ORIGINAL BOOTLEG SERIES FROM THE MANTICORE VAULTS VOL. 1

Emerson Lake and Palmer?...I just don't get them....they destroyed prog.... they represent the worst of prog.. where's the gEEtar dude....yadda yadda yadda.. You've heard the studio albums, now hear ELP as they were meant to be heard, and where they TRULY earned the distiction of being at the very forefront of progressive rock. On the stage... were they were called...The Masters of the Stage.

In the last few years, starting with King Crimson, bands have started to listen to the fans clamor for 'vintage' live recordings. This is the first in the set of ELP's reply. Bootlegs have been around for years if you want to hear ELP.. unfiltered as they were heard.. to appreciate first hand what made ELP one of the great concert attractions of not only prog rock, but of all of rock in the 70's. Here we have 4 early shows, previously available as bootlegs, put together as a box set. As far as the 'box set' goes... you got what you paid for hahah... 4 photocopied 'bootleg' album covers with direct CD transfers of the albums (ie. could have had shows compressed into single disks) with each CD in a black white paper cover. Be careful with the disks. The boxset contains a nice 18''x12'' poster reproduction of a concert poster from their TRUE debut at Plymouth Guildhall August 23, 1970. The back of the poster has a bit of a writeup on the four shows in the set. A particularly interesting note is made on the first show of the set. The Gaelic Park NYC show, which was the first time Dr. Robert Moog saw the group in concert. Also on the back are track listings, show dates, and credits.

As far as the shows themselves. Since no track listing has been posted, I'd go ahead and do so.

Gaelic Park NYC 1-9-71 The Barbarian, Take a Pebble, Tarkus, Knife Edge, Rondo, Piano Interlude, Hoedown

Louisville Town Hall, Kentucky 4-21-72 Hoedown, Tarkus, Take a Pebble, Lucky Man, Piano Improvisation, Abaddons Bolero, Pictures At An Exhibition, Nutrocker, Rondo

Long Beach Arena, California 7-28-72 Tarkus, The Endless Enigma, The Sheriff, Take a Pebble/Lucky Man/Take A Pebble, Pictures At An Exhibition, Hoedown, Rondo

Saratoga Performing Arts Center, NY 8-13-72 Hoedown, Tarkus, The Endless Enigma, The Sheriff, Take A Pebble/Lucky Man/Piano Improvisations/Take A Pebble, Pictures At An Exibition.

The quality varies wildly from rough on the Gaelic Park show.. though still VERY listenable to very good in the latter shows. I love the first show in particular being such a HUGE fan of their debut album, the Barbarian in particular. The energy and power that made Emerson Lake and Palmer's show such an event are very apparent on listening to the shows. Particularly interesting are how they tackle Tarkus with small but noticeable changes in the arrangements first from the studio version then through the year and a half that this set covers. Yes there are 4 versions of Tarkus here, but the piece evolves over the course of the year and a half that this set covers. Amoung my favorite moments here is the performance of The Endless Enigma (speaking of...fabulous versions of) during the Saratoga set when the crowd was going SO wild during the beginning of the Fugue section that...being pretentious prog musicians that Emerson Lake and Palmer could be hahah.... stopped Fugue right in the middle of an Emerson piano figure and Greg Lake shuts the crowd up and gets them settled down... and the Emerson goes right back into fugue..as if nothing had happened. Awesome hahahha. Another split review for Micky... for me and fans of ELP 5 stars. It's essential for the ELP fan. For the forum at large... 4 stars. Having this in your collection might clue you in to why us old farts hold Emerson Lake and Palmer in such high regard over some of the stuff that is being issued today in the name of prog.

Michael (aka Micky)