ELP

I really couldn't pick between Take A Pebble and The Endless Enigma. Both indispensable.

Toccata caught my attention as a kid before I went totally prog crazy in 1978...

Flight123 wrote: All top notch ELP tracks and my favourite vacillates over the years - at the moment its 'Pirates', particularly on the strength of the Nassau Colosseum version where Emerson more than compensates for the missing orchestra.

long standing affection for Fanfare keeps me from voting any other way.

Otto9999 wrote: Hey! LOL... This poll title is hilarious , is this really a BIG 5,6 or 7 band?? Absolutely not, and if you disagree ... see the results  - just 53 votes in a renowned(?) PROG ROCK Forum?? C'mon guys, this is actually funny  hahahah, and I'm not a comedian, just for the record.

It's subjective, but which are your first seven? Areyou sure that nobody will find one of them "hilarious"?

Otto9999 wrote: Hey! LOL... This poll title is hilarious , is this really a BIG 5,6 or 7 band?? Absolutely not, and if you disagree ... see the results  - just 53 votes in a renowned(?) PROG ROCK Forum?? C'mon guys, this is actually funny  hahahah, and I'm not a comedian, just for the record.

AZF wrote: Otto9999 wrote: Hey! LOL... This poll title is hilarious , is this really a BIG 5,6 or 7 band?? Absolutely not, and if you disagree ... see the results  - just 53 votes in a renowned(?) PROG ROCK Forum?? C'mon guys, this is actually funny  hahahah, and I'm not a comedian, just for the record.   Well I admit, I sometimes felt that way about ELP but that was until I heard in full the "Welcome Back My Friends, To The Show That Never Ends... Ladies And Gentlemen" and it was so Prog it shows up the big 5 such as Pink Floyd weren't as great musically live as ELP! But welcome to the forum!

Actually, I have enjoyed much more live Pink Floyd than live ELP. For me, ELP kind of stray too much and... well, I just don't like how their songs sound live, I just prefer the original versions most of the times. Pink Floyd, specially thinking about their early years (pre-Dark Side) took their songs to another level, adding so much music to otherwise shorter songs and so... they may not have been so bombastic and virtuosic, but

Not at all mind-boggling; the fact remains is that ELP are in there.  Most serious prog rock books (and I have read a few, most recently the one by Paul Stump) highlight and analyse the importance of ELP's legacy in developing the genre.

Toccata.