TRILOGY

Although I can't say I've ever been an avid ELP listener, I do appreciate what they did, speaking in terms of innovation. They helped build the foundation for prog rock with their debut album in 1970; they pioneered the now ubiquitous idea of a multi- part suite with Tarkus in 1971; and, in 1973, they, essentially, epitomized the term progressive rock with Brain Salad Surgery.

Ah, but we've forgotten one, haven't we? That's right, 1972's Trilogy. It was, admittedly, my first venture into the realm of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, and one of my first prog rock albums. I listened to the tracks individually before grabbing the record on the internet many times in the past, and they all blew me out of the water. The title track and the 'Endless Enigma' suite, in particular, really blew me away.

From what I'd heard, Trilogy had to be the ultimate ELP release. It had the energy that they became widely acclaimed (and hated) for, the song lengths were fairly distributed and even, and the musicianship seemed as exceptional as ever.

Not to mention it was 1972. This was THE year for art rock; Genesis released Foxtrot, Yes made history with Close to the Edge, King Crimson hit their creative peak with Larks' Tongues in Aspic, and the Krautrock scene in Germany was as effervescent as ever. Naturally, the most innovative prog band of all, Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, must've broken some sort of ground in 1972. All the other bands did.

But there was none. I was left bone dry by this deceiving record. There is very little to be found on here that can't be found on their other records, and in much higher musical quality, no less.

My main problems: - The opening to "The Endless Enigma" is overlong. This probably shouldn't be much of a complaint, but it doesn't build very well. The two minutes would be much more endurable if the music was more interesting. - "Abaddon's Bolero". I have the same problem, here, with this entire piece. I've heard people complain about "The Battle of Epping Forest"'s repetitiveness, but this...doesn't go anywhere! It's a bolero, yes, so I'm sure I shouldn't expect anymore than what I'm getting, but I've never been able to tolerate this one. - "Living Sin" and "The Sheriff" are the throwaways, here. At least the throwaways on their other albums are entertaining; I never skip over "Benny the Bouncer" (although I'm not really much of a track skipper), but these two seem completely unnecessary, to me.

So overall, I can't really give this one any more than 2 stars.