BLACK MOON

I've long given up on ELP as their classic period had concluded with "Brain Salad Surgery" - at least in the sense of a complete album worth of admiration. Having heard their efforts since left me underwhelmed - if not bitterly disappointed. With that in mind, I've bought this CD only because it was marked down with a cut out inner sleeve. What I paid for was worth the expense though, in relative terms.

The title song "Black Moon" doesn't do a thing for me. indeed I find it rather ordinary and totally forgettable. What follows is "Paper Blood" a dynamic and excellent riff based piece that is akin to a Rock anthem, closer to Deep Purple's "Machine Head" era than anything to do with ELP, ever. But it's a great piece and the harmonica playing complements it splendidly. This tune alone was worth my purchase.

That Lake sings about "American Express" in a critical tone is a bit rich, considering the band were flown around in private jets with no expense spared. Surely, they are not short of a restaurant meal paid by credit card, or have they made bad investments?

Lake's socio-conscious messages carry through the album and it's hard to tell if they are genuine concerns, or just a populist approach. Nevertheless, his ballads here are far better when compared with "Love Beach" and the rest since BSS.

Emerson makes an effort to be noticed in a couple of mediocre compositions that are kinda OK, but far from his best. This band has largely lost their drive, one that made them Prog peers. I consider this album better than average since BSS, but hardly a masterpiece.

Surprisingly, ELP are still able to perform excellent live renditions of their classic era, so what makes them churning out sub-standard studio material remains a mystery. And here I agree with a previous comment that implies that Mark Mancina's involvement was detrimental to the end product.