PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION

Published before "Trilogy", but recorded before the release of "Tarkus", "Pictures At An Exhibition" is a brave live album that introduced some rock listeners to classical music, however, to the test of history, judgment is merciless. The group performs four paintings of Musorgsky's composition (remember: all performed with piano solo, while Ravel made a beautiful orchestral transcription), along with three Promenades (walks), representing the visitor's journey along exposure.

The firsts three pieces, "Promenade", "The Gnome", "Promenade", are a strange mix between good inventions and pretentiousness but the result is quite bad, expecially the second Promenade, where Lake sings accompanied by the organ: it's almost embarassing. Rating 5,5/6.

The Sage, which Lake performed solo with the accompaniment of folk guitar is largely the best moment on Side A (rating 8).

"The Old Castle" and "Blues Variations" are repetetive, they're exercise of pure virtuosity without inspiration. (rating 5).

Side 2 opens with "Promenade" theme on the piano, played by the whole trio. Not bad.

The sequence, inspired by Musorgskij's opera, "The Hut Of Baba Yaga" - "The Curse Of Baba Yaga (with addictional vocals by Lake)" - "The Hut Of Baba Yaga" is emblematic of Emerson's ability to distort a musical motif of classical music to turn it into a powerful hard-rock piece, as happens in this case, which accelerates and exaspifies the melody of the original opera, with an almost punky sewer. There are some good passages, but overall the sequence suffers from Palmer's excessive sound saturation and intrusive drumming. Rating 6,5.

"The Great Gates Of Kiev", arranged by Lake, is the cover of the ending of Musorgskij' Pictures At An Exibhition. The effort is big, the result it's pretty good, although Lake struggles to sing the melody and is forced to growl certain notes. The structure of the piece however is well studied. Rating 7,5.

"The End - Nutrocker", inspired by Tchaikovskij, is embarassing, trivial, ridicolous. I think I've rarely heard something worse than this contextual to prog music. Rating 4+.

The concert offers few good pieces: those where Lake dominates and adapts the melody to his voice, especially "The Sage". For the rest, the adaptation of Musorgsky's opera to rock music succeeds only in the main theme and in little else. The excessive virtuosity of Emerson and Palmer produces uninspired music that takes refuge in very forced hard rock rhythms and and sometimes embarassing pieces.

Rating: 6,5. Two Stars.