Should I give ELP another try?

I just stuck to the studio stuff but I do agree with you mostly. I play that Montreal DVD more than any other DVD despite the poor sound quality. The band were incredibly tight and they obviously worked hard to get to that. Live At Nassau is also brilliant as you point out.

I would quibble a bit with Canario only in that I would rather it was a bit longer. I feel on this track that the band are working up to something special and then they just 'blow their load' so to speak. Compare it to the fantastic end section of Hoedown and you should get what I mean.

Hi,

Welcome to the board ... 

I think that at one time things sounded and looked gimmicky, and I always thought that things like Switched on Jack Face was one of the things that kinda made classical music seem silly in other instruments, only to find, several months later TOMITA doing Debussy ... 

Not everything is "gimmicky", and some folks are serious about their music.

Before you tackle the next ELP thing, try listening to Rachel Flowers piano version of TARKUS and also the piano version of THE ENDLESS ENIGMA ... and then go ahead and get your next ELP album ... I would get TARKUS next ... I have never thought of it as "gimmicky" for the 50 years I have heard Keith and try and hear TAKE A PEBBLE from the first album ... it's all piano ... and you will find one of the great composers in music ... 

My take still is, after 50 years that this IS OUR TIME, and that THE CURRENT EXPRESSION is "electric" and thus, the majority of works will be electric and some will sound gimmicky, but are not.

My thoughts are that if Keith tried to sell his "piano concerts" to a school of music, or even the young fans at the time, he will get laughed off and completely wasted ... and for my ears and taste, I find this sad ... Rich Wright is also very classical with a jazz touch, but you have to separate his stuff from all the PF material, to find it ... and many other "keyboard" players are gimmicky ... for example, for my tastes RW is very gimmicky! Why? It's almost the same lead, but on a different instrument/sound, and while it is still "classical" in a sense, I've thought many times that he was simply doing the easy thing ... just a riff here, another riff there, and then a riff here ... and to me that is much less classical than what Keith EVER did ... how the heck was he going to show his mates what he came up with? They would not "fit" into a piano thing at all ... too classical and traditional otherwise.

Before you give ELP another try, may I ask that you try looking at some of this stuff a bit different ... Banco, Ange, and many other bands with massive keyboards (2 of them in both cases), are extremely classical, and it is not a gimmick like PG ... it is much better dialed in.

Actually, I agree with you 'From the beginning' is a rather nice song and the Moog solo is glorious Maybe I was being a bit tough but I just don't find Lakes voice very attractive (to me) and youre right Sinfield did write the lyrics (all be it about a touching personal subject) for watching over you but he also went on to write songs for Bucks Fizz (FFS!) and (possibly? I could be wrong) Dollar! I know we've all got to make a living but... I do have a fondness for 'Still' by Pete Sinfield but otherwise hold him very much at arms length artisically 

Hi,

Right ... considering how many nice things I have said about Keith and his music, your comment is not really that good ... makes me wonder who is pontificating who, unless your religion thinks that mine is not worthy of discussion because yours is superior.

AND I, only have some objections to some American audiences, not all of them ... had no issues in the early days, whatsoever, but seeing Babe Ruth get boo'd because everyone wanted to see Iggy ... at the Whiskey A Go Go ... way back when, is not only bad, it is ridiculous ... if it was your band you wouldn't like it either!

Get real ... your just being a shade of dark that is imaginary inventing causes so you have something to say ... maybe next time you can say something worthy of attention instead of comments that show you did not even READ the whole thing!

Actually very broadly speaking I agree with an awful lot of that and I am a fan! ELP were far from perfect and in my opinion they never tried to be. Emerson was very into 'ideas' and tried not only be inventive but also re-inventive. Apparently (and this was once explained to an audience by the keyboard player in one of the tribute bands) he would break from convention quite deliberately in how he wrote music.

The Brain Salad Surgery album was a breaking point for many. Emerson and Palmer were challenging each other and it does feel like a race at times. That said it still seems very unique that they did this as I don't remember many bands approaching music this way. It was very personality driven progressive rock but much more emphasis on the 'rock'. Perhaps they transcended the genre to an extent because they could pitch up their tent with the likes of Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. Can you really imagine Gentle Giant or VDDG headlining a massive festival like The California Jam? I'm not convinced though that this really satisfied Keith Emerson. Works was really what he wanted to do. Have you heard his Piano Concerto? I would be very interested in your thoughts on this. Thanks.