Talking Heads #3- Stop Making Sense (Live)

Stop Making Sense- 1984

Rating: 13

Hi. I got an album I wanna review.

Best Song: Crosseyed And Painless

Worst Song: Genius of Love (Tom Tom Club)

             This album just continues to drive home the point that the Talking Heads are spectacular when they are live. I mean, the studio albums can be really great, but I think they truly shine on their live albums. For instance, this one and The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads are probably among my favorite live albums. Although this one is technically the audio from the concert movie (that is excellent as well, by the way), it still counts as a live album to me.

Anyway, on the Talking Heads live albums, sometimes they do different renditions of their songs. Sometimes they add more energy to it, expand sections, make them faster (ELP did this as well a lot on WBMFTTSTNE: LAGELP), and other ideas. Also, Byrne's singing can vary just due to how interesting and amusing he can be to listen to, so each rendition is uniquely different.

For example, this album opens with "Psycho Killer", except it features David Byrne just saying, "Hi. I've got a tape I wanna play," before a beat comes in and he just plays guitar and sings. It is a fascinating rendition of the song that really pays off, and little touches like that make Talking Heads live albums so great: They aren't just the same renditions live, and actually have little different touches. "Heaven", which comes after "Psycho Killer", also just has guitar (as well as bass I believe) and a female singer backing Byrne up. I'm not quite sure if it is better than the original (as they both get across the monotonous, never-ending idea of heaven shown in the lyrics), but for the sake of variety, it is quite nice to hear.

"Thank You for Sending Me an Angel" has a lot of energy that the original had, but I think this live version is a little better just for how raw and pure the sound and singing sounds. Either way, both versions sound great. "Found a Job" comes after it, which honestly has never been one of my favorite tracks. It is played pretty standard here with not much variation on the original track, but since that original song is still pretty great, I have no problem here. Personally, the album starts to kick in even more once they get to the material from Speaking In Tongues (which was the album before this one). "Slippery People" is a significant improvement over the original just on the amount of energy put into it. That brilliant part where the instruments cut out closer to the end of the song just for the singers to yell their words yet still sound amazing was definitely the highlight, as it is wonderfully engaging.

"Burning Down the House" is pretty much as good as the studio version, and I honestly don't have much to say about it. It is a great rendition of a great song, and while it is a little faster, I don't think it really improves on the material much or really adds too much new. Either way, I enjoy it. "Life During Wartime", however, is a lot more keyboard-based, which I actually do like. I still think I may prefer the version on The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads just because it was a bit more solid and I wasn't a big fan of the keyboard solo on this version, but I still think this song worked really well while still bringing something new. The part where a lot of the noise cut away, like "Slippery People", was probably my favorite moment just because I find those absences and sudden changes very interesting to hear. "Making Flippy Floppy", which I feel is a bit overlong on Speaking In Tongues, gets sped up a little with improved vocals and is shorter by over a minute. Therefore, I definitely think this version is marginally better than the one on that album, even if the song still isn't exactly a great classic. "Swamp", on the other hand, is one I found myself really getting into on Speaking In Tongues, and the same goes for this album. The vocals are a little different than the ones on that studio version, but they are still quite similar so there isn't much to say here. Great rendition, sounds like the studio one, I like the song a lot, moving on.

"What a Day That Was (Live Edit)" apparently comes from a David Byrne studio album, and I surprisingly like this song a lot. Maybe on the album it is weaker (as it probably lacks some of the power and energy displayed here), but here it sounds pretty good. My only gripe is that it could have been a little shorter, but no matter that, it has piqued my interest in Byrne's solo work. Following that up with one of my favorites from Speaking In Tongues, "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)" elevates beyond the original studio version by just seeming a lot tighter. The instrument playing seems more confident (for good reason, as the one on Speaking In Tongues was the song in which all the members of the band played different, uncomfortable instruments), but what really sold it for me were the vocal performances. They are just incredible and the melodies are perfect. The choruses sound magnificent, honestly. Also, I prefer this ending where the singers repeat the "ooh" lyric rather than just David Byrne singing it once before it kind of awkwardly plays for a bit before fading out. Anyway, this is a lovely version that can only be matched by an amusing version of "Once In a Lifetime". As per usual on this album, it places emphasis on keyboards. It has plenty of momentum and raw power to it, but I do kind of feel that later on the keyboards kind of drown a lot of noise out towards the end of the song, so I prefer the The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads version more.

This album might have received a 14  if the rest of the album went so smoothly with only a couple other little things, but unfortunately, "Genius of Love" by the Tom Tom Club had to come in (as Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz founded it as a side-project) and contribute a really terrible song. Yeah, this song is awful, cheesy, dated 80's crap. The singing is pretty poor, the lyrics are cringe-worthy, and it doesn't even really have a good beat to dance to. Fortunately, they go through "Girlfriend Is Better" and "Take Me to the River" in order to restore order. Neither are spectacular renditions (I'd actually say the version of "Take Me to the River" is a lot weaker than the studio one), but they are much better than the unspeakably bad Tom Tom Club song so it isn't a big problem at all really.

Fortunately, they saved the best for last. "Crosseyed And Painless" starts off with a really cool, slower groove version of the song before it goes insane. I mean, literally insane. It goes incredibly fast, but what sells it all is the electric guitar screeching. Honestly, I love Adrian Belew and I believe he played live with them on The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads, but whoever plays guitar here just knocked it out of the park. However, the fast pace allows the most extreme ENERGY to emote from the band and Byrne. Byrne kills the vocals, particularly the semi-rap section that he does with alarming and impressive speed. It concludes this live album with a huge bang, and I can't imagine it ending any other way.

In total, this is one of my favorite live albums and although I gave it a 13, it is the highest possible 13 I can give it (so yes, it is better than Works Live). Enjoy it, watch the movie, and have fun, because there is plenty of things to have fun with here.

ELP #10- Works Live

Works Live- 1993

Rating: 13

Look! The title is short!

Best Song: Fanfare For The Common Man or Peter Gunn

Worst Song: Tank

      Right after ELP broke up, the record company released In Concert, which contained some songs from their Works tour. The band had brought an orchestra along, but it nearly bankrupted the group, so they later dismissed them. Anyway, Emerson wanted In Concert to be a double album, but the record company disagreed. Finally, in 1993, that very same record company released this album that you are reading a review.

      If I am feeling incredibly generous, I sometimes consider this to be as good as Welcome Back... (not just because it has a shorter name), mainly because of two reasons: For one, I love ELP a really huge amount (and I probably overrate all their albums). However, the second reason is that they were an incredible live band. They played their songs pretty normally, but sometimes they made they combined songs together or just put a bunch of songs together that really "clicked" ("Take a Pebble/Still... You Turn Me On/Lucky Man" from Welcome Back...).

      Anyway, after a small and slightly boring "Introductory Fanfare", they go into a fantastic rendition of a song titled "Peter Gunn". Emerson plays an excellent keyboard line on his synths and other organs, while Lake's riveting bass line drives the piece quite well. Palmer's drumming is as steady as always. Following that comes "Tiger In A Spotlight", which was one of my favorite tracks back on Works Vol. 2. It's as fun and catchy as always, but Emerson's keyboards manage to add a bit of variation later during the song so it isn't exactly the same. Greg's singing is as strong as it had been during that period. After that is pretty normal version of "C'est La Vie", which has only been improved with a bit of added orchestra, but otherwise, it's still the same, good ballad that it had been on Works Vol. 1.

      Things start to change when the next song starts to play, "Watching Over You". The combination of Greg Lake's singing and guitar works as usual, but there is now a keyboard solo to replace the original's harmonica solo. I actually kind of prefer the solo on this version better, but I don't think the piece is as well done as it was on Works Vol. 2. However, it still is a fantastic inclusion to the album. Suddenly, right after that, Emerson launches into an incredibly impressive and short rendition of "Maple Leaf Rag" by Scott Joplin. Without his little 2nd outro at the end, he does the song in 1 minute and 7 seconds (add 2 seconds for the 2nd outro), which is incredibly impressive and definitely pretty stunning to hear exactly after something calm like "Watching Over You". After that is one of those ill-fated Carl Palmer Works Vol. 1 tracks, but on the plus side, he picked "The Enemy God (Dances With The Black Spirits)". To improve matters more, Emerson took the role of the brass from the original, which, believe it or not, improves the original by quite a bit. It does go a bit overlong even for being pretty short, but still manages to maintain interest for most of the time.

      Directly in line after that is perhaps one of the best tracks they ever recorded, "Fanfare For The Common Man". However, do not confuse this version with the one on Works Vol. 1, as on this one, everything is vastly superior then that on the actual album. Palmer's drumming is slightly better and Emerson jams a bit with much better keyboard sounds than on the original (honestly, the keyboard sound in the last 4 minutes of the original were mildly unpleasant). Greg doesn't really change anything, but his bass still drives the song as much as usual. This goes on for about 6 minutes, remaining incredibly interesting, until a couple seconds before the 6 minute and 30 second mark, there is a sudden change in the song. Palmer drums at what seems like random, Greg seems to be playing a bit of electric guitar, and Emerson is using his synths to make a bunch of peculiar noises. After a few seconds of this, Emerson starts playing something on his Hammond organ while Palmer starts a fast drumbeat. Suddenly, Emerson starts playing this incredible keyboard line while Greg follows him up with the bass. What the band managed to was fit their own version of "Blue Rondo Ala Turk" by Dave Brubeck, which had originally been called "Rondo" and played when Emerson was in a band called The Nice. Anyway, Emerson plays some great synths and keyboards for a couple minutes before the song just shifts back in "Fanfare For The Common Man" and ends with a fantastic ending aided greatly by the orchestra they had with them on the tour.

      Once that song is over, "Knife Edge" follows. It sounds pretty much the exact same as the original except for the added orchestra parts, making it sound slightly more bombastic. This might have been just as good as the original except for the fact that the production on this track is kind of poor. Otherwise, all remains the same as it ever was on this track. Around the same thing happened to "Show Me The Way To Go Home". On this version, the orchestra is less impressive than it was on the original, and the female backing vocals seem to have disappeared. Of course, Emerson's piano is still quite amazing and Greg's vocals are still great, but it doesn't really try to improve on the original (although that is not a bad thing). Following that is "Abaddon's Bolero", which is almost exactly the same except for heavier orchestra, but is still splendid, and probably would have been an amazing track to hear live. I might actually prefer the keyboard Emerson uses on this version, but both keyboards on both the original and the live version sound so good it would take me a while to actually pick one over the other. After a dramatic outro from "Abaddon's Bolero", Greg introduces "Pictures At An Exhibition" to the crowd ("We're gonna give you 'Pictures At An Exhibition'").

     "Pictures At An Exhibition" opens up with a little piece known as "Promenade 1". This one is played pretty similarly to the original, and still has that catchy but plain and simple melody. Of course, the only change is the heavy orchestration. "Promenade 1" goes directly into "The Gnome", which, other than a weird synth sound Emerson makes pretty much every time before the small breaks in the song and some different keyboard uses, is almost exactly the same. "Promenade 2" then comes in to interrupt the load and bombastic "The Gnome" with some pretty Greg Lake singing backed by the orchestra, which actually makes the song slightly more enjoyable. Unfortunately, this version skips "The Sage", "The Old Castle", "Blues Variations", and "Promenade 3", in favor of going straight into "The Hut Of Baba Yaga 1".This version, with some more orchestra, is pretty dang similar to the original. This is followed by the "The Curse Of Baba Yaga", which for some reason adds drums into the beginning song that was strictly keyboard to make some weird jam. I do miss the cool bass line that happens near the beginning as well, but the main song part is pretty similar and as chaotic as the original was. Anyway, Emerson still pounds his keyboard, Palmer still freaks out on his drums, and Greg still screams a couple of the lines. Anyway, after that, an orchestrated "The Hut Of Baba Yaga 2" is performed (and the fast keyboards are as good as ever) before going into "The Great Gates Of Kiev". Although this was my least favorite track on Pictures From An Exhibition, the orchestra attempts to make it feel much more dramatic on this album. It kind of helps, but the pauses are still kind of annoying, and this time there is no weird guitar to make the pauses slightly more interesting than they were originally (the second pause is much better than the first though). Anyway, the orchestra leads the band into the conclusion of the entire piece, making it sound incredibly epic and bombastic.

      After the end of "Picture From An Exhibition", "Close To Believing" follows it with another amazing Greg Lake performance. The song actually sounds almost exactly as it did on Works Vol. 1, but the song was quite spectacular to begin with. Greg sings with as much passion as he seemed to have had on the original, and the orchestra plays as well as ever. Following that is "Piano Concerto Third Movement: Tocatta Con Fuoco", which is the third movement in Emerson's long "Piano Concerto No. 1" from Works Vol. 1. This happened to be my favorite movement, and it is portrayed just as accurate as it was on the album. Emerson and the orchestra play incredibly great, and the fast paced part sounds very exciting and loud, while the huge slow downs near the middle and end are rather beautiful. Just as the album was about to improve on the greatness of Welcome Back..., the album closes out with the version of "Tank" from Works Vol. 1. Honestly, the beginning of the song is kind of a mess, and would have probably sounded better with Emerson's keyboards playing the melody. However, this is all good, but then we get to the drum solo. I thought the drum solo on Welcome Back... was tolerable, but this one eventually starts to bore me. This one mainly starts to bore me not only because it is about two minutes longer than the already long drum solo on Welcome Back..., but also because after a while, Palmer just seems to run out of ideas. For the last minute or so, he kind of just repeats ideas he already used from the beginning of the solo, which wouldn't be bad if they were really good ideas, but they just sound like they were building up to some huge drum solo spectacular, but they just end up leading back into the song. It keeps me interested for the first 3 to 4 minutes, but past that point I lose interest. However, once the song returns to normal, I really enjoy the melody and orchestra for the second part of the song, even though it is quite repetitive.

      Works Live is not only a very fitting companion to both Works Vol. 1 and Works Vol. 2, but also another fantastic release in the band's long going career. However, this tour left the band almost broke (mainly because they were touring with an entire orchestra), but it still managed to result in a quality album definitely worthy to be in any music lover's collection.

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 #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.