PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION

OVERALL-9.5/10 One of the best albums in ELP's discovery. It has mixed the greatness of rock, with one of my personal favorite classical pieces in my favorite arrangement ever. Promenade (10/10)- An excellent arrangement of the movement by Emerson that is rehashed during the entire album. It serves perfectly as the "glue" in this album. The Gnome (9/10)- An interesting track. it has a lot of rhythmic sections. Lake and Emerson trade off on the Keys and Guitar. the effects generated are awesome, and it sounds very futuristic. I wish it would be a little more "full" in the beginning, with more sound. Again we are taken to Promenade... The Sage (9/10)- A mostly acoustic piece by Lake. Unfortunately the beginning with Emerson's keys is short lived. I would have liked to see mroe experimentation with that theme, but otherwise, this is a beautiful ballad. The Old Castle (10/10)- This is the 2nd Gem on this album. It starts out with some pretty trippy fx. Emerson's pure madness on the keys and Lakes powerful bass offers us a heavy-rocking track. Blues Variation (10/10)- In the tradition of The Old Castle, Emerson continues to rock out on his keys and with the solid backing of Lake and Palmer, the sound that comes out is awesome. Back to Promenade... The Hut of Babba Yaga and The Curse of Babba Yaga (10/10)- THe number one track on this album. It was build up to with THe Blues Variation and Prominade. The audiance was just waiting for ELP to explode with sound. Here it is. The pinacle of the album. These 3 short tracks are by far the best arrangement of the Hut of Babba Yaga I've ever heard. The Curse is slightly different from the origonal theme, but it serves as the perfect "interlude." Once Lake's guitar takes off, it is nothing but madness from Emerson. I also appreciate Lakes crazed lyrics in this invention by the trio. After this awesome track, we are greeted with an even more intense and agressive Hut. The Great Gates of Kiev(8/10)- This is an awesome song. This song as arranged by Emerson is great. But don't sing over a masterpiece like this, Mr. Lake! That isreally the only problem with this album. Don't add lyrics to a Masterpiece such as this, even if you have a really good voice. Nutrocker (10/10)- "You want some more music? MORE MORE MORE!!!" That is all that needs to be said.