Search - Emerson Lake & Palmer :: Black Moon

Not bad at all

Ignaciocue | Mexico | 09/21/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This record really grows on you. It has excellent songs and performances; i recommend it for ELP fans. Of course you will not hear the old magnificent songs they wrote, but this cd is worth every dollar."

Probably the Best Album by ELP!!!

Sergey Lenkov | Mother Russia | 01/03/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I had heard this album after their classic works. What a pity!

You should start your acquaintance with ELP from this album. Here they do it better. Smash drum beats by Palmer, dynamic keyboards playing by Emerson, emotional singing by Lake.



Of course, old fan needs 30 minutes long opuses, voice... of young Greg Lake (could anybody sing in 1992 as he sang in 1970? Pavarotti probably, but we are not in the opera, we are listening to the voice of an old rocker), depressive new "Tocatta-2", low quality recording. Do you need them?



As for me, no. I need good music. And you would get it. The first 5 songs - real classics by ELP. Rock songs ("Black Moon", "Paper Blood"), ballad "Affairs of the Heart" (reminds "Still... You Turn Me On"; co-written with Downes of Asia), great (really great!) epic insrumental by Emerson-Palmer "Romeo and Juliet" (based on the theme from Prokofiev`s ballet; scene "Montecci and Capuletti"; probably the best instrumental by Emerson), another ballad "Farwell to Arms" with epic Moog solo in style of "Lucky Man". Well, album got little pop music and AOR touch, but you could beleive, if Emerson, Lake and Palmer are playing for you melodic songs - it is a high quality professional work. Music full of energy and optimism. Listen to this album as to continuation of their last record of the 1970s - "Love Beach"!

What a pity, where were no sequel to "Black Moon". The most interesting part of the next album (1994) - "In the Hot Seat" are the new version of Mussorgsky`s "Pictures..." and the cover of Dylan`s "Man in the Long Black Coat". And the mood of the album is quite dark.

Still... We are waiting for the new studio CD by ELP.



P.S. If you`d like to hear more music by Emerson and Palmer in such optimistic polished style with a little touch of pop music - try album "To the Power of Three" (1988) by Three (Emerson, Berry and Palmer).



The problem of majority of the fans is the following - once they like some albums by the performer - then they think the band must do the same music till death. Deep Purple must record "Smoke on the Water"-2, 3, 4, Mike Oldfield - "Tubular Bells"-5,6,7,8, ELP - "Tocatta"-9, 10, 11.

All other music - bull...t. By the way, if band would try to imitate good old sound - such fans would say that the older records were much better. If band tries to do something new - verdict of such fans is the same.

For me it seems simply boring.

So relax - and listen to good music (but try to find it for fair price)!"