yaga 1", which has a fast paced keyboard and drum line. It follows the originals melody 75% of the time. Next comes the strangest yet best part of the album, "The Curse of Baby Yaga". This was not in Mussorgsky's composition, and is purely ELP's amazing skills. It starts off with some harmless yet cool synth noises that, unlike the ones on "The Old Castle", add to the song. It then breaks into a cool jam before erupting into excellent madness. Emerson plays his Hammond like a madman, Greg kills his guitar/bass and sings random absurd lyrics that sounds pretty good, and Palmer beats his drums to death. That then goes into "The Hut of Baby Yaga 2", which is just a faster version of the 1st one. That entire melody symbolizes a witch in a hut.
    
     Then comes the worst song on the album, "The Great Gates Of Kiev". The thing that brings the song down is the random keyboard break that happens twice in the first three minutes. The keyboard is so quiet, and you really can't hear an interesting melody on the second time until the 2:25 mark. That quickly goes into the strangest guitar part which no longer bores me as it did, and is pretty interesting. As much negative things I said about the song, I still enjoy it; just not that much. Greg's singing is good, and when he says "Death is life" near the end, it actually feels like an ending. Then ELP stops playing and the crowd cheers.

     Now the suite is done, but suddenly, Greg says "You want some more music?". the crowd appears to say yes, even though I thought I heard some people say no. Anyway, Keith starts playing on a clavinet, and he plays "Nutrocker". It is a marvelous song, and I consider a sort of joke song, like "Jeremy Bender" from "Tarkus". The best part is when Greg starts screaming "YEAH!!!" and the crowd mimics him. Finally, Keith stops playing and the album ACTUALLY ends.

     In my opinion, this is at least a bit better then Mussorgsky's original piece, while at most a great improvement over the old composition. "Pictures at an Exhibition" is a very worthwhile album, even though it has it's share of flaws.

ELP #2- Tarkus

*Tarkus- 1971*

Rating: 15

Ham or Cheese?

Best Song: Tarkus

Worst Song: None here

     Have you ever had a dream about a armadillo tank? If you have, and you have stared at the cover of this album, is this what you saw? Did you find it unusually fascinating? Wait, why am I talking about armadillo tank dreams? Anyway, this is one of my favorite albums. It is also the best album about a armadillo tank, considering you don't just go into a record shop and see a version of "Tarkus" by The Backstreet Boys (or The Beach Boys). Now, to get back on topic, "Tarkus" by ELP is among the greatest albums I have heard, and should be in your collection.

     The album starts with the amazing title track. It begins with a bunch of voices all strung together until going into the first part, "Eruption". This part is about a volcanic explosion that causes "Tarkus" to be born. This part includes lots of fast keyboards, and Palmer's gong. In addition, Emerson uses his Hammond organ and Moog synthesizer. That part then goes into "Stones of Years". Lake sings a song that appears to be about hearing, speaking, and knowing. This is most likely the best vocal part. Suddenly, that song goes into the third part, "Iconoclast". "Iconoclast" is a warplane/pterodactyl. "Tarkus" easily defeats it. This part seems like a even faster version of "Eruption" with a few added parts to help make it connect with the part that follows.

     The next part is "Mass". "Mass" is a lizard/lobster/rocket launcher. Lake sings in this part about religious things, and Emerson has a solo between one of the verses. Lake also plays an electric guitar in parts of the section. "Mass" then goes into "Manticore", which is "Tarkus's" final enemy. This battle happens between the "Eruption" theme and the new "Manticore" theme. Eventually, "Manticore" wins. This part is another Hammond organ festival with short drum breaks during certain sections. The next part is "Battlefield", where the battle concludes and "Tarkus" begins to head to a river. This is a song completely written by Greg Lake. It actually has a guitar solo, which is unusual in a ELP song. The lyrics are some of the best on the album, and the keyboard is excellent as usual.

     The final part, "Aquatarkus", symbolizes "Tarkus" going to the river and becoming, you guessed it, "Aquatarkus". This part has Palmer doing a march-like rhythm on his snare drum as Keith's keyboards represent "Tarkus". Finally, there is a reprise of "Eruption" that, instead of moving on, creates an epic ending. Normally, you would expect the rest of the album to be not so good. Actually, the rest of the album is awesome! It comes in with "Jeremy Bender", which is ELP's shortest song ever. The lyrics are funny, Keith's honky-tonk piano is nice. The drumming fits the song very well. Following that is "Bitches Crystal", in which Emerson's piano rocks. Greg's voice packs tons of energy, and Palmer's drumming is amazing as usual. After the 1st and 2nd piano solos, Greg's voice sounds so powerful you wonder if Greg almost killed someone in the making of the song.

     The next song is "The Only Way (Hymn)". The organ is cool and slightly haunting, while Greg's voice is very good. The lyrics are deep, and the piano that comes in later is up to Emerson's normal quality. This song goes directly into "Infinite Space (Conclusion)". The melody Keith plays on his piano is pretty cool, and Palmer's drums are sort of simple compared to the other songs. That, however, is not a complaint. The song is completely driven by the piano. After that comes "A Time and a Place", in which Emerson returns to his Hammond organ. Greg's voice sounds awesome, and the drumming is exceptional. The lyrics are cool, and the section where the drumming disappears, Greg sings another verse, and Keith plays his synthesizer is excellent.

    The album seems to be over, but than the hilarious "Are You Ready Eddy?" runs in. Emerson rocks his piano (and almost kills it in the solo), Greg singing is spectacular, and Palmer has a fast drum beat going. Greg adds in a lot of comments during the song when he's not singing, and the lyrics are quite funny. At the very end of the song, Keith says "Ham or Cheese?", causing Palmer to repeat that and laugh. That alone makes this song worth it to listen to. Then, if you bought the Surround Sound Deluxe Edition, it comes with the sad Greg Lake song "Oh My Father", the song Keith sings, "Unknown Ballad (Maybe It's Just a Dream)", and an alternate instrumental take of "Mass". All of these are also pretty amazing. I won't go into the details, since they technically aren't on the album, but these songs would not ruin the rating in any way.

     "Tarkus" is stellar, and should be in you collection. If you don't have it, BUY IT. You won't regret a minute, unless you hate Prog.

ELP #1- Emerson, Lake, and Palmer

Emerson, Lake and Palmer- 1970

Rating: 15

Debuts don't get much better then this
Best Song: Take a Pebble
Worst Song: There really isn't one

     Wow. These guys really do know how to make a stunning debut! I really can not find a single flaw in this album. Every song on this album is fantastic, some more fantastic than others. Of course, ELP got better (and worse) as they went on, but this album is truly amazing.


     It starts with "The Barbarian", in which Emerson's signature Hammond organ is first introduced. The guitar line later strums a single note and takes the song into a neat piano section. It then goes back into the main theme and ends. "The Barbarian" isn't the most amazing ELP song, but certainly is a spectacular album opening. Following that song is "Take a Pebble", which is Emerson and Lake domination. The beginning ballad is very nice, and the Emerson solo is joyful and fun. Suddenly, the Emerson solo ends, and Lake's guitar starts to play. The guitar starts quiet and nice but then it goes into a rodeo tune that reminds me of "The Clap" by Yes. However, that doesn't last too long until going back to Emerson's solo fest. Lastly, the ballad returns, and the song slowly comes to a end.

     Next comes the great "Knife Edge", which, while not exactly original, is awesome. Emerson uses his Hammond organ again, and Lake's singing is clear yet slightly bitter (in a good way). The lyrics are interesting, and after the first two verses, Emerson breaks a sort of solo. After the solo, the next verse comes in, and the song slows down and kind of explodes into fireworks for no reason. The song after that is "The Three Fates". There is, well, three parts, each talking about one of the fates. The first fate, Clotho, features the signature Hammond, and is kind of strange. The second fate, Lachesis, is a two minute piano segment. The third fate, Atropos, is easily the strangest part. Emerson, after sort of repeating part of the first part, plays his piano as Greg and Palmer quickly play their instruments as the song becomes an awesome yet chaotic segment. Then the song, like the last song, it explodes for no reason. I don't understand it, but it sounds pretty cool, so I don't care!

     "Tank" comes right after "The Three Fates", and a good Palmer drum line comes in. Greg and Emerson quickly come in for a while until you just hear Emerson and Palmer. Palmer goes into an exciting drum solo featuring my favorite addition to his drum set, the gong. After the three minute drum solo, the song goes into a march-like section in which Emerson uses a Moog synthesizer. After the song fades out, the ballad "Lucky Man" begins. It seems sort of simple, but I enjoy it greatly. After two verses and choruses, some guitar plays over the backing vocals. Then two more sections come in, and Emerson does a Moog solo until the song ends. The solo was recorded in a single take without Emerson even knowing they would include it on the album.

     "Emerson, Lake, and Palmer" is an essential album to be included in your second basement, or maybe even your music collection. Either shall do. 

Introduction to ELP

Well, as you can tell by the title of both this site and heading of this paragraph, this is another music reviewing site. I already have a reviewing page (located here), but I decided to start my own site. Now, first things first:
1. Reviewing system: All reviews are on a scale of 0 (being the worst) and 15 (being the best).

2. Sub-headings/minor-headings: Every review shall contain some headings explaining the rating, providing a random caption, and the best song and worst song.

3. Discographies: On this site, I review all the albums by a certain band. I am starting with Emerson Lake and Palmer (ELP).

So, that's all the important information about this site. Reviews will probably be every few weeks or so (unless I forget).