Emerson Lake & Palmer s/t debut 50 YEAR ANNIVERSARY: A Supergroup's The Most Honest Masterpiece.

An uninformed reviewer?

Surely you gest.

 

I may be asking a pretty biased group, but is the 2012 Steven Wilson 5.1 mix worth buying? I'm not talking about his stereo remix, but the 5.1 mix. I'm a little dubious about what that can bring to a three piece band over the stereo mix beyond moving the drums all over the place.

 

Not correct. It's a mediocre recording, but compression isn't the problem.
Album details - Dynamic Range Database

 

The 2016 HDTracks reissue is a big improvement over previous versions.

 

Greg could sure do a fine pout. A good looking young man who in his prime surely deserved to stand upon the finest Persian rug.

 

Agree with you. Also Pictures At An Exhibition deserves an honorable mention too. Saw them do Pictures at Carnegie Hall. Seemed to be the right
place to play it.

 

I saw ELP on their 1st US tour at the Fillmore East. They played most of the 1st album, plus some Nice tunes. (full disclosure-I love The Nice maybe
even more than ELP). But Emo was mesmerizing. Curved Air was the opening act. A good evening of prog-rock.

 

Side 1 is great, too, in my opinion.

For one, this is some of the best drumming of Carl Palmer's career:

 

You could try this thread where surround mixes are discussed.

Surrounded On Sundays - 5.1/quad reviews and summaries

 

Gimme fresh (or even New Old Stock) 5.1 remixes on Blu-ray and I'm in.

 

In related news: today it was reported, incredibly, that there's going to be a sci-fi movie based on "Karn Evil 9". Apparently by the people who did Jumanji.

 

I will never forget hearing the first album when it first came out. A friend of mine at the time invited me over to his house. He had the entire room in black light with all the day glo drawings on the wall and hanging mobiles from the ceiling , etc.. Take A Pebble was the standout .

Just yesterday I pulled out the Masters From the Vault DVD that features some of the pieces from the first album. Energetic and raw is how I would describe it. I kind of liked that ELP portrayal. I think I finally recognized what KE plays briefly when the concert starts. I was listening to FM radio last week and heard a Bach piece. KE sounded very similar to what I heard. He just played a few bars then goes into something else.

 

Wait... What ???

 

Great thread!

ELP's first album is excellent. Take a Pebble and Lucky Man are both classics. Greg Lake is in fine form. The drum solo is excellent as well.

Scott

 

The phasing at the end of the drum solo (Tank) is really cool going into the heavy synth part. Actually saw them do this live, which they didn't perform often.

 

I have always agreed with Emerson's assessment...

 

Agreed. Take a Pebble is a top 3 ELP song in my book, and I think the debut is flawless from start to finish. I cannot say that about their other 70's albums. I don't listen to ELP that much anymore, but when I do it is more often than not the material from the debut. Helluva debut.

 

I wonder if Carl still has that overcoat? I coulda used it today. It was 7 degrees.

 

Google it -- it's a thing!

 

I was born a Tarkus man, and I'll die a Tarkus man.

But the first album is super-fine. Not one clunker. Not a speck of cereal.

Got lotsa spins when it was fresh, and for years, decades, afterwards.

 

More connections also occurred to me between King Crimson and ELP.

They both covered Gustav Holst's, Mars, The Bringer of War. Admittedly the P was Powell, and KC did it live but were not given permission to use it as a theme on The Devil's Triangle from In The Wake Of Poseidon on which Greg actually sang on most of the tracks. As he had left the band he negotiated his payment to be King Crimson's old PA equipment which may have been used by ELP at The Isle of Wight Festival 1970. He also recorded a guide vocal version of Cadence and Cascade that has since been released as part of KCs 40th Anniversary also featured on a remix as part of the KC50 series of releases last year.

Epitaph appears (in extract) on Welcome Back, My Friends... It also appears as the first track on the (6 Disc) 2007 box set "From The Beginning", it was removed from the 2012 remaster, because of a rights issue.

On 1993's 4CD box set "The Return Of The Manticore" ELP cover KCs 21st Century Schizoid Man.

BTW that's where the studio version of Pictures... first appeared (also appeared as a bonus track on the last album In The Hot Seat).

OK! I'll shut up now.

 

Yeah, I love the first one. I like just about all of their releases.

I bought the first one when it was new, I guess I was about 14 or so.
I'm pretty sure I bought it because I thought the cover looked cool. lol
I may have read about them in Circus magazine by then but I don't think so, not that early.
I bought it at our local grocery store in the small town where I grew up, 1200 people.
The store had someone that would stock a small shelf with severals bins with albums and singles.
I also bought the first Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin IV there.

 

I love the song "Lucky Man"

but, as far as for an entire album, I much prefer Trilogy

 

Take A Pebble from this album is an eternal delight