"A Quest for Prog" is a series of 50 Progressive Rock reviews to be written over a year. The band selection is taken from the book in the first post on this blog. And the albums I am reviewing is based on the highest user ratings for each band on Progarchives.com.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Emerson, Lake & Palmer (1970)
Produced by Greg Lake
Keith Emerson: Organ, synthesizer, piano, clavinet, keyboard, Hammond organ, Moog synthesizer
Greg Lake: Acoustic guitar, bass, electric guitar, vocals
Carl Palmer: Drums, percussion
Track listing:
Side one:
01. The Barbarian (4:27)
02. Take a Pebble (12:32)
03. Knife-Edge (5:04)
Side two:
01. The Three Fates (7:46)
a) Clotho (Royal Festival Hall Organ)
b) Lachesis (Piano Solo)
c) Atropos (Piano Trio)
02. Tank (6:49)
03. Lucky Man (4:36)
Released in 1970 “Emerson, Lake & Palmer” is the debut album by English band Emerson, Lake & Palmer. The band formed after the Keith Emerson of The Nice and Greg Lake of King Crimson meet while touring America. Both were looking for new projects as their respective bands were dissolving and decided to form a Keyboard, Bass & Drum trio. Originally auditioning Mitch Mitchell of the Jimi Hendrix Experience the band settled on Carl Palmer of Atomic Rooster. Jimi Hendrix was set to become a member of the band but due to conflicts in schedules he missed the initial set of ELP shows. Hendrix died a month later so the “HELP” version of ELP never came to be. The band were extremely successful playing large stadium shows even going out on a financially crippling Orchestra Tour. Infighting and the advent of punk caused the band to call it quicks after the disappointing Love Beach.
This is the first album I own, listen to and love in the “Quest for Prog” series. The album opens with what is quite possibly my favourite ELP song of all time “The Barbarian”. This is a menacing track that includes a growling fuzz bass from Greg Lake. The main motif of the song is a dark and theatrical organ line by Keith Emerson. It’s a really great riff that moves this sludgy song along. The middle section of the song is a radical change and is a Piano and Drum passage which is almost twee. Carl Palmers drums are precise and give the passage a great energy. This mix of moods and the Keyboards, Bass & Drums sound is similar to what Ben Folds Five would present 2 decades later.
The 12 minute long “Take a Pebble” is next. This song is a journey through many movements and styles. The song begins with some classy playing by Keith which is a mixture of strumming the piano strings and playing a signature on the other hand. The track has a jazzy feel during the verses which boasts a great melody and vocal from Greg. Keith gets some space to show off his piano work before the track goes quiet and Grey return with a stripped back acoustic guitar section. This sections sound like a campfire jam that progresses into a kind a hoedown (very different to track ELP covered later on). The guitar then moves into a short classical guitar piece. Nice piece but an odd direction within the track. The band returns with a nice jazzy section and some really strong drumming for Carl. The song ends of the vocal section from the start of the track. Albeit a little odd in its progression this is a really strong track.
The side ends with “Knife-Edge” the b-side of the “Lucky Man” single. The track is an upbeat track that features stripped back verses featuring Bass and Vocals from Greg. The band comes in and plays variations of the riff. Carl’s foot is working overtime on this track and drives the song along. Keith has a nice organ solo in the middle of this track which is the highlight of the song. Good tune but the weakest track on this side.
Side two starts with "The Three Fates" a track that is basically a Keith solo recording. It is split into three different sections the first an featuring a Church Organ, the second a solo Piano section and the third featuring Keith and the rest of the band. The Organ in “Clotho (Royal Festival Hall Organ)” sounds really great but I think Keith didn’t really have a grasp of the instrument to get the most out of it. There are some cool thundering chords but the rest seems like meaningless noddling. The second section “Lachesis (Piano Solo)“ is allot better as Keith’s Piano playing was really great at this point of his career. There is a really great energy to his playing and the part includes a solid Structure. The third and last section “Atropos (Piano Trio)” feature’s all of ELP. The drums are great on this section and it has a cool Samba feel. As a whole the track flow as well as it could but there are some great parts and some great playing.
“Tank” is up next and is in some ways a showcase for Carl. The drums drive the song along with some tight Marching drums rhythms. There is a really interesting lead melody which I couldn't decide if it was keyboards or a processed Bass but it sits nicely on top of the rest of the instruments. Carl is very talented drummer and very precise which is probably why the solo falls short. The solo is quite one dimensional is missing an spark of some kind. Not to say it’s bad just could have been better. The keyboards at the end are very strange but add the counterpoint the song required to be interesting. My least favourite track on the album.
This brings us to the last minute addition to the album “Lucky Man”. Written when Greg was a teenager this is very different to every other tracks on the album. For one it has a very straightforward structure and is Keith missing from the track bar an iconic Moog Solo at the end of the song. Greg’s vocals and guitar are strong and confident on this track but Carl seems to struggle in the confines of such a simple track. I like this track but it does seem like a very odd addition to the record.
This is a really strong debut. This is my favourite ELP record and a record that I would recommend checking out.
8/10
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