LOVE BEACH

Emerson, Lake and Palmer's Love Beach is an enjoyable album. It tries to balance their prog side with their pop side, and is generally 'lighter' than their other releases. They achieve this balance by having one side of shorter songs and another side taken up by a suite 'Memoirs, of an officer, and a gentleman'. There is also one brief classical reworking, 'Canario'.

There is a high standard on the first side with the shorter tracks; 'Canario' is vintage ELP, bouncy, playful, skillful, colourful. The opening two cuts are bright pop-rock with colourful synths. 'All I want is you' is almost like a sea shanty. The title track is energetic and fun. My favuorite, however, is the uber-romantic 'For You'. The song has a slightly prog jam at the start but the song is innovative pop, I suppose. It has a gentle, passionate, piano riff presiding over some passionate vocals, some eerie synths sometimes, and gradually builds to a climax. I find 'The Gambler' to be a very enjoyable song. The lyrics are well constructed and clever, and the music is fun. I am not so keen on 'Taste of my love', but that's a matter of taste, isn't it? It's another funky pop-rock song that has a few eerie synths, to give it a bit of 'prog-flavour'.

Then there is the side-long suite. Now I would say this song is worth about 6/10. So it is not bad. But to have to sit down and listen to a 6/10 song for twenty minutes? A 6/10 song is okay for 3 minutes but not twenty, but still it is not a bad song. It is more gentle and romantic than your usual ELP side-long epic, and has some very good moments. It is an interesting story, too.

I think the album is enjoyable, it is still innovative, and there is some variety. A bit more emotionally involved for ELP, as well. I actually find the lyrics to be very good on this album. So the first side is exuberant pop-rock fun with some colourful synths, and the second side is an emotionally attentative 20-minute epic that is not bad either. 3.5 / 5.0

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