What ever happened to E.L.P.?

octopus-4 wrote: Trilogy is in my own top 10 and I love Works Vol.1. I think I'm a fan and I often go to Rachel's versions of Piano concerto N.1 and Tarkus. But I have to admit that I listen to Camel and Renaissance more often

For this young prog fan, ELP sounds much more dated to my ears than most of the other 70s bands. My guess is it's the focus on keyboards, but then again other bands with lots of Hammond or Moog don't seem dated in the same way so I'm not sure. (Still love them though, I own all their albums!) My other guess is that they didn't really last as long as the others. Pink Floyd, Genesis, Yes, VDGG, etc., were still going strong (by prog standards) into the late 70s, whereas ELP seemed to have a creative burnout before the decade was halfway through. They had "reunion" albums in the 80s and 90s like King Crimson, but these were underwhelming at best.

Said it many times before but PA listings tend to value consistency more than inspiration when it comes to album ratings. There is plenty wrong with the PA top 100 as far as I'm concerned, not just the lack of ELP. No Rick Wakeman albums at all (at least 2 should be in there) and he was a contemporary of ELP maybe even doing it better than them on Six Wives up to and inc White Rock. Scottish band Beggars Opera were also a tremendous band with all the chops of ELP. Their debut Act One was incredible. I think many reviewers actually don't appreciate this pure classical approach as Pedro suggests. The filler thing is a red herring imo. Just an excuse to mark them down for no good reason. For some reason Genesis can get away with Battle Of Epping Forest yet the knives are out when ELP do the 2 minute throwaway ditty BTB. My final thought is that ELP did untold damage to their legacy with the awful Love Beach. That was a horror story and their collective reputations took a massive hit and somehow never recovered from it. That gave all the ammunition needed to the punks yet in spirit they were as rebellious as any punk band which is the strangely ironic thing about the whole affair!

LakeGlade12 wrote: I am not a big fan of ELP but they do have a bunch of strong songs scattered across their 70s albums. I think what holds them back for me and the top 100 list is their bad filler/joke songs. With the exception of their debut all of their albums have several (or a whole LP side for Tarkus) short messy tracks that get on my nerves. When I read reviews of their albums these tracks often get criticism and cause people to lower their rating to 3 or 4 stars. Their debut album does not have this filler which is why it's my favourite from ELP and I'm not surprised it's the only top 100 album.

I strongly disagree, Tarkus' second half is great and provides a contrast to the first side.   'Jeremy Bender', 'Bitches Crystal', 'Time and a Place' are not filler.   The only joke cut is Eddy.   

I read a story long ago (can’t remember where…I don’t recall it being Keyboard magazine, but I could be wrong), where Emerson took exception to a reviewer calling ELP “…all pomp and no circumstance…”

He thought that if they want an Elgar march, he’ll give them an Elgar march. That effort became Karn Evil 9: 3^rd Impression which does indeed contain elements sounding like a grandiose Elgar processional march.

This is what made ELP unique to me. They brought a sense of humor to the approach to their music that few other artists did.

I must admit I still find TARKUS, TRILOGY and BRAIN SALAD SURGERY hugely enjoyable - and that includes TARKUS' B-side. I never had a problem with ELP's throwaway ditties. If Genesis could get away with 'Harold the Barrel', why can't ELP do 'Benny the Bouncer'? (Only 'Jerusalem' is a track I prefer to skip: far too pompous, just like most of PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION.)

BasedProgger wrote: I disagree. Tarkus is half of an amazing album and half filler. Trilogy is more listenable and my favorite by the band but doesn't have any real standouts (The Endless Enigma and the title track are fine songs but obviously can't be compared to Tarkus or Karn Evil 9). Brain Salad Surgery is the only other album besides their debut I think could be deserving of the top 100.

Edited by moshkito - February 18 2025 at 09:41

They should've sent an instruction manual along with that message. I found some iron but there are no tags on it. I'm not sure what the purpose of putting it on my head would be. I'm still listening for DOMContentLoaded. What's it supposed to sound like?

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