ELP #6- Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends Ladies and Gentleman Emerson Lake & Palmer

Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends- Ladies and Gentleman: Emerson Lake & Palmer- 1974

Rating: 14

Just as long as the title

Best Song: Take A Pebble/Still...You Turn Me On/Lucky Man

Worst Song: Piano Improvisations

     I am yet to find a longer title for an album. Of course, it won't be as good as this album, but never mind that. This is a live album recorded for their "Someone Get Me a Ladder" tour (named after a song lyric on "Still...You Turn Me On" from "Brain Salad Surgery"). Quite a good album, with just a tiny flaw there and there.

     The album begins with "Hoedown" from "Trilogy". However, there is a difference between this version and the one on "Trilogy": This one is WAYYYYYY faster! Another difference is the cool synth solo near the end. Anyway, It sounds pretty awesome in all, with Keith's great organ playing. Then comes "Jerusalem", which sounds pretty much the same as the studio version. Greg's voice sounds good, and Keith sounds great as usual. Oh yeah, and Carl was there. Coming after that is the excellent "Toccata", which is, yet again, just like the studio version. Those epic noises at the end sound amazing still. After that song comes "Tarkus". "Eruption" sounds good, and "Stones of Years" has some extra added Keith notes, making it improve a bit off the original. After the awesome rampage in "Iconoclast", "Mass" comes in, sounding spectacular. Then comes "Manticore", which is some more rampaging. "Battlefield" begins, but after that excellency ends, Greg improves even more off the original: he sticks "Epitaph", which he made when he was in King Crimson, right in there. After that, "Aquatarkus" plays brilliantly and ends the song.

     "Take a Pebble/Still...You Turn Me On/Lucky Man" is a wonderful song (even though it includes multiple songs). It begins with "Take a Pebble", which has a slightly different riff than the original. After Greg's two great verses, Emerson solos until he ends the song (for now). Greg then picks up his guitar and sings "Still...You Turn Me On". This version sounds quite good. After that is "Lucky Man", which I REALLY, REALLLLLY enjoy. Then the album has it's downfall. "Piano Improvisations" is good, but is too long. The piano playing is amazing. Suddenly, Keith starts to play "Take a Pebble (Conclusion)". Greg sings his first verse after Keith's intro, and ends the song for real this time. Then comes "Jeremy Bender/The Sheriff". "Jeremy Bender" certainly improves off the previous version (and is much faster), but "The Sheriff" is not as good as the original. It is cool how Greg has alternate lyrics on "Jeremy Bender" and how Keith goes right into "The Sheriff".

     The "Karn Evil 9" suite comes in right after that last song. "Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression" is, well, 1st. The first part doesn't seem to improve too much on the original. It does sound awesome as usual. Keith sounds great, along with Palmer. The second singing part of the song comes in, with Greg singing excellently. This goes straight into "Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression Part 2", which has an extended drum solo right in the middle. The drum solo is interesting, if a bit overlong. Then comes "Karn Evil 9: Second Impression", which is good as always. After that is "Karn Evil 9: Third Impression". This seems to improve a bit off the original piece. Then Emerson does his synth thing, ending the song and the album.

     This is a worthy addition to the ELP catalogue, and even surpasses some of their studio albums. It certainly is yet another album that proves the band's brilliance.

ELP #5- Brain Salad Surgery

Brain Salad Surgery- 1973

Rating: 15

"KE9 has 3 parts! Oops, I'm sorry. Impressions.

Best Song: Karn Evil 9: First Impression (Both parts)

Worst Song: Is there one?

     ELP is my favorite band of all time, in case you were wondering. Sure they are pretentious, but I LOVE the creative ideas put on their albums. You would most likely give this album a lower grade then I did, mostly because a lot of people think "Toccata" is garbage. However, a lot of people think this is the peak, while I just barely believe "Tarkus" is better.

     The grand album begins with "Jerusalem", which is an excellent, yet simple song. One of the amazing things about the entire album, along with this song, is that the band wanted to make sure they could perform it on stage. Since they did that, every track on this album can be played exactly the same way live. Anyway, "Jerusalem" is a slow anthem that has Greg singing with his normally spectacular voice. Emerson's keyboards serve as an awesome backing, and Palmer is just being... well, Palmer. This song sounds concludes in an epic ending.

     This next song is the song that a lot of people hate, "Toccata". Personally, I didn't like it the first time I listened to it, but now I believe it is fantastic. It starts with some quiet drums and keyboards until the keyboard suddenly gets louder and turns into a weird yet great synth/keyboard madness. The drums are pretty cool too. That parts ends with even more synths before Palmer starts to drum some more and uses his gongs. Soon, you start hearing bells and other instruments playing quietly. Then comes the main madness. Keith starts either a car alarm or a really weird synth and lots of other really strange car alarm-like noises start to come in. All these stop when Emerson returns to the main theme, and closes the song with strange synths and keyboards.

     Following that is a pretty ballad called "Still... You Turn Me On". This song has a lyric that most people hate (Every day a little sadder, a little madder, someone get me a ladder), but I don't really mind it. The lyrics in general are pretty good, and Lake's guitar sounds nice. the wah-wah guitar is also played pretty well. After that comes one of the strangest yet most hilarious ELP songs, "Benny the Bouncer". You expect to hear Greg's great singing, but instead you hear him doing this nasty yet amusing voice. The lyrics are strange yet funny, and the piano playing superb, along with the drums. Then the symphony begins.

     The big suite that concludes the album is "Karn Evil 9", which is basically "Carnival 9". This song is extremely awesome, especially the first "impression" (pretentious, but I don't care). First in the suite is "Karn Evil 9: First Impression Pt. 1", which starts with a look into the future. Greg is blaring some great vocals, and Emerson's keyboards are fantastic. That melody goes off for a little while after the first part, but I still enjoy it quite a bit. the lyrics are pretty cool. Suddenly, it breaks into a instrumental part that is entertaining without running too long. It then changes to a melody in which it seems like an actual carnival, with normal yet absurd things. Greg is amazing, the lyrics are wonderful Keith is doing some cool stuff, and Palmer is drumming nicely. After that, a instrumental part goes in and, if you have vinyl, the first side ends.

     The second side continues right where it left off with "Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression Pt. 2". This starts with good synth noises and Lake singing the excellent lyrics. Emerson solos during one of the verses before Lake solos on his guitar. Even Palmer gets a little drum solo fill before Greg starts singing again. The song ends with Emerson hitting his final keyboard notes before Greg belts out "SEEEEEEEEEEE THEEEEEEEEEE SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWW". It sounds terrific.

     The suite continues with "Karn Evil 9: 2nd Impression". This is basically a fabulous instrumental since I don't count the weird noises in the middle). This has Keith playing some spectacular piano playing, and the drums are fast paced. This turns into a part with an instrument I can't identify, but I like how it sounds. That part goes back to the beginning piano before ending. Then things get weird. Soon, some haunting piano is played, along with some bass. There are some weird noises, but there are also some strange vocal noises during it. Some piano playing is played over some of the noises later on. A little bit later piano does a little introduction to the beginning part again (with an added faster pace part) before the song ends.

     The final song and final part of the suite is "Karn Evil 9: 3rd Impression". Most people believe this is a bad song, but I see no flaw in it, even though it certainly isn't fantastic. The keyboards comes back and lead the way for the song. Lake sings the lyrics well, even though they are not as great as the previous lyrics. This part is when the computers overpower the humans. The computer voice is provided by Keith speaking into his weird machinery. Later, the vocals stop and a nice instrumental part comes in with Emerson doing a sort of solo. The song moves into a long cool fast paced part. Emerson's playing is pretty awesome. After quite a while, the main part comes back with Greg singing and Emerson speaking that comes in with a good conclusion. However, Emerson starts doing a weird synth part that slowly gets faster before being so fast and ending the album.

     "Brain Salad Surgery" is certainly an amazing album, and is very worthy of praise. This is easily the 2nd best ELP album.