TRILOGY

Although the remarkable suite "Tarkus" helped enormously to the consolidation of Emerson, Lake & Palmer as one of the obligatory references of progressive rock, it is also true that the uneven level of the rest of the themes of the album of the same name went a little unnoticed in the general consideration. The subsequent "Trilogy", the trio's third album, settles this pending account with a more homogeneous production in its musical worth, even considering the compositional diversity of its pieces.

There are no huge anthology structures in "Trilogy", instead there are excellent themes of smaller extension and inspired elaboration, like the initial and mysterious "Endless Enigma", title borrowed from a painting by Salvador Dalí, where Keith Emerson's experimentation with sounds of space fiction, piano and synthesizers, and Carl Palmer's bongos accompaniment, give way to a magnificent melody that suits Lake's deep vocal register very well in the two parts that compose it, or "Trilogy", a symbiotic narration by Lake together with Emerson's piano prior to an intense instrumental development in which the British demonstrate that their virtuosity remains intact; or the introspective acoustic ballad "From the Beginning", with Lake again very comfortable singing on the band's more laid-back pieces.

The influences of modern classical music are also present in "Trilogy", as with "Hoedown", one of the best of the album, a fast-paced instrumental adapted from the American classical composer Aaron Copland, where Emerson pounds his Hammond as mercilessly as Carl Palmer his drums, or with "Abaddon's Bolero", Emerson's particular version of the famous theme "Bolero" by the French composer Maurice Ravel.

Finally, the versatility of the British to incorporate nuances and elements from other sources can be found in the unabashed "The Sheriff", a continuation of the tavern rock started with "Jeremy Bender" in "Tarkus", and in the mournful and hard rocker "Living Sin", which, by the way, could have used a couple of Jimmy Page's guitar riffs to round off its lilting mid-tempo.

"Trilogy" is an excellent album and one of the pillars on which Emerson Lake & Palmer's history in progressive rock was built.

4 stars