Emerson, Lake & Palmer: Love ‘em or hate ‘em?

06.27.2019
11:11 am
Topics:
Music
Tags:
prog
Emerson, Lake & Palmer

ELP poster by Tadanori Yokoo

Five years ago I wrote a piece here pondering the musical question: “Emerson, Lake & Palmer, do they suck?” I wasn’t really trying to do a troll post per se, but naturally I realized that taking that sort of mildly confrontational approach might rile up some strong feelings in readers, and generate some extra page views in the process. In that earlier posting I listened to each core ELP album in chronological order over the course of a weekend. I found it difficult going and said as much. There were dozens of comments, most of them telling me how stupid I am and how I’m not intelligent enough to be able to properly appraise ELP’s superior musicianship, etc. A few agreed with me, but they seemed to be the younger ones. (You never want to slag off Rush online unless you welcome a torrent of abuse being hurled at you and the same seems to be true of ELP fans. Those old dudes will CUT YOU.)

This wasn’t the first time that I’d attempted to get into ELP. Oh no. I had several of their records when I was a little kid. I had bought them at a yard sale for 25 cents each, but apart from their fantastic album covers, the music did not appeal to me at all. Clearly they had no appeal for my neighbor, either, as he was selling them off four for a dollar. More than anything else, I think their albums just confused me. At that age I was still figuring out what I liked vs. what I didn’t like. As “differentiation” was still a new concept to me, it wasn’t, well, obvious why so many people liked them when I didn’t. ELP was even tied with Led Zeppelin for tour grosses in 1974. They sold over 25 million records. They were HUGE.

When I was 12, Emerson, Lake & Palmer played a gig in my hometown which was famously recorded for the King Biscuit Flower Hour radio show. I could have gone, but turned my nose up at the offer of a free ticket. By then I was into punk and ELP were the enemy. Ridiculous, I know, but that’s the kind of kid I was. Music and perceived tribal allegiances were so important then and I was militant in my tastes, even at that age. By the time they were on my kiddie radar screen, Emerson, Lake & Palmer had already gone from being the supergroup exemplars of “progressive” rock to being a known quantity unable to take their limited formula anywhere new. Everyone knew exactly what it meant when ELP were referred to as “dinosaurs.”

As I got older I might pick up a used ELP album if it was in good shape for the sole purpose of (once again) trying to figure out “Do I like this or do I hate this?” And I still couldn’t decide. I think I wanted to like them or at the very least to understand their appeal to others. Nevertheless, the answer to that question would always be “some of it is undeniably brilliant, but...”—and it’s a rather big twerking but in the case of Emerson, Lake & Palmer—each of their albums contain tons of uninspired, noodling-around filler material. The ratio of filler to brilliance on their records hovers around 60/40 if you ask me. Too much showoffy, note-crammed Yngwie Malmsteen-ish “virtuosity” as opposed to actual good songs. My marathon ELP listening session only served to amplify that perception. In other words, the filler nearly smothered the good stuff. From that earlier post:

At their best, ELP could be sublime. No really. Carl Palmer is a truly great drummer. Keith Emerson is a keyboard god. Greg Lake, that man could sing! At their worst, they sound like three goofballs whose best idea was to rip off B. Bumble & The Stingers’ “Nut Rocker,” play it on the Moog and add an orchestra! Their problem isn’t their musicianship, it’s the fact that they have terrible, terrible tacky taste.

My wife politely inquired at one point “What the fuck is this shit?” When I told her, she rolled her eyes, shook her head and walked away from me, disappointed.

I’m rarely that negative on the blog. Normally I only write about things I’m enthusiastic about. I have trouble with the notion of a rock group playing classical music. It’s ultimately silly—who really prefers to listen to Tchaikovsky played on a synthesizer, bass and drums over a full orchestra???—and kinda pointless. I mean, why not write your own symphonies? Much of ELP’s material was highly derivative, almost novelty songs. They DID cover B. Bumble & The Stingers’ “Nut Rocker” for Chrissakes!

So here we are again, five years later. I was offered a review copy of the new four LP release of the Emerson Lake & Palmer: The Anthology box set. For whatever reason I felt like suiting up and going in once again, like maybe it was on me and that I was the one still not getting it, so I accepted the challenge and decided to take a very open-minded approach to the task. Since the last time I tried this I have significantly upgraded my stereo system and this proved to be a fairly crucial factor in my appraisal as it caused me to sit down and pay better attention than I had a few years back. I have an unabashed audiophile’s appreciation for how music “sounds” and ELP’s albums were recorded in state-of-the-art studios. The mastering quality of the new vinyl box is very high indeed.

To my mild surprise—I think I wanted this to be the outcome, but it wasn’t something I could force—I really loved it. Well, about 3/4 of it to be honest, but that’s no complaint.

The reason for my change of heart? It’s quite simple: The tracks on The Anthology were apparently agreed upon by all three members of ELP in 2015 and for the most part present their strengths (prodigious instrumental talents, etc) while cutting away at the pretentious, overplayed excesses the band was so (in)famous for. When you leave the filler behind—and again, there was a hell of a lot of it on the original albums these songs came from—what’s left is often absolutely magnificent music. A well-chosen “best of” like this one is an absolute necessity when it comes to appreciating Emerson, Lake & Palmer in the context of 2019.

Another thing that became obvious to me is that they must’ve been fantastic live. I am no longer confused as to why they were such a massive-drawing stadium act: their concerts must’ve been LIT. The energy that crackles out of the speakers with their live material draws one in more than the more meticulously-crafted studio material. “Showmanship” and spectacle was obviously a huge part of their bag o’ tricks, but of course that element is only hinted at by their studio albums. ELP might be the ultimate “you had to have been there” group.

All in all, even if I don’t have much need for most of the fourth record in this box set, I must say that The Anthology is a solid collection and in my opinion the very best introduction to Emerson, Lake & Palmer that it’s possible to have. It solves the mystery of ELP’s once massive superstardom for younger listeners… and by “younger” I mean anyone under 55.

Wholeheartedly recommended!

Buy Emerson, Lake & Palmer: The Anthology at Amazon.

“Knife Edge” live on German TV’s ‘Beat-Club.’ This song is a reinterpretation of Leoš Janáček’s “Sinfonietta: I. Allegretto (Fanfare)” with snatches of Bach’s “French Suite in D Minor.” If you’re a fan of the first King Crimson album, this should go down relatively easy.