Love Beach vs St. Anger (Albums)

Well, I think Hardwired... was their best since the Black Album. Death Magnetic is better than St Anger. But that just goes to show how bad St Anger really was. One of the worst metal albums ever... 

I struggle with both Works albums, an uneven mess. 

ELPowell was good. Even 3 was decent IMO. 

At the risk of going slightly off topic, I think Works I is quite underrated. It's going to be uneven, given the nature of the writing, but Emerson's PC is quite superb. The weakest parts for me are Lake's meanderings which continued onto W II, which is at best, pleasantly diverting but nothing more. I just couldn't cope with the notion of 'ELP goes AOR' on Love Beach.. it's a car crash I choose not to watch in real time.. 

I actually believe "Memoirs Of An Officer And A Gentleman" is an underrated track. I'd even go as far to say it's a top 10 track for the band.

There are also various covers of "St. Anger" online that show these songs actually have some merit. I believe the biggest problem is the album's terrible production and sound choices.

It appears to me that within the fandom of ELP there seems to be a split between those who prefer Emersons contrubutions and those who prefer Lakes approach to their output.

Personally, I fall into the Lake camp. I listen to ELP mostly for Lakes meanderings, on "Works" and across the rest of the ELP catalogue, whereas a lot of Emersons work leaves me cold for the most part.

Greg has a superb voice and I personally think both Lizard and Islands would have sounded better for their inclusion. I am sure their co-writing on the first 5 albums brought out the best in each other and when they distanced themselves for Works, they both suffered but for me, Lake's side of the disk is fairly forgettable, sorry.