PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION

You would have thought that Mussorgsky had suffered enough at the hands of Ravel, bloodlessly Frenchifying his very Russian piano suite. Now with ELP scatting (and I don't mean in the jazz sense!) all over his masterwork, I'm certain it sent his very ample figure spinning in its grave. They must have felt THAT in St. Petersburg (or Leningrad, as it was known at the time)!

This ill-conceived live album charted ELP's speedy course from exciting and promising prog-rock act to insufferable "rocked-up classics" kitsch. This album is basically on the same level as all those cheesy SWITCHED-ON BACH knockoffs that came out once Wendy Carlos' star began to rise. The only difference is it's much louder and MUCH more pretentious. Seeing songwriting credits like "(Mussorgsky/Lake)" is enough to make one's eyes roll back in their head.

And if the PICTURES material wasn't enough of an injury, they have to add insult on top of it with their cover of "Nut Rocker", the tacky 60's pop instrumental based on the march from Tschaikowsky's NUTCRACKER SUITE. Do try to keep your gorge from rising.