EMERSON LAKE & PALMER
The best of ELP again. This time on vinyl and in a box. IN ESSENCE, THE BEST OF AN ALL-TIME PROG
ROCK GREAT…
There are few certainties in life; the obligatory death, obviously, taxes, and that prog fans will react angrily with claims of money-grabbing by bands (in reality it should be on the record labels) when the magazine announces on the website the news of any new impending back catalogue reissue.
In fairness to the fans, they have a point. The ELP catalogue has been wrung through the mill by Sanctuary, Universal, Sony and, more recently, BMG in the last two decades, which has seen album reissues, compilations and live releases repackaged and reissued seemingly infinitum.
True, BMG struck gold with the awesome Fanfare: The Emerson Lake & Palmer Box back in 2017, but with the remainder over the years, you can’t help thinking the fans have reason to grumble.
So what does this new four-disc vinyl version of 2016’s three-disc CD bring to the table? Well, it’s on coloured vinyl and mastered at half-speed from HD sources. There are some new sleevenotes from veteran writer Chris Welch in a handsome booklet full of photos and, er… that’s about it. You’d have thought the label might have invested in new cover art instead of replicating the original CD artwork, which looks like an intern at Athena in the 1980s was let loose with cut-and-paste and a can of spray glue. Quite how a desert scene and some lightning flashes is supposed to convey the pomp and majesty of Emerson Lake & Palmer we have no idea.
Musically of course, it’s an utter gem. There’s very little missing from the track listing that screams ‘glaring omission’, and all the songs you would expect are here – the more accessible Lucky Man, Jerusalem, Still… You Turn Me On, Peter Gunn and Tiger In A Spotlight vying for your attention against the bombastic big-hitters such as Take A Pebble, Tarkus, Karn Evil 9 (although only the first impressions part 1 and 2, mind), the full-on Fanfare For
The Common Man and the elegiac Pirates from Works Vol. 1. They even refuse to gloss over the maligned Love Beach, throwing For You and Canario into the mix, although one day an enterprising compiler might chance their arm with the superior Memoirs Of An Officer And A Gentleman.
In essence though, it’s the very best of one of the all-time progressive rock greats.
In the end, it will all come down to completism as to whether you feel the need to shell out another 50-odd quid for music you already own, and most likely on various formats from over the decades. The choice, as ever, is yours.