Emerson Lake & Palmer to be reissued on BMG

A bit too Andrew Lloyd Webber for my taste, but some of the music is very good and not ALL the lyrics irritate me.

 

I guess they used the same source for the DVD's, but it doesn't really sound that good nowadays. It sounds like...errrr...a mono TV broadcast from the 70's!

 

It wasn't Pete Sinfield's written lyrics that I was criticizing, it's Lake's delivery of them. The problem here is that Greg Lake comes across as the wrong vocalist for this type of song, although arguably the lyrics just don't work well as an ELP song anyway. This might've been more appealing as a King Crimson song, with more dirgelike Fripp guitar, Cross melotron & fiddle, and John Wetton's vocals with a slightly raspier/nasal edge on the high range.

Just so we're crystal clear on this,, I'm not criticizing Greg Lake as a vocalist. He was among the finest vocalists of the era. But in respect to Pirates, the end result ...strictly from my subjective POV... is akin to having Robert Plant sing The Doors' Light My Fire. If you can wrap your head around that (...get into that, get into that), you deserve points for imagination.

To me, Lake's vocals on Pirates just aren't convincing; Pirates just doesn't sound like a great ELP track. Lake's voice had the range to soar on anthems or convey heartfelt sadness on mellow ballads. His voice was magical, but always most appealing when the lyrics conveyed something important about the human condition, regardless of how borderline pompous the end result may have been. Alas, Greg just doesn't sell the "Errrrr, matey" stuff well.

Consider this dead horse soundly beaten (no Horse Latitude references, please).

Cat

 

Just suggesting that you should reconsider. Majority seems to think this is one of his finest moments and in complete opposition to what you are thinking. Just saying......

 

As seen in Terinator 2

 

Taste in music shouldn't rely on popular consensus for a roadmap. Nevertheless, I do respect the opinions of those who share dissenting views.

Greg Lake's vocals are indeed beautiful, but I consider his voice much stronger on recordings from the late 60's & early 70's.


Cat

 

Well, the third disc of the recent Anthology is for you then!
And I actually agree with you!

 

So as a newcomer to ELP who has the Anthology, there is little else to look forward to on Works 1 & 2?

 

A couple of songs are not included on that comp that I think are good:
The Enemy Gods... (live, Works live)
When The Apple Blossoms Bloom... (Works Vol. 2)

 

I couldn't disagree with you more! I feel like I am riding in the Disney pirates in the Caribbean ride. Beautifuly dilivered!! Could not ask for a better vocal performance.

 

I've thought for a few years now that Pirates was written the wrong way round. As it is it's

Part 1 - Battle scene
Part 2 - Hedonism on dry land
Part 3 - Sailing out to sea again

I think it ought to be

Part 1 - Hedonism
Part 2 - Sailing out to sea
Part 3 - Battle scene

The battle scene should surely be the climax of the piece?

 

Yes you know I always thought it was a remix though as you point out--that it was never noted in the booklet. I like it as an alternative to the original Works version which already sounds good--Barry's work on the original Atlantic?

 

I got Love Beach, Works Volume 1 and Works Volume 2 today. I'm interested to hear Love Beach for the first time because it's one of those infamous "bad" albums in prog rock circles and the album art is funny.

I now have a version of every ELP studio album on CD except In The Hot Seat. I hope they also remaster Black Moon and In The Hot Seat.

 

Taste Of My Love in particular and the keyboard part that plays over the last line of the lyrics below really got me:

The way the music builds up is hilarious.

From a instrumental standpoint, the album is fine. Sound quality seems good too. My favorites on a first listen are For You and Canario. The lyrics on Taste Of My Love and The Gambler are really cheesy and I don't think fit together with the style of music. Memoirs of an Officer and a Gentleman kind of falls flat and the different parts just kind of begin and end with no good segues.

Edit: The alternate mixes sound good. I doubt the world will ever see a full remix of this album.

 

Has anyone else noticed a couple of drop-outs around the 8.32 mark on Fanfare for the Common Man. It doesn't sound like a digital artefact but a couple of channel drop outs maybe on the masters used. It doesn't appear on other copies I have.

 

Got Works 1 & 2 and LB yesterday. Played Works 1 and quite surprised at the guitar on C'est La Vie. It almost sounds like it's all coming from the tweeters. I am new to ELP and had only heard the live version on the Anthology. Would like to hear from someone who is familiar with the track if this is how it has always sounded on Works 1?

 

I always thought the guitar on "C'est La Vie" sounded thin and weak on Works 1 also. Might be an EQ issue, but I suspect it needed to be higher in the mix. Maybe both! I think it sounded fuller and better balanced on In Concert, a.k.a. Works Live. (I'm assuming that's the same live version you have on Anthology?)

 

Thanks for the info. I thought there was something wrong with the HiFi until the vocals came in. I assume that the version on Anthology (recorded 1977) is the Works Live one which I think is brilliant. Will check when I move on to the Works 2 tonight. The song is so moving, its like pathos personified. Wish I had gotten into ELP years ago.

 

I can hear it as well.

 

. From what I've seen, they could be available as soon as July.

 

How about Live at the Royal Albert Hall? Add in the rest of the show not on the original release and make it a 2 disc set....

 

Glad it's just not me! I have also listened to the new vinyl pressing and it's not on that, so it must be a digital mastering fault somewhere along the line while producing the CD version. I wonder if it's on the download version?

 

C'est La Vie on Anthology is from Works Live.

 

Where is 'Pirates' live from on the Anthology?

 

Digging these reissues.