“Trilogy” is actually my favorite rock album, not only my #1 Emerson, Lake and Palmer album but out of all of rock. I think that and Yes’s “Close to the Edge”, both in 1972, are the pinnacle year in rock.

I'm glad you moved over to the light from the Dark Side There's Hope for the world yet

Monty Python had a record called "Contractual Obligation Album" Love Beach should have been called that

“The Barbarian” comes from Bartók’s “Allegro barbaro, BB 63, Sz. 49” and there’s an interlude in there by J.S. Bach.

I like the sound of their debut most. That raw old school production sound worked brilliantly with their music - kind of opposite to the Brain Salad Surgery approach to sound. The music was already so flamboyant that a dry, faithful production keeps things from becoming OTT to the point of being grating.

Been an ELP fan since 1971. A lot of variety in their catalog.

I dove into Elp after seeing/meeting Carl Palmer at a Drum clinic in 1987. I only knew him from Asia back then. To say that that clinic was a game changer for me, is an understatement... The young me even did a Drum solo during that same clinic while Carl was sitting on stage watching and clapping his hands for the young fool that I was ... :-) Around that same period I went to see Jethro Tull in concert, only because Don Airey was in the band ...didn't know much about Tull but I was about to find out. Those were the formative years... Cheers

I've seen Carl Palmer's ELP Legacy show twice and he has still got the chops. When I was at school, the legendary percussionist James Blades gave us a demo of his skills. He was Carl's percussion teacher. How cool for a 14 year old ELP fan.

Like you, I went from not really caring much for ELP to having them become one of my favorite bands of all time. I will chalk this up to the wisdom of old age.

From the beginning may well be the best acoustic guitar - based rock song of all time. It's a stunning piece of music.

Andy! That is the best breakdown of ELPs music that I have ever heard on KZfaq! Well done!

Love Tarkus and Trilogy. From the beginning is the first song I learnd properly on guitar and one of a few i still remember.

Brain Salad Surgery is my personal favorite but I was of the age that I was highly malleable and that was my first connection to ELP and then I saw them in concert in '74 and to see it performed was just mind blowing

When you see Carl Palmer's drum set live and he's got the double Bongos coming down either side of his kit and the big Chinese gong behind them and he's breaking drumsticks he's got a couple of bucket fulls by his sides and Keith Emerson surrounded by keyboards and there's Greg Lake standing up front like a conductor it is a glorious sight in concert and when you're 16 17 you are just so enthralled that is impossible not to be a Prague fan and it also gave me a desire to learn more about classical music

Thank you so much for your wonderful analysis! It has been a huge relief listening to you.

I only bought three of their albums; ELP, Trilogy and Pictures (which was ‘given away’ at £1.79). Trilogy was played to death but it’s ELP that I rebought on CD and remains one of the best prog albums ever.

To me Tarkus and Trilogy is a 2LP set. My favourite 2! Truly ahead of their time! Even Miles, Herbie, Chick and Zawinul must have freaked out hearing this in 1971/72

Brain Salad Surgery is number one every day of the week for me. My favourite prog album ever. Great retrospective Andy.

Great video Andy! I do agree, KE was probably the first one with those incredible live shows by The Nice, but i would also consider keyboardist Tony Banks who since Nursery Crime onwards also embodied the prog distinctive sound, aswell as Yes bassist Chris Squire

Though we knew it in 1974 as "Welcome Back My Friends to the Album that Never Ends," I love it to this day.

If I had to go to live on a deserted island and could only take one ELP album with me, it woud be Trilogy. If I got a new state of the art sound system and could pick one song to be the first song to hear on it, it would be "Endless Enigma."

Carl Palmers recently released box set has a fantastic 240 page book written by Carl included. Essential purchase Andy Cheers Jonathan

Welcome home, I have been a fan since age 11, 52 yrs ago. You demonstrate quite admirably it is never too late to change ones musical mind. Bravo! You did say on another vid that P.A.A.Exhibition was the first E.L.P album you bought.

Where Brain Salad Surgery and Trilogy win over the first album, for me, are the memorable tunes. Great video Andy.

The first album I ever bought was Trilogy when I was 13 in 1974. By age 16, the Sex Pistols had arrived and I couldn't stand the ELP bombast. However, I got two things from it which have stood me in good stead through life. The first was my introduction to Aaron Copeland which, in turn, led me into classical music. Second was the song, From The Beginning, which to this day is still one of the loveliest songs ever. It held a place on my bonking tape for much of my 20's. The album got sold or swapped but I rebought it second hand in my 40's for the inner, gatefold cover which is framed and up in my music room. It takes me back to a time and place. Occasionally I hear some ELP and it generally does my head in, particularly their classical covers because they are never as good as the real thing. But even after all that, I still really, really like that overdriven Hammond sound. One thing;- in - I think - The Sheriff - there's a drum intro in which Carl Palmer drops a stick and says "shit".

Welcome back to the ( ELP ) fold ! I was lucky enough to see them live many times at the height of their powers , usually in Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto . They were something to behold live . I saw most of the prog bands live throughout the 70's , and both Jethro Tull and ELP put on the most entertaining concerts out of all of them . Genesis and Yes were also great live , as well , but not quite as entertaining as ELP and Tull . In one of the concerts , ELP had quad sound , with banks of speakers at the back of the arena , and other banks up front , so that the music was swirling around your head . Then you would get Emerson going behind the Hammond B3 , and he would start playing something from Bach just as smoothly as if he was in front of the keyboard . I guess that he had to think in reverse to play it from behind . Lake's voice was just as beautiful live , and Palmer's drumming was spectacular . In terms of how I rank the albums , it changes between the debut , Tarkus , and Brain Salad Surgery as to what my number one is . I also love Trilogy , and both Works' albums , as well as their live albums ( especially King Biscuit Hour , which has the definitive versions of Karl Evil 9 and Pirates , as far as I'm concerned . Thanks for an excellent video !!!

You are redeemed.

Can’t wait Andy !

Thanks for this revised look at ELP. Something that you could have talked about in this video is that ELP (Emerson) presented an advanced harmonic vocabulary to us rockers. It bent my ear. Eventually, as I learned more about music, jazz, theory etc, I recognized Keith’s altered scales and whatnot. I care less about his hand independence and the rest of his technique, but I care most about his concepts and ideas (oh, and that glorious sound of his Hammond playing. I really missed the organ as his Yamaha synth, etc. took over.) Most under appreciated ELP song (if you ignore the lyrics): Living Sin

Great analysis, Andy! Bombast and Gusto! ❤❤❤ Can't believe you finally changed your tune (No pun intended)

Awesome that you are doing a ELP album ranking. Have gotten into them the last year and along with Yes and Gentle Giant they are my favorite Prog Band. I kind of feel they are underrated at this point.

Greg played some amazing lead guitar on Karn Evil 9 and Tarkus, among others. At one point in Lucky Man, he's on acoustic, lead, and bass all at the same time. Impossible to pull off in concert, so he always played it alone.

Enjoying thoughtful review of the career of ELP. I like the way you contextualise the eponymous album to justify why it is number one which I can agree even if I hate 3 fates. My only argument is Pictures. Tge audio quality is astounding for 1970 and you are right in the front seat. It’s a thrill ride hot sweaty and bombastic! Welcome back in the other hand is overblown and sounds like it was recorded from the nosebleeders! Though it does have the amazing live version of battlefield

Thanks for the ELP deep dive. The fracture lines were completely on display from the first album. The beautiful, simple melodies of Take a Pebble and Lucky Man vs the classical interpretations of Barbarian and Knife-Edge vs the bombasticism and gusto sprinkled all over. Really it's amazing that they managed to produce as many indispensable albums as they did.

The sound quality of Pictures at an Exhibition is much, much better than the sound quality of Welcom Back My Friends, which sounds like it was recorded with a couple of microphones at the back of the arena.

I’m giving Andy another two years of sober reflection before elevating Ummagumma and Astral Weeks to their rightful positions in the rock pantheon.😅 No mention of the parallel adventures and influence of the Brian Auger Trinity? No mention of the resemblance of the first three minutes of the Trilogy album with the soundtrack for Planet of the Apes? Perhaps a few more years and Andy can see Soft Machine (Wyatt years) in the context of the avant garde of the South of France and the lens they put on bebop and Schoenberg et al in the 60s. I guess all the best music has its own World and suffers by comparison outside of its environment. One request: look at something truly esoteric, like the relationship between Peter Green and Ralph Vaughan Williams 😊.

Was able to see them live in early 70‘s. Emerson was amazing on multiple keyboards. Somehow they had a row of flames that were altered by the notes he played. I’m sure it wouldn’t be allowed now by any fire marshal.😏

Great video. Perceptive and original observations as always.

Another great video Andy. All the best

Thanks for your deep dive into them. Awesome!

GREAT GETTING INTO EMERSON LAKE AND PALMER ANDY 🎹🎸🥁. SUPERB COMMENTS ON ALL BRUM LIKE ME AND CARL PALMER HA !. MY TOP 3 ALBUMS BY THEM 3.TRILOGY 2.THEIR FIRST ALBUM IS JUST EDGED OUT BY 1.TARKUS WHICH IS AN INCREDIBLE EXPERIENCE . MY DEAR LATE FATHERS FAVOURITE ROCK BAND USED TO ALWAYS PLAY THAT ALBUM ON HIS OWN ON HIS MAGNIFICENT STEREO SPEAKERS IN THE FRONT ROOM 😊🍾.GREAT COUNTDOWN

I love the fact that after ELP's 1st album ? They had humor in their music, starting with the jokey Jeremy Bender & Are You Ready, Eddie ? Otherwise, they'd have been as serious as cancer; they well knew this, and it worked.... 🚬😎👍

Brilliant!! I'm gladly handing over the moderation of the chat to Colin. Everybody on the chat is putting in their love, sweat, tears and their necks. ELP were one of my first true prog favs along with Jethro Tull, King Crimson, Renaissance and Gong. The love is still there. Glad you gave them this video. Once they stick, they stick. C ya on the other side.

I really enjoyed that, thanks.

We're all on the Spectrum Andy.

My introduction to ELP was two accidents. The first was a swap of Queen's Killer Queen single for a 2nd hand copy of Trilogy. Why oh why my schoolmate not like ELP, I don't know. The second was hearing Lucky man on the Alan Freeman radio show. Super, smashing, great.

I’ve been a huge fan ELP from their beginning. This has been a grand video Andy, and uts wonderful to see you make a ‘turnaround.’

Chas 'n' Dave. Prog? Looking forward to that video.

Bravo ! ... great symphonic opening Andy with the proposition that what might be may not be, then building to the crescendo of the 3 top albums (Brain Salad had been my top given it's Crimson like contribution and Lake's unmistakeable voice) and leading to that finale of Emerson's genius (ESSENTIAL PROG in an historical perspective ... has to be recognized as one of the most formidable uses of virtousity in shaping the movement ... but the verdict of vs Wakeman remains to be debated) and then alas, HIggins vs allllll of the pedestrian influences that other greats like Kilmeister have brought to the a genre for it to be considered Prog, Brilliant ! Here's a YT treat from a fan of ELP's 1977 orchestral tour ... did manage to catch this one ... the vid does not do justice to the actual sound. Fantastic and most memorable show ... Lake's version here of Lucky Man was solo acoustic, missed the moog synth for sure ! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/f7V9q5lhv96qqHk.html

The Dutch band Ekseption led by Rick van der Linden was very much inspired by The Nice and clasical music. Their debut album was released in 1968.

33:27 Great overview of Keith Emerson influences and evolution 👏

Takus is my favourite ELP album. The 2nd side is not as strong as the first side but I think is still good, but that first side is epic and takes it across the line for the win.

Really enjoyed that Andy. Me and my buddies had all the ELP records in high school but never saw them live until I saw Emerson Lake & Powell in Mansfield MA in 86. Show finished with Brubeck’s Blue Rondo a la Turk. RIP Keith & Greg.

Really enjoyed your perspective on ELP. Their first album was always my favourite. Saw them a couple of times, including their tour with the orchestra in Montreal, and they always blew my hair back.

I first saw ELP two nights after they recorded Pictures at an Exhibition in Newcastle. Checking their archives the ticket cost me 50p. Tracks from the first LP, Tarkus and Pictures finishing with the Nice favourite Rondo. I can't disagree with your first three picks.

Very well thought through ranking.

First concert I went to was ELP back in 1974. Great album rundown. I find myself always coming back to Trilogy.

I remember when ‘reaction’ had barely started on t’internet, I was always asking for ELP, Crimson, etc. No one seemed to have a scooby to who they were. I just spammed them all with requests. Hard to believe it now.

"I Believe in Father Christmas." Lyrics by Pete Sinfield. Music by Greg.

A great breakdown. I've been a huge ELP fan since my early teens and started buying their albums in 1973 when Brain Salad Surgery came out and ended up with every album they released as a band to the end. Sadly, they all got let behind after splitting with my first wife 😞 Anyway, your ranking, in my opinion is spot on with my assessment, even the struggle between their first album and Trilogy as their very best. Cheers! Oh, and if your not already aware of it, check out the Trilogy cover by the Jad & Den Quintet with Thierry Eliez on piano and vocalist Ceilin Poggi. Absolutely amazing and an incredible tribute to Emerson's work

Thank you for going through ELP's albums. They are one of my favorite bands of all time. That first album has two of the great piano pieces of all time in The Three Fates and Take a Pebble. Not a week goes by that I don't listen to them. While Emerson and Lake are sadly gone, they live on through these albums. Hopefully, more people can appreciate them because of you highlighting their work.

One of the all time greats. Prog hating Critics use them as their whipping boy, and some fans feel obliged to criticize them. Their underrated first album is their best.

Not been mentioned I think that Knife Edge is based on Janacek’s Sinfonietta. The first album is definitely my favourite. Saw them in ‘71 supported by Michael Chapman, whose music I came to love just as much. Seems an odd match now but the early ‘70s were a different age.

Thanks Andy you summarize what I think about the importance of ELP. About BSS, the cover of Brain Sallad Surgery is made by H. R. Giger. He was part of the special effects team that won an Academy Award for the visual design of Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi horror film Alien, and was responsible for creating the titular Alien itself! Another curiosity, the photo in the open sleeve of Trilogy is taken where had happen the Battle of the Epping Forest, the Genesis’s song from Selling England by the Pound.

In The Court Of The Kingson Crim. One of my favorite prog albums! 😊 It's bombastic with gusto!

Wow, Andy, just wow.

Emerson, Lake and Palmer are my gateway drug to prog and Trilogy was my gateway drug to ELP. It’s a photo finish for the top four spots. You could make an argument for any of the first four studio albums for being ELP’s best album. The fire burned in ELP and it shows and is why listening to those four albums is such a joy. I was a teenager in the late 70s and I had all the albums including Love Beach. I enjoyed all of them. The three-disc live album was our go-to album when we enjoyed the jazz herb. I remember parking my head between the speakers and listening to the live version of Aqua-Tarkus. It was an epiphany. I lost interest in ELP in the 80s. I picked up the debut album and Trilogy when they came out on CD. When Emerson took his life, it sparked a renewed interest for me in the band and I now have all the albums through Works One and I listen to them frequently.

ELP was my #1 band in high school, and I agreed with you from beginning to end of this list. I will never forget watching one of the late night rock shows when I was 13 or 14 in the early 1970s (when my parents started allowing me to stay up and watch those shows). I had never heard of ELP before, but by the time Keith Emerson's piano rose up and started spinning head over heels, I was kneeling in front of the television not believing what I was seeing. It was exactly what this nerdy young teen needed to stay focused on his piano lessons. On the other hand, I recently spent an afternoon listening to Kraftwerk again, based on your enthusiasm in other videos. In the 70s, I thought they were mildly interesting, and I still can't get too excited about them. But I do respect your knowledge, and if you say they were historically important, I will accept that.

I am very glad that someone, and a knowledgeable music man like you, finally gave that glowing first album its due! Now, my fave ELP album is Brain Salad Surgery, I'm not putting up the first album at the top BUT throughout the years I found myself listening to that album much much more than the others of their discography. My top three is BSS, first album and Trilogy.

Love your show tonight as per usual . ELP 1 is the 1st and best - no need to hear another ! btw , The Barbarian was stolen from Bela Bartok- Barbaro Allegro - just a tid bit - think they were sued on that one - Saw ELP @ The Fillmore East - - great show -

You should do an episode on Eddie Offord

One of the things I loved most about ELP - similar to Yes - is that they could do all the eclectic and ornate stuff but could also be brutal and heavy. They rocked!

Andy I have a couple of differences of opinions relative to ELP. Sonically speaking, Pictures At An Exhibition is one of the great 70s live rock recordings. I've turned countless audiophiles on to the original British Island pressing (black label HELP1). Its a spectacular sounding album and also a gateway into the world of classical music. With respect to BSS - it was compositionally and technologically the most advanced rock recording of its era. Nothing sounded like that in 1973. Where it was held back was by the production. The material for Trilogy was difficult for them to play live, so they approached the recording of BSS much differently. I think in that respect it suffered. BSS is my all time favorite album - its engrained in my DNA - and ELP is my favorite band. I was fortunate enough to see them perform at Madison Square Garden with the 70 piece orchestra, on July 8, 1977. One of the best concerts I've ever seen and I've been to more than a few. If you are ever in New Jersey I'll give you a spin of Pictures and blow you mind.

As a kid I thought Brain Salad Surgery was the best. My older brother had it and I loved the cover therefore it had to be the best. However years later I heard the first album and have loved it ever since. Great videos as usual. I might even say it was bombastic.

On Love Beach I heard an interview with Greg Lake where he said he Palmer and Emerson wanted to make solo albums. Lake said Ahmet Ertegun said record and ELP album or never record again.

Probably the best review of ELP albums I’ve even seen , thanks . I think like you Andy my number 1 & 2 has changed after 20 years , Brain Salad was number 1 for years, but I played it to death and like you the mixing / engineering needs a lot to be desired. I then put Trilogy at no1 but until recently I have the debut at no 1 and Trilogy at 2 , BSS at No 3 So No 4 Tarkus No 5 Pictures No 6 WBMFTTSTNE No 7 Works 2 No 8 Love Beach No 9 Black Moon No 10 Works 1

I thought it was just me being shallow so I was surprised hearing you talk about Love Beach and the importance of an album's cover. Beacause, in fact, I was gifted that record many many years ago and I thought it looked completely embarrassing. For years I didn't even give it a chance. Recently I listened to it a bit after reading bad reviews and, surprisingly, it also struck me as not that bad at all musically. The visual aspect does carry an artistic message that can interfere with one's appreciation of the music.

The Sheriff was very Copland-ish, a counterbalance to Hoedown and Coplands ballet work. Loved the homage to Eastwood. I always consider From the Beginning to be a 60s style song influenced by the Momma's and the Poppas harmonic potentials. Sacreligious ? 😊

Tarkus & Trilogy period . Love you andy ❤️😊

Hey Andy - here's an idea from far left field: A whole episode dissecting the hugely underrated NEXT album by Journey. Amazing album and quite a bit around it to sink your teeth into.

I bought BSS without any knowledge of the music, just because of the album cover, and because I thought "Palmer" might be Carl Palmer, whom I only knew from the BBC show Rockschool (and I suppose Asia, although I didn't know who any of the band members were at the time). To me, it's a perfect prog album, with its variety of styles, experimentation, virtousic playing, the massive dystopian epic...and Toccata, while not an original work, encapsulates everything ELP is about (minus Lake's voice) in one piece. I have Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's gold CD remaster of Tarkus, but sadly, not Trilogy. I wish they had done the same for BSS.

Bombast & Gusto.

To be continued…… (look forward to it). Let’s not get carried away though …. ELP better than Genesis ??? Time to dip back into the ultimate English aesthetic band that could suddenly burst into fusion level instrumental passages, and dip straight back out without labouring the point so to speak. 😉

I did not agree with your choice of best Santana Album. But here you have nailed it. The first ELP album is perfect.

Hi Andy, Rare Bird had a 20 minutes epic even earlier, in 1970. It's called 'as your mind fly by' from an album by the same name.

Glad you mentioned Palmers playing on Love Beach , he switched to wooden Gretsch and in my opinion his tastiest stripped back playing , even plays his version of When the Levee Breaks groove 👍

I fell in love with the debut album because of Luck Man. But as an older man now. I realize the song that stuck with me the longest is Take A Pebble.

The first prog albums I ever bought were ELP - Tarkus and Yes - Close To the Edge, and they are still two of my favourite albums. I love Tarkus, have from the first time I heard it, I don't mind the second side. You have been very objective once again , I see where you are coming from, the fact they nailed prog and a certain sound on the first album probably means it should be number one. Trilogy is also amazing, I cannot play that album without having to play Hoedown at least three times. Now you have highlighted the fact that BSS has a different engineer, I get why I don't rate it as high, id probably put it in the same place as you. The only 90's album I have is Black Moon and I love that album, some of Greg Lake's finest songs. I would also agree that Love Beach is not a bad album, however, with a cover like that, I can never own it 😅

I owned their entire catalog at one time. The only album I've kept is Brain Salad Surgery. Volume cranked, the mix is urgent. As you say, it is the complete package. The last to go before that was Trilogy. I enjoy the Lake ballads. I really like the Nice 'Autumn to Spring' album. I can greatly appreciate the brilliance of Emerson when he is 'kept in check', with a few exceptions of virtuosity. Below in the comments I see shared sentiments I relate to, that though appreciated, ELP just didn't move them/me. I can't exactly put a finger on it. I still have the Yes, King Crimson, 70's Genesis, etc, full in the collection, but the ELP material failed to resonate with me for the long haul. Footnote: I remember in the late 70's, 'Love Beach' and 'Works two' were readily available in the cut-out bargain bin. Thanks Andy!

Love Beach and In the Hot Seat at the top obviously. Mine is: 1. Brain Salad Surgery 2. Trilogy 3. Tarkus 4. Emerson, Lake & Palmer (I love the first side, but the second not so much) 5. Pictures at an Exhibition 6. Welcome Back My Friends (the sound is not very good) 7. Works vol.1 8. Works vol.2 9. Black Moon 10. Love Beach 11. In the Hot Seat I forgot Emerson, Lake & Powell.

I remember when Pictures at an Exhibition was in the record shops, it was sold for half price, which was practically unheard of for any album at the time, especially a newly released one. It always made me think that the record company and possibly ELP themselves didn't seem to have much confidence in it. And in a way, released between Tarkus and Trilogy, it never seemed quite up to par. Psychological perhaps, I don't know.

I agree with you Andy. I loved the Nice in the late 60s..they were new, pioneering and did some wonderful stuff on “Ars long Vita Brevis’. “The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack”, “Five bridges” and “Elegy” and I was miffed when they dissolved. I loved King Crimson too…what a shock hearing “In the Court” and “In the wake of Poseidon” in the late sixties/early seventies . Then when ELP announced themselves with their first Album, I thought ‘wow..this could really develop’,,,but unfortunately it was all downhill from there. They seemed to loose their spark, lost that inventive pioneering an became self indulgent ‘Prog Gods’ …and i gave up on them. What a shame they couldn’t move forward and try new things like Crimson did or even yes did…so I moved on to other artists which I found more inspiring….which reminds me …..you still haven’t looked at Kevin Ayers yet, have you?

BSS remains my favorite ELP album over the years. I've had it on practically every format, including 8-track. As far as the quality of that album's production, there was a nice 5.1 release on DVD that addressed that issue. There is also a studio version of Pictures that was released in the "Return of the Manticore" box set. It was also encoded in 5.1 and is probably my favorite version of the song. I'm not sure there was actually anything bad going on between Emerson and Palmer at any point as suggested. I understand that Palmer was obligated to do Asia stuff at a time when ELP was basically inactive, and Palmer said it was cool for an album to be recorded with Powell...partially because it still made money for Palmer as more ELP back-catalogue albums were sold along with the new album with Powell. But all that's just what I gathered from various sources, and I'm not sure what the real story is about this period. Great video, Andy!

A very cogent argument regarding Emerson's importance in the development of progressive rock. He was a consummate showman in a band of consummate musicians.

Keith Emerson - ground zero. Finally getting his props. His work with Moog to bend the notes and 'jimi-fy' the keyboard sounds ( on top of classic and 'knees-up' underpinnings ) stopped you in your tracks. What is THAT sound ? The synth break on Lucky Man launched 1000 prog fans. An actual genius. And a really nice guy - his relationship with Rachel Flowers. And his tragic demise. Top 5 music influencers on me. Thanks.

Next video? Howzabout an in depth review of the Keith Emerson Band featuring Marc Bonilla album with that giant epic and Greg Bissonette on drums?

Pete Sinfield wrote the lyrics for Love Beach.

Been a fan since '72. Back then I was a big fan. As I started to listen to jazz, jazz fusion etc. I lost interest in ELP. Several years ago I started listening to ELP with a more critical ear and enjoyed listening to them. They're now probably the prog rock band I listen to the most these days especially Tarkus. There's an excellent book on them called "The Endless Enigma" by Edward Macan analysing their compositional style. Go the Persian rug.

Love Beach. To me the issue with Love Beach is the anemic keyboard sound. Especially on Memoirs of an Officer and a Gentleman. At this time Keith Emerson was using a Yamaha GX-1, which at the time was the worlds most sophisticated synth. It cost about £40,000 at the time. And yet it sounds like? I think he programmed it quickly, it sounded near enough and that was recorded. If it had been produced with more care and the keyboard sound addressed it would have a better reputation. Brain Salad Surgery was recorded in a cinema converted into a studio which could be why the sound is a bit muddy. Keith Emmerson e-mailed me in 1997 to explain what the phrase "Brain Salad Surgery" meant. As an ELP fan I was over the moon.

Great Show! I've tried for almost 30 years now. I just can't do it. Tarkus is it.