THE THOUGHTS OF EMERLIST DAVJACK

Review Nº 877

"The Thoughts Of Emerlist Davjak" is the debut studio album of The Nice and that was released in 1967. It was very well acclaimed after being released. It's considered as one the first progressive rock albums ever made. They released only four studio albums before the group dissolved, after Keith Emerson left the group to found Emerson, Lake & Palmer.

Initially, and this is the line up on this album, The Nice consisted of Keith Emerson (keyboards), David O'List (guitars), Lee Jackson (vocals and bass) and Brian Davison (drums). This was the only album to feature the presence of their guitarist David O'List, which never came to be replaced. The band released more three studio albums, before dissolved.

The name of the album is based on the last names of the band's members. "Emerlist Davjack" is a pseudonym that was created combining the last names of the four members of the group, Emerson, List, Davison and Jackson.

"The Thoughts Of Emerlist Davjak" has eight tracks. The first track "Flower King Of Flies" written by Emerson and Jackson is a typical psychedelic song, so common in the late of the 60's, which reminds me strongly the typical sound of the first musical period of Pink Floyd. The song begins with some strange and irregular sounds and it has some interesting keyboard work. This is a good song very listenable, but it hasn't for me anything special to note about it. The second track is the title track "The Thoughts Of Emerlist Davjak" written by Emerson and O'List. Despite be the shortest song on the album, represents, in my humble opinion, one of the best musical moments on it. It's another psychedelic song, but this time we have a fantastic and unique keyboard work by Emerson. This is really a notable song, completely dominated by the Baroque sound of Emerson's keyboards, completed by some noisy percussions and a fantastic and complex choral work that reminds me the early vocals of The Moody Blues. The third track "Bonnie K" written by Jackson and O'List is a completely different song. It's a typical rock'n'roll song where the dominated instrument here is the guitar of O'List. This is a song that sounds strangely, in a certain way, because on it we can hear the musical interaction between the guitar and organ, which is uncommon on an Emerson's band. It's also a good song, but there's nothing special on it, really. The fourth track "Rondo" written by Emerson, O'List, Jackson, Davison and Dave Brubeck, represents the highest musical moment on the album and it's also my favourite song too. It's a fantastic song and a must for all who love the instrumental songs. This is a song with a powerful musical atmosphere, with magnificent musical performances by all musicians. It's truly a progressive song with an incredible work of Emerson, the most progressive on the album and perfectly at the same level of the best songs of Emerson, Lake & Palmer. This is one of the best instrumental tracks I've ever heard. The fifth track "War And Peace" written by Emerson, O'List, Jackson and Davison is another instrumental song, but isn't as good as the previous one. It's a song more in the jazz and blues styles, very well performed and also with great individual musical works. This is also a very interesting and energetic song with some progressive elements. The sixth track "Tantalising Maggie" written by Emerson and Jackson is another psychedelic song that once more reminds me the early Pink Floyd's sound. It's a song with some interesting musical parts, especially a great classical piano work by Emerson. Apart it, it hasn't nothing more special to mention and it represents probably, the weakest musical moment on the album. The seventh track "Dawn" written by Emerson, Jackson and Davison is probably the most psychedelic song on the album with lot of whispers, breathing and silences. It's probably a hated song by any purist progressive listen. This is, without any doubt, the most irregular, experimental and strange song on the album. However, I must confess that I like it very much because it creates a strange musical atmosphere, very impressive and unique. The eighth and last track "The Cry Of Eugene" written by Emerson, O'List and Jackson is another psychedelic song. It's a very powerful experimental song, played in the style of a ballad with nice piano and good guitar work. This is a song where we can feel the first seeds of what would be the progressive rock.

Conclusion: "The Thoughts Of Emerlist Davjak" isn't, in my humble opinion, the first progressive rock album and it even isn't a truly progressive rock album. However, it's one of the first albums to have more progressive elements and it confirms that The Nice were among the pioneers to develop what which became known as progressive rock. "The Thoughts Of Emerlist Davjak" isn't a masterpiece but it's, in my humble opinion, a very solid album. I must confess that I hesitated to rated it with 3 or 4 stars. After reflecting maturely, finally I decided to rate it with 4 stars because it's in general a very good album with some fantastic musical moments that deserves a very special place in the history of the progressive rock music. It isn't a perfect album but it remains as a very important album in the historical context of the progressive rock music. So, I think it's a fundamental piece of music in any decent progressive musical collection.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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