In defense of Works

Hosydi wrote: It was evident that ELP had lost its inventiveness after Brain Salad Surgery and a tiring tour. They chose to have a double LP with each member contributing a side and the last side being a collaborative effort, instead of a one-disc album where they perform as a group. And the result of such a decision is probably the most terrible double-LP album in the history of the genre. Only Lake's material has some lovely moments as well as parts with him on the vocals on Pirates. Love Beach, despite its awful sleeve design, is a masterpiece album in comparison with Works.

Nergdnur Ddot wrote: Hosydi wrote: It was evident that ELP had lost its inventiveness after Brain Salad Surgery and a tiring tour. They chose to have a double LP with each member contributing a side and the last side being a collaborative effort, instead of a one-disc album where they perform as a group. And the result of such a decision is probably the most terrible double-LP album in the history of the genre. Only Lake's material has some lovely moments as well as parts with him on the vocals on Pirates. Love Beach, despite its awful sleeve design, is a masterpiece album in comparison with Works. Only Lake's material? What about Piano Concerto No. 1? It's a genuinely good avant-garde, psychedelic, neo-classical song. It's on par with The Nice live records such as Five Bridges. Yes, it is messy, but isn't that the point of this kind of music?

In his early musical days, Keith Emerson refused his music teacher's suggestion for him to study classical music in London because young Emerson had little interest in classical music at the time and chose jazz piano. With the popularity of progressive rock, however, Keith Emerson was recognized as a very talented keyboard player who often fuses rock and classical music sounds, and as a first-class entertainer, gifted for extroverted and theatrical performances—firstly in The Nice and then in the trio Emerson, Lake & Palmer—he became a superstar in the 70s, perhaps one of the most iconic that ever existed in rock music, and such fame may have been the reason Keith Emerson developed an egomaniacal aspiration to be recognized as a serious classical music composer as well, and that ambition led him to create Piano Concerto No. 1. But this grand ambition has exceeded his writing skills in the classical genre. The Piano Concerto No. 1 is shallow and lacks refinement and sounds mechanical. Although the idea was to produce something substantial, the execution fell short of the expectations one has with classical music.

It's true that Piano Concerto No1 was a 'rock star' doing classical music and it's also true that the London Philharmonic were not invested in it (that story is in Emerson Auto-Bio ''Pictures Of An Exhibitionist''). However it's also perfectly okay to like and enjoy it. It was largely inspired by a combination of Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring and Emerson's commute on the train between Brighton and London. It oozes grandeur and Emerson's personal feelings for his home and has some extremely memorable sections. I like it a lot. We don't need to compare it to Brahms. That is plainly rediculous.