TRILOGY

Great album; fine songs; good production (even not liking that much the cover art)! This was a very popular album in early-mid 70s, probably among the Top10 in the sales department as a prog-rock release - deservedly, I think. Well, but the general atmosphere sounds truly dated and so, to review it, I have again to make a time travel and return 30 years-plus ago and place myself in the actual environment, circa 1972-1973, and I can see a much more agreeable panorama, where TRILOGY shines intensely side-by-side with other great prog releases from the same time, coming from Genesis, Yes, Jethro Tull et allii.

The initial ensemble formed by 'The endless enigma 1 & 2' and 'Fugue' is really powerful and exciting, the intro shows a mix between space and electronic sounds followed by some gothic interruptions, latin drum beat and oriental tunes only to pave way to one of the most emblematic moments of the symphonic rock. Ah! That's the enigma - the fusion of several styles around rock, the real nature of progressive. Lake's vocals only strengthens this vision and his comrades go high - a song to remember forever and never let it escape from our dreams. The 'Fugue' segment is warm and brief, a comma before the grand finale of the epic, where all members seem truly to be in their peak.

'From the beginning' is one of the most known songs of the EL&P roster, a soft ballad with pleasant playing and singing. The final moog tissue is unforgettable. 'The sheriff' is fair and does a fine counterweight to previous track; no need of skipping here, it's all audible, even the famous Palmer's imprecation!

'Hoedown' is a piece taken from Copland's "Rodeo" that works very well as the album mid-term, now Emerson's keyboards are dominating, the general atmosphere is uprising. 'Trilogy', the title song, has some of the most beautiful musical lines of the entire prog-rock history. Within the song's first part we may glimpse Lake singing as never before and probably as never again. The amazing keyboard section with heavy drumming and steady bass is doubtless the highest album moment.

Finished the emotions of past track we face album's weakest track, 'Living sin' a keyboard-oriented hard-rock, glossless but not sufficient to stain the entire work. 'Abbadon's bolero', the final track is somewhat glorious, even with the obvious shades of Ravel's "Bolero", we smell grace and originality here, an above-the-average ending for a great output. Worth the hearing.

The sum of the entire effort is unequivocal, TRILOGY is a masterpiece, probably the only production to reach that status from EL&P. Final rating: 5.