WORKS VOL. 1

This album (then a 2- LP set, now a 2- CD set) is maybe underrated. It is a bit unfair, I think. This album really shows that it was made with a lot of care, and it really took to ELP a long time to record it. It is a very ambitious album. It's different to their previous studio albums from 1970 to 1973. It took to them more than three years after the release of their "Brain Salad Surgery" (1973) album to release this "Works Volume 1" album in March 1977. After their 1974 tour they also took some time to rest. But they recorded this "Works Volume 1" album in 1976. Their idea was to use orchestral and choral arrangements for most of the songs, with each of the members of the band having a Side of each LP to record their musical ideas separatedly (also with some help from the others in some cases) and also employing some uncredited session musicians and friends. Finally, in the last Side of the LPs the band recorded two musical pieces together. I think that it really was a lot of work done for this album. So I think that it deserves to be appreciated in a better way, even if for some people it was mostly a "pompous" album. Anyway, this album has a lot of quality, and it shows that by the late seventies the band wanted to change their sound to a more Classically influenced musical style.

On the Side One of the LPs, Keith Emerson plays his Piano Concerto No. 1 with the orchestra. I like this Piano Concerto. I consider him as a very good piano player and keyboard player. So, I think that despite the apparent "pompous" title this Concerto is very good.

On the Side Two, Greg Lake sings and plays some ballads written in collaboration with lyricist Peter Sinfield. After all, his songwriting contributions for ELP mostly have been this kind of acoustic guitar ballads, very well sung by him. The best songs from him in this album (with orchestral and choral arrangements) are "C'est La Vie" and "Closer to Believing".

On the Side Three, Carl Palmer plays some of his compositions and arrangements for Classical Music pieces. Obviously, he shows here his talent as drummer and percussionist. But he also offers more variety in musical styles: Classical Music (in Prokofiev's "The Enemy God..." and in J.S. Bach's "Two Part Invention In D Minor "); some Jazz-Rock / Fusion influences (in "L.A. Nights", "New Orleans" and in " Food For Your Soul"); and Prog Rock with orchestral arrangements (in a re-recording of "Tank" from the band's first album, but without a drums solo and with an orchestral arrangement).

On the Side four, ELP (playing as a full band) finally offers an arrangement by Emerson for "Fanfare For The Common Man" (composed by Aaron Copland), also addng an orchestral arrangement, but maybe also adding some improvisations at the end of the musical piece. And "Pirates", an extended song composed by Emerson and Lake, also with an orchestral arrangement. This song has some very complicated parts, so one has to listen to this song several times to appreciate it better.

The recording and mixing of this album is very good.