WELCOME BACK MY FRIENDS TO THE SHOW THAT NEVER ENDS

Firstly this record was expensive, which was a major downside at the time. The only other criticism is the live sound of the mix which is pretty good but a little poor by today's standards. This is no live at Leeds in sound quality which is a shame. Otherwise this is an excellent set and a must by for all true proggies. I still play this recording quite a lot and it is in my top ten all time live album list. The best number on the record is Tarkus which is somewhat longer than the original and is delivered with great passion, faultlessly. What can one say about a triple lp that covers almost all of ELP's better tracks. Perhaps its a little heavy on tracks from Brain Salad Surgery (which period this is ) but those tracks are so well done it , I believe at times its is better than the studio version. There are also some nice moments of otherwise unreleased tracks a nice version of Epitaph finds its way into the middle of take a pebble for instance. Here we see why ELP were considered a great live band , famous for their very long sets (3 hours at times). At this point they are still getting on well it would seem and the band is firing on all cannons. When you look back over ELP carrier it has to be noted that the live albums are really the highlight. If only the sound quality was a little better this would be a classic live recording as it stands it is still a fine record and one every prog fan should have. I am still to hear the CD so this review is based on the vinyl release.