Black Moon. In The Hot Seat. Often overlooked when discussing ELP, the group’s two albums from the 90s are nothing less than interesting, blighted often only by the use of then-latest technologies that date them more than their high-period work from the early 70s. Black Moon takes the production template of Asia/ Yes 90125 era and clatters away as only records of that time do, but there is most definitely something there. Most successful are Lake’s timeless ballad Affairs Of The Heart and Emerson’s suitably overstated take on Prokofiev’s Romeo And Juliet. A recording of the 1992 Royal Albert Hall concert rounds off the release well; the group are clearly delighted to be in each other’s company. In The Hot Seat has garnered a poor reputation over the years, and sadly, it’s largely justified.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer's new one, Trilogy, is easily the best they have done. Which means that it's serious, snotty-rock playing of a competence most bands can't begin to achieve. There is a great power in everything played here, as well as that rarest of rock commodities, taste -- something that E.L. Have worked hard to develop.
Their label (Victory) was about to go under so needed a hit, and the group went off into a soft-focus AOR that may have worked a decade earlier, but the keyboard sounds frequently are akin to the telephone hold music at a doctor’s surgery. The almost swingbeat (no, really) of Thin Line says it all really. The bonus re-recording of Pictures At An Exhibition is curious, and beautifully played.
![Emerson Lake And Palmer Trilogy Rarest Emerson Lake And Palmer Trilogy Rarest](/uploads/1/2/5/6/125644087/795733075.jpg)
The live album from the 97/98 tour is a treat though – the band revisiting older and rarer material is thoroughly enjoyable. For a group’s whose relatively slender catalogue has been mined so many times, these new editions (of which these two conclude the studio releases) are smart and succinct.
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer‘s third studio album, and fourth overall in barely two years, was entitled Trilogy coming in July 1972, a high watermark peak for Progressive Rock’s quality as well as massive popularity ( see sidebar link below ). “ Lucky Man” from their debut Emerson, Lake, and Palmer may have remained their most famous song, and their fourth studio album Brain Salad Surgery may have been their best seller, but Trilogy has remained a favorite over these many changes in rock music as the place where Keith Emerson, Greg Lake, and Carl Palmer‘s ambitions to expand the palette of rock music were perfectly balanced by terrific songwriting and production on “ The Endless Enigma“, “ From the Beginning“, and the title song opus. The late Greg Lake and sole survivor Carl Palmer continue this in-depth conversation with some hilarious stories, including how the late Keith Emerson accidentally invented the mosh pit! Carl Palmer (l), Keith Emerson (c), Greg Lake (r). Keith Emerson died suddenly at age 71. Keith was a pioneer in progressive rock, and a true gentleman. I am truly saddened that he is gone.
And few new at that time that Greg Lake was terminally ill, and Greg’s cherubic smile and choirboy voice was silenced about six months later leaving Carl Palmer to serve here as the legacy historian of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer’s Trilogy, which soared to the #5 seller in the US shortly after release in July 1972.- Redbeard July 9, 2017 / by Tags:,.