WORKS VOL. 2

At the age of 48, I have a different perspective on ELP then I did when I first got into the band at the age of 13 or so. And there was a period in that era 35 years ago where there was a considerable break between the 3 record live album and Works Volume 1. Being a diehard fan back then, I scoured the stores when I heard on WNEWFM for the first time When the Apples Blossom in the Windmills.... I thought the whole sound of this tune was so cool, that I could barely anticipate what the next ELP album would sound like. That album ended up being Works Volume 1, which I thought was really a collection of solo albums with two great covers, TANK, and FANFARE. But that was it. And since then the only other album of theirs which I hold in slight esteem is the one lp live album that came out in the Eighties.

But recently I got a hold of Works Volume 2, and there are some great ideas on the album. And it contains the aforementioned When the Apples.... The album in my current opinion contains 3 great tunes that are truly group orientated composition. And ironically they are tracks 2 thru 4.

2. When The Apple Blossoms Bloom In The Windmills of Your Mind I'll Be Your Valentine (3:59) 3. Bullfrog (3:52) 4. Brain Salad Surgery (3:10)

Tracks 2 and 3 point to the fact that Emerson Lake and Palmer probably had a great jazz fusion album in them waiting to get out, and having recently viewed a DVD of them at the California Jam, I am resolute in my assertion. In the California Jam DVD, in the middle of Take a Pebble, actually somewhere towards the end, they get into a great bebop jazz riffing jam. But unfortunately, they never allowed themselves to explore that side of their music on an entire album. So my recommendation is that get this album if you want to get a small taste of the kind of music Emerson Lake and Palmer could have produced. And I actually have to thank them for that long break between albums back then, because as an avid fan I hungered for similar music and got into other bands like Genesis, Yes, Nektar, and prog fusion, which began my music listening journey in earnest.