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EMERSON, LAKE AND PALMER found the thin line between talent and taste and erected a 100-acre estate on top of it.
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EMERSON, LAKE AND PALMER found the thin line between talent and taste and erected a 100-acre estate on top of it.
YEARS OF EXISTENCE: 1970-1978, with a few sporadic reunions. YEARS OF DECENT EXISTENCE: 1970-1974 BEST RECORDS: Emerson, Lake & Palmer (1970), Pictures At An Exhibition (1972), Trilogy (1972), Brain Salad Surgery (1973) WORST RECORDS: Tarkus (1971), Works Vol. 1 (1977) Love Beach (1978) Black Moon (1992) GO DOWNLOAD: "Lucky Man," "Knife-Edge," "The Sheriff," "Karn Evil 9," "Toccata" FILE UNDER: Mo' Notes, Mo' Money SIMILAR SOUNDING DINOSAURS: Yes, Genesis and a whole bunch of other bands your bald uncle with the ponytail and tie-dyed shirts swears by. THE MUSIC: At the end of the '60s, virtuoso keyboardist Keith Emerson was doing time in the Nice and was getting bored sticking knives into his Hammond organ and writing rocked-out adaptations of Tchaikovsky, Sibelius and Leonard Bernstein. In 1970, he invited bassist/singer Greg Lake (ex-King Crimson) and super-drummer Carl Palmerfor a jam session and ended up playing a high-profile gig at Britain's Isle Of Wight Festival. And thus a generation of prog-rock millionaires had arrived, marked by high musicianship (Emerson helped install the Moog synthesizer on the rock radar) and over-the-top stage shows (flying pianos, flame-shooting synth modules, synth banks sprouting silver batwings). Emerson's mania got the best of him when, in 1976, he demanded bringing along an entire symphony orchestra on tour (daily expenses: $20,000) to prop up a record (Works Vol. 1) that patently sucked. The experience bummed everyone out, and ELP's next disc, Love Beach, was so bad, it was stickered with a warning that it not be listened to on a full stomach. WHAT THEY SAY: "The archetypal '70s prog group were as successful as any band of the era, and suffered the biggest backlash of the lot, with critical resentment of their pomp-rock reinforced by punk's casting them as dinosaurs." -Rock, The Rough Guide WHAT I SAY: ELP's musicianship is rarely equaled, but some of their work is patently cheese-whizz, from unintentionally funny lyrics ("I've rode all of the earth/Witnessed my birth") to anti-climactic endings (that bullshit blues cliché at the end of "Trilogy") to bombastic idiocy (a half-armadillo, half-tank called Tarkus, for fuck's sake). But dammit, even I gotta admit watching Emerson wail on a 9-foot grand piano that's vertically spinning in the air is pretty effin' rad... WHY YOUR (GRAND)PARENTS LIKE THEM: Your parents, the rubes that they are, were too uncouth to listen to classical music on their own volition. Plus, it was easier to score pot at rock concerts than it was at the local fine arts center. CURRENT WHEREABOUTS: Shout! Factory is reissuing the band's catalog so a new generation will realize the Mars Volta didn't invent prog. While the individual members have their own ensembles they play and record with, Emerson told talk-radio station Free FM this past March that ELP are considering a 2008 reunion. Before they sign anything, they should be locked in a room together for 72 hours with the Locust's New Erections playing non-stop. -Jason Pettigrew |
