***Brain Salad Surgery***

I usually find it's safer not to admit to being an ELP fan around here.

Howard

Why not - welcome back my friend to the show that never ends.

Besides that album has the story of Benny the Bouncer.

...Load...Your...Program...
...I...Am...Yourself...

Deep stuff.

I saw a video of them doing that live years ago, hilarious!

I do like the adventuresome "Toccata" most.

David

Reminds me of John Peel's timeless quip that ELP were a tragic waste of time, talent and electricity.

To be fair, I must admit that I have, and like, Tarkus and Pictures.

Graham

Brain Salad Surgery is a masterpiece.
Very colorful, fun, and complex album all at the same time
My favorites:
Karn Evin 9
Toccata
Benny the Bouncer

Enjoy the music,
Bostjan

ELP ? I used to like them until I started to have spots ...

quote:

Originally posted by graham55:
Reminds me of John Peel's timeless quip that ELP were a tragic waste of time, talent and electricity.

Graham

This is always very interesting quotation - though I have never heard a version with 'tragic' or 'time' included - that might be a bit of a gloss.

As a fan of the late great, I do wonder what Peely really meant - and did he originally say it, or write it?

I'm sure I have seen it as a magazine article(?) and if was in the written word, could there not be a question of emphasis and nuancing here - it's not always easy to do with the written word...

We so easily read 'waste' in the sense of 'rubbish', but cannot 'waste' also be used in the sense of 'a great lavishing'.

ELP - a 'waste (rubbish) of talent and electricty'...?
or
ELP - 'a great lavishing of talent and electricity...?'

From the age of 11 for about three years I would hardly listen to anything else (whilst dreaming of the then-latest Naim 22/110 and LP12 set up - oh yes, you will be mine...)

And when, for my 10th wedding anniversary present, I was given permission to buy a s/h LP12, in celebration of that long-held dream the first thing on was Tarkus ... snap, crackle and WOW!

It's a shame the other LPs are so poorly engineered.

Yet the new day of ELP is dawning - thanks, Bhazen, for starting this thread, I'll go and listen to some right now, Trilogy I think... ah, The Endless Enigma...

Good listening,
James

quote:

Originally posted by JWM:
Yet the new day of ELP is dawning - thanks, Bhazen, for starting this thread, I'll go and listen to some right now, Trilogy I think... ah, The Endless Enigma...

James

The mighty crunch of tracks like "The Endless Enigma" and "A Time & A Place" will test your kit just like Led Zeppelin! ELP rule!!! ...

...where's that double espresso got to?

quote:

Originally posted by JWM:
As a fan of the late great, I do wonder what Peely really meant - and did he originally say it, or write it?
I'm sure I have seen it as a magazine article(?) and if was in the written word, could there not be a question of emphasis and nuancing here - it's not always easy to do with the written word...
We so easily read 'waste' in the sense of 'rubbish', but cannot 'waste' also be used in the sense of 'a great lavishing'.

James - What on earth are you on about? It was just something he said probably, and it really doesn't matter what he thought if you like them. God knows, he listened to his fair share of bollocks over the years. Personally ELP are an area I never ventured into and I'm grateful for that now, though I'm guilty of liking Yes back then and still a little bit now when I'm drunk and my judgment is questionable. I could never stand all that clever dick "hey look, I can play all this classical stuff really fast and we can rock it up to make it sound clever - what fab musicians we must be!".
There probably aren't that many people buying or even listening to ELP anymore, but they shouldn't be forgotten. Personally I'd keep it to myself though. It's dodgy stuff and you'll get funny looks. It's so uncool, it isn't even cool.

Rasher and you asked James what he was talking about?

H

This thread is a coincidence because I just bought several ELP LPs that I had not heard in a long time. I had their 1st LP which I like but as for the rest it has been a while since I've heard them.

Trilogy, Tarkus, and Brain Salad Surgery are all great LPs. They are well recorded and sound good on an audio system that can deliver the details.

There's nothing to be ashamed of by listening to ELP. Go ahead, pull out your old LPs and give them a spin.

Scott

It's as I always say: one man's meat is another man's filet. Or, there's no bad music, only bad people.

Amongst Seattle's whole-grain hipoisie, ELP are politically incorrect; I once got called a fascist for liking them. I wear it as a badge of honour!

quote:

Amongst Seattle's whole-grain hipoisie, ELP are politically incorrect; I once got called a fascist for liking them. I wear it as a badge of honour!

And well you should.
I don't care what anyone says, "Tarkus" has moments of brilliance.
David

"I don't care what anyone says, "Tarkus" has moments of brilliance.
David"

Agree.

Toccata from BSS is another profound moment in music.

True, I could not bring myself to listen to ELP every day - and it's not for the absence of mind-altering substances in Singapore - because the scope of this music has layers like an onion.

But this is one band that's knocked too often.

quote:

Originally posted by Vik:
"I don't care what anyone says, "Tarkus" has moments of brilliance.
David"

Agree.

Are you thinking 'Jeremy Bender' or 'Are You Ready Eddie'.

I agree ELP, Tarkus, Trilogy and BSS are all petty fine, but my favourite is 'Pictures at an Exhibition'.

My only concern is they were Jim Davidson's favourite band, but that's hardly ELP's fault.

Carl Palmer, one of the greatest drummers of all time, was the only rock drummer that Buddy Rich was good friends with. And Ringo Starr is now the proud owner of his gigantic custom drum kit.

quote:

Originally posted by NaimDropper:
And well you should.

ACHTUNG!!!! ...baby!

Fancy Learning that one handed drum roll then? look at April 30th. He has appeared here many times with his band, a truly excellent night out. Fancy seeing 'Fanfare For The' with an audience of about a few hundred?


Also check out the 9th of Novemebr.

& if you liked Yes... or a host of other excellent bands.. just check out the whole gig list!

Weclome back my friends to the show that never ends, Ladies and Gentlemen:

*** Breaking News — 2006 the Keith Emerson Band is back on tour! ***

After an extraordinary global reception the Keith Emerson Band returns to the United States, fulfilling a 2004 promise to tour the East Coast after a well received West Coast tour.

During 2005, the Keith Emerson Band delighted audiences in Japan, Italy, Portugal and Spain with new renditions of classics, premiers of stunning new songs and a few marvelous surprises!

The positive reception has brought the Keith Emerson Band into the studio recording an all-new album slated for 2006 release. Watch for updates here and for early samples of this fabulous new work from Keith! A tour will support the album after completion.

Keith has taken a break from recording to perform live.

This brief American tour [and they will be back!] includes headlining the NEARFest festival in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, a well-regarded celebration of progressive rock from global artists familiar and new, and a return as the headlining act of Moogfest, which introduced US fans to the Keith Emerson Band in 2004.

Moogfest celebrates long time Emerson friend and Moog inventor Bob Moog, who sadly passed away last year. Keith is honored to remember his friend by headlining this tribute once again.

Solo shows are also scheduled. Click here for the full schedule.

With this tour, Keith welcomes guitarist and vocalist Marc Bonilla back to the Keith Emerson Band family. A collaborator and friend for more than fifteen years, Marc has lent his expert guitar to an enormous range of different projects and styles. More on Marc coming soon!

Drummer Pete Riley and Bass Player Phil Williams continue to add their rhythms and expertise to this tour, as they have since 2002. Guitarist Dave Kilminster is on hiatus, fulfilling another commitment.

Watch for a return to Europe! The Keith Emerson band is back on the road and will continue to entertain, delight and surprise fans around the world. New dates will be announced as they are confirmed and the band promises that they will visit new countries and cities so all fans everywhere can enjoy the unparalleled experience of Keith Emerson live in action.

Love Beach

Has anyone actually heard this much maligned ELP album? Is it even listenable?

Scott

quote:

Originally posted by Scott in DC:
Love Beach

Has anyone actually heard this much maligned ELP album? Is it even listenable?

Scott

Yes, it's awful - best forgotten, IMO

quote:

Originally posted by ROTF:

Yes, it's awful - best forgotten, IMO

Yes, now don't laugh, but really well recorded.

As an obsessive teenage fan, I felt obliged to like 'Love Beach', even though in my heart of hearts I just knew it to be poor.

The more recent books (eg Emo's autobiography) tell us why Love Beach is quite so bad - more or less cobbled together from a few doodlings and make-weights to fulfil a record contract with Atlantic, in order to be able to split-up.

Mind you, I'm not sure the return album 'Black Moon' is really that much better compositionally... The 'last wring of the tea towel' of the better composition I think is to be found on the Emerson Lake and Powell album.

But - and it's a big but - the performances in the later live gigs recorded on CDs like Live in Poland have been absolutely excellent.

And I had the great joy of going to the first gig in the Emo comeback tour in 2004 (with Emo's own band and the Nice), at Cambridge Corn Exchange. I cannot say how excitied I was, as a 40-year old, to be able to see (for the first time ever) the old chap doing his thing, WOW!


Tarkus - Eruption


With The Nice (radical haircut, Lee Jackson...)


Welcome back, our friend...

Catch him when and whilst you can.

Good listening,
James

There's a pretty good documentary DVD that came out last year called "Beyond The Beginning." Lots of live footage through the years and the history of ELP in their own words.