THE BEST OF EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER

I was staying with a friend's uncle for a weekend in Georgia and he generously gave me this compilation (as well as one of Yes and one of Fourplay). I already had one ELP compilation that contained essentially the same material (The Very Best of Emerson, Lake & Palmer- Ha!) , but who was I to turn down such munificence? This terse compilation (less than forty minutes worth of music) contains most of the obligatory radio hits (curiously missing, though, is the popular "From the Beginning"), and quite naturally omits the most delicious work from the band's 1970s career. Even with the time constraints LPs present, a far better collection of songs could have been put together without bothering with the epics- the album Tarkus isn't represented at all! What's more, three of the tracks are covers (two Aaron Copland and one Henry Mancini) and one is "Jerusalem" (not exactly an ELP original). Two songs are Greg Lake acoustic ditties. That leaves three original, genuinely progressive rock tracks where the three members are more or less equally represented, and one of those three is the jaunty "Tiger in a Spotlight." Including "Trilogy" is about the only thing the record company got right. So due to its brevity, even by vinyl standards, and the serious omissions, this compilation is not recommended, especially since there are far superior choices available (such as the aforementioned one, which is not only easier to find, but is also reasonably priced). Are there better compilations on the top shelf? Someone get me a ladder...