by Mott the Dog
re-mastered By Ella Crew
5 Stars *****
That’s right, not Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, but
Emerson, Lake, and Powell. After nine incredibly successful years together
as one of the largest grossing bands in the world, and one of the
originators of what was to become known as Progressive Rock, Emerson,
Lake, and Palmer came to a rather ignoble ending. So at this point (1979),
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer disbanded and each member of the band went his
own way to varying degrees of success.
Greg Lake recorded a couple of albums with a new band
(including Gary Moore on lead guitar), and toured the world only reaching
large audiences when he would play well down the bill of large festival
dates such as ‘The Reading Festival’ in England. Keith Emerson
released a couple of soundtracks to B-Grade movies, but pretty much kept
out of the limelight. Carl Palmer formed a band called P. M., which lasted
one album and one tour before falling apart, but then he hit pay dirt when
he teamed up with Steve Howe (ex-Yes), Geoff Downes (ex-Buggles), and John
Wetton (ex Uriah Heep, ex Roxy Music, ex King Crimson) to form the
extremely lucrative and commercially popular “Asia”.
After seven years Keith Emerson and Greg Lake decided
it was time to get back together and make some more music and top up the
old bank balance. (Sounds a bit mercenary, but then again I think it was.)
Carl Palmer was far from willing to give up his drum seat in the money
spinning “Asia” for the slightly risky opportunity of being the P, in
“E. L. P.” again. A quick look round by Keith and Greg and the choice
was obvious. No need to get a new logo. (Again financially sound and if
they had got in Ginger Baker it would of become E. L. B. Just does not
have the same ring about it, does it?) Just ring up old mate and
well-known gun for hire, Cozy Powell (ex Whitesnake, ex Jeff Beck, ex
Black Sabbath, ex Bedlam, ex Michael Schenker Band... Oh, the list is
endless without even including his solo career), and get him in. Same
heavy drum sound, same love of those dynamic and long drum solos, and we
have got E. L. P. back together again of sorts.
No point going out on the road without any product
though, so off into the studio they went with a recording contract with
Polygram, production to be shared between Tony Taverner and Greg Lake, and
all the management hassles to be taken care of by Alex Grob. Perfect. So
all they had to do was come up with an album’s worth of material. In the
world of Rock ‘n’ Roll, not very likely you think, but no, they came
up with an absolute corker.
From the opening strands of first song “The Score”
you know you are in for an exciting journey of very special rock music.
Keith Emerson plays the keyboards as only he can, totally over the top
with plenty of use of a Hammond organ, grand piano, and, of course, the
Moog Synthesizer.
Cozy Powell is all over the kit hitting the skins with
barely controlled violence, but with split second precision. When after
three and a half minutes Greg Lake comes in to sing the first stanza, you
realize that he is not only there to underpin the sound with his marvelous
bass playing, but he probably has one of the most underrated set of vocal
chords from the last half century of rock music.
In the nearly ten minutes of “The Score” the band
really flies, proving that they are a force to be reckoned with and we
even get a little snippet from days gone by when Greg Lake introduces us
to a touch of ‘Karn Evil 9’ from “Brain Salad Surgery”, when he
sings out the opening, “It’s been so long my friends, so welcome back
to the show that never ends”.
Then we get two more selections that are instant
classics of their genre. ‘Learning to Fly’ is another opportunity for
the band to show off their skills and how well they are gelling as a unit.
‘The Miracle’ is a very wordy affair, almost like a short take on a
storyline something akin to a short ‘Tarkus’ complete with a full
choir bringing the whole thing to a rousing conclusion.
Proving that they still had a grip on what was relevant
in the confusing modern world of rock music, just for good measure,
Emerson, Lake, and Powell released the next song “Touch and Go” as a
single and had a massive hit with it in the USA. A very catchy little tune
it is, too, showing all their collective spirit now proudly bearing their
hearts on their sleeves. They follow this with the love song “Love
Blind”, the jazzy street song “Step Aside”, and the passionate
anti-war song “Lay Down your Guns”. Considering what has happened
since this was written back in 1986, it’s a pity not more people lent an
ear to the heartfelt lyrics.
Conversely they then follow this with the centerpiece
of the album with an adaptation of Gustav Holst’s “Mars, The Bringer
Of War” from “The Planets Suite”. Many bands have tried to take a
piece of classical music written for full orchestra and readapt it for
rock music. Nobody has ever succeeded like Emerson, Lake, and Powell have
done here with Holst’s music, whilst keeping its majestic sweep. They
manage to make it sound like Holst had actually written the music with a
three piece rock band in mind. A truly uplifting piece of music.
As bonus tracks for the C.D. release we get first some
marvelous fun with a cover of Carole King’s “The Loco-Motion”, a
piece of nonsense for sure, but you can almost hear the musicians grinning
along as they play out these foot tapping notes. Unfortunately the album
ends on its weakest moment, “Vacant Possession”.
An album often ignored because of its place in the
history of these musicians, and possibly because of yet another
acrimonious split after just one short American tour, and the soon to be
revealed full re-union of all of the original Emerson, Lake and Palmer.
But still definitely worthy of your attention, even if it’s only for a
listen to the eight minutes of pomp that they make of “Mars, The Bringer
of War”.
This
week’s review book was written in French by an author living in Ireland
with much of the book dealing with the seamier side of Thailand. An
interesting mix from the outside. Platform (ISBN 0-099-43788-0) is author
Michel Houellebecq’s third novel and his previous works have been
showered with praise, if one believes the flyleaf. This edition was
published in paperback this year.
A
well worn story about the creepy old house in the country, the well off
urban family trying to get away from it all, and living or dead, person or
persons that do not want them there.
Mott’s CD review: Emerson, Lake, and Powell
