ELP #8- Works Volume 2

Works Volume 2- 1997

Rating: 13

The band has fun, and Palmer learns how to write good songs

Best Song: Watching Over You or Close But Not Touching

Worst Song: Bullfrog



       Unbelievably enough, the band managed to make this awesome record that is WAAAAY better then "Works Volume 1". It is even better then "Trilogy", mainly because there is no copy of "Living Sin" on this album. The funny thing is that this album is not a traditional ELP album because most of the songs are just the band having a great time. The other thing is that this is an album with outtakes. Just think about the fact that many bands have tons of outtakes that never make it on to an album. If all of ELP's outtakes were as good as these, or even worse then these, I would definitely buy them if they were put on a CD.
       Of course, I have to get on to reviewing the album sometime. The album opener is "Tiger in The Spotlight". If you were expecting some complicated, "Tarkus" sort of thing, then prepare to be surprised. This song like one of those songs that makes you want to get up and dance until you fall over. In other words, it's a catchy, fast paced tune. Lake sings his lyrics while Emerson keeps this awesome piano line with some synths. Palmer just goes ahead and drums (with occasional drum fills). Emerson solos sometimes between when Greg is singing. This song already sets the album on a excellent first note. The next song is "When The Apples Blossoms Bloom in The Windmills of Your Mind I'll Be Your Valentine". The song is instrumental, and highly entertaining. Emerson uses his synths to make a nice melody, while keeping a good flow to the song. Basically, the entire song is an awesome Emerson solo as he uses all his different keyboards.
       Remember how I said Palmer finally started to write some good songs in the album description? Well, this next song was written by Palmer is slightly lower then okay. "Bullfrogs" is an experimental Palmer song, with mildly interesting but sort of annoying saxophones, and a cool yet strange part that contains a flute. The end has a few different themes built into it, but for 10 seconds it just sounds like a mess before pulling itself together to end the song. After that is the title track of one of their previous albums, "Brain Salad Surgery". The Emerson synths make the song sound neat, while the drums are more complex then the first two songs. Greg sort of sounds like he did on "Benny the Bouncer", but still sings pretty well. The song is pretty short, and ends after 2 verses, an instrumental break, and another verse. This does not mean the song is bad, for it is highly enjoyable.
       Coming after that is the first honky-tonk song on the album, "Barrelhouse Shake-Down". Emerson uses the piano he uses on "Jeremy Bender" and solos with other brass and woodwind instruments. It is interesting most of the time, if only 10 seconds overlong (which is a very small flaw). Once that ends, the fantastic "Watching Over You" begins. It is a Greg ballad, with nice lyrics and a beautiful melody. It is pretty much just Greg's voice and his guitar at first, with some backing vocals appearing in some parts. It quickly becomes a bigger song, with a harmonica and what sounds like a single drum instead of a full drum set. The song is a classic Lake ballad, beating "Closer to Believing" from "Works Volume 1" by just a bit.
       Next comes the good song "So Far to Fall" that, like "Tiger in The Spotlight", makes you want to dance. Greg's voice sounds pretty cool on the song, and the lyrics are good at best. Emerson's keyboards are interesting, if not that special on this song. Palmer's drums are pretty much normal (for Palmer). Right after that is the next honky-tonk song, "Maple Leaf Rag". Emerson plays his great piano part and is backed by an orchestra and a flute. This is a cover of Scott Joplin's original song. It is good, mainly because it is repetitive. Luckily, it is about 2 minutes. The next song is "I Believe In Father Christmas", which has some of the best lyrics on the album. It is not a traditional Christmas song, because instead of being about Santa and stuff, it is about childhood belief and the commercialization of Christmas. That does not stop the song from sounding great. This version does not have the orchestra.
       Then Palmer finally realizes that he can make great songs and comes up with "Close But Not Touching". This is an instrumental with a fascinating melody and a cool drum beat. While if the part at the beginning kept going over and over, it would have been just a good song, but then the guitar starts soloing and makes the song sound 50% more awesome then it already did. It is quite a spectacular song. Then comes the final honky-tonk song, titled "Honky Tonk Train Blues". Emerson, of course, uses the honky-tonk piano and again solos with the brass and woodwinds, just to better song this time. As usual, the song is extremely interesting and makes for a fun listening experience. The final song on the album is the excellent "Show Me The Way to Go Home", another cover. Emerson does a piano intro until Lake sings two verses (no chorus). Suddenly, Emerson starts to solo as other instruments and drums join. Greg sings until only him, the orchestra, and the piano is left. Emerson does the outro and the album closes.
       My version of the album has some live tracks, and those are not counted in the rating, even though it would still be the same. The live tracks are "Tiger in The Spotlight", "Watching Over You" (which they announce as "Watching Under You" before correcting it and joking about it being "Watching With You"), and "Show Me The Way To Go Home". In all, the entire album shows the fun side of ELP, and, unfortunately, is the final fantastic album the band will have.

ELP #7- Works Volume 1



Works Volume 1- 1977
Rating: 9
Emerson: Classical. Lake: Melodies. Palmer: ?
Best Song: Hallowed Be Thy Name or Closer to Believing

Worst Song: L.A. Nights or Two-Part Invention in D Minor

      Now here is where ELP starts to spread apart a bit. The problem was that they all wanted to do solo work, but they knew that if they released it themselves it would not sell as well. So they said "Hey! I know! Let's make a bunch of solo stuff and put it on one album!", and that is exactly what they did. Of course, it is not even as close to as good as previous albums, but it has some great moments.
       The biggest problem with the album is that, while Emerson and Lake do fantastic jobs, Palmer flops around with the song writing like an idiot. I don't have anything against Palmer (this is my favorite band, so if I hated him why would I like the band) but I think that he is not a very good songwriter by himself. Notice that on every album, there is no complete song writing credit by Palmer. Consider this a good thing.
       Anyway, Emerson wrote his contributions on the first side, with a single 20 minute song. It is classic music with three parts, titled simply "Piano Concerto No. 1". The whole song features extremely impressive piano parts by Keith. At most times he sounds just like the old classic music composers that you learn about in General Music and forget about because you like different types of music. The thing is, this song was plenty of variety to be very interesting to mainly anyone. Besides, Emerson is backed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and who doesn't like them? The only flaw is that it isn't something I would always actively listen to exactly.
       Next in line is the Greg Lake tunes. All of them are ballads, even if "Hallowed Be Thy Name" really doesn't fit with the rest of the songs. First is "Lend Your Love To Me Tonight", in which Greg conjures a nice melody with decent lyrics. The drum line is simple, and the guitar too. Following that is "C'est la vie". The song is excellent, with a slow build-up. At the beginning it is just his guitar and his singing, which soon is joined by back-up instruments and backing vocals. Only on the last verse do you hear pretty much everything in the song. After that is the fun and great "Hallowed Be Thy Name". The lyrics are definitely the best on this album, and the piano that comes in between when Greg sings is pretty awesome. The orchestra line is strange, but fits perfectly. I even hear some brass here in there. For the last lyric, Greg keeps finding words that rhyme with it as the madness of the instruments continues. This song is memorable, with no doubt about it.
       When the amazing "Hallowed Be Thy Name" is done, "Nobody Loves You Like I Do", the next Greg ballad, comes in. It has a harmonica to back up the main melody. The lyrics are okay, but when Greg sings them they sound much better. Synths are heard during the chorus, most likely not played by Emerson (unfortunately). The final ballad is "Closer to Believing". The melody is beautiful, which is undeniable. These lyrics are just as good as "Hallowed Be Thy Name", and Greg's voice sounds perfect. With it's mellow piano, Greg's soothing voice, the quiet guitar, and some great orchestra parts, this song is a great ending to Greg's set.
       By moving on to Palmer's set, you quickly ask yourself what exactly you are listening to. The first song is "The Enemy God Dances With The Black Spirit", which is just some weird orchestra stuff with Palmer being experimental. It is actually good, and certainly better then the rest of the Palmer songs to come. "L.A. Nights" seems cool at first, but once the stupid voice says the title 5 seconds in, it just becomes boring, overlong, and experimental. Following that is "New Orleans", which is the other good Palmer track on the album. The guitar melody is catchy, and it is not extremely long. After that is "Two-Part Invention in D Minor", which is quiet and boring. The entire song is just what sounds like a triangle, the orchestra, and marimbas. The next Palmer song is "Food For Your Soul", which actually isn't half bad. It starts off well, but is ruined by a drum solo, which is followed by a cool melody with a flute (I love Jethro Tull). The final Palmer song (YESSSSSSS) is "Tank", which is just a remake of "Tank" from their first album. It is not even as close to as good, and is pretty much just unnecessary.
      Once Palmer's madness is done, the band finally goes to their common side. This includes two songs, the first being the cool Aaron Copeland tune, "Fanfare For The Common Man". The only part that sounds like the actual song is the beginning part that appears every now and then. The rest is Emerson jamming and having a good time. It could be the best song on the album, but I feel it is overlong by about a minute. Other then that, no complaints. The last song on the album is "Pirates". It begins quietly until it suddenly starts to sound like, well, pirates sailing. After Emerson and Palmer's intro, Lake starts singing. The lyrics are okay, mostly because of the fact that they are a bit too pirate-like. After about 7-8 minutes, a lot more variety comes into the song, as it starts to blend some more different ideas. After Greg sings more fast paced things to fit the music, it goes back into a slow version of the earlier part until Greg finally sings the final lyrics and the album is over. To be honest, it isn't too interesting. There are bonus tracks on my version, but they are just 2 Palmer ones and "Nutcracker" from "Pictures At An Exhibition".
       "Works Volume 1" is still a good album, even though Palmer's side is terrible. It shows that Emerson and Lake were the main songwriters, and that Palmer simply made drum lines and other things related to his role in the band. This does not mean that the band was the same as ever. This album has many new different things never in an ELP album, along with the taking away of some too. ELP was starting to run out of fantastic material, but this albums proves that they still had some originality left until their career turned sour.