Search - Emerson Lake & Palmer :: Then & Now

Some moments of brilliance, but not enough

Laon | moon-lit Surry Hills | 08/12/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"From my point of view the main interest in this collection was going to be the "Then" material. Not out of nostaligia, but simply because in the 70s ELP were a great band: awesomely creative, risk-taking, energetic but humanised by Lake's acoustic playing and pure-and-powerful tenor voice (as it then was). Odd, in a way, that they were so reviled during the punk revolution: the virtuosity may have been unfashionable, but the speed thrills, the noise, and the occasional humour were very much part of that spirit. And the 1974 "Then" material doesn't disappoint; it includes probably the best versions of Karn Evil 9 Part 3 released, for accuracy, energy and conviction. It's also possibly the only one in which Emerson's "voice of the computer" interjections sound genuinely dangerous rather than slightly silly. Unlike the previous reviewer (who writes a fair review) I don't have a problem with the sound of the 70s recording: good enough is good enough, in my book. What I do have a problem with is the selection. For example we get Carl Palmer's drum solo from _Toccata_, without getting _Toccata_ itself. A fade in to a drum solo, fading out at the end, is not a smart decision, no matter how good the drum solo might be. And we only get the last half of _Take a Pebble_. It starts at Lake's mid-song acoustic break, for _Still, You Turn me On_ and _Lucky Man_, for which Lake is in fine form both vocally and on guitar. Though I miss the classical-influenced acoustic guitar solo from the original studio version. The track moves on to Emerson's piano improvisations, which are also excellent, and interesting to compare to the improvisations on the _Welcome Back My Friends_ live set, recorded a year earlier. Then we get one verse of _Take a Pebble_, on to the finish. That "half a song" seems more than a little careless. I'd readily swap getting the whole song for Carl's drum solo. In fact, ideally we'd have got the whole of _Toccatta_ AND all of of _Take a Pebble_, and if something had to go, we could easily have shed some of the "Now" material. The "Now" performances are inferior at every level. Emerson is intent in showing he can still play fast, which he certainly can; but at the speed he chooses he murders his Piano Concerto 1 movement 3, giving it a high-speed run without expression or feeling. Honky Tonk Train Blues likewise sacrifices everything else in favour of speed. Emerson's speed can be exhilarating, but only if there's also a feeling of control, that we're still getting music and not just a downhill race. Another problem is that Lake's songs have been re-arranged to minimise or eliminate what used to be opportunities to shine on guitar. And that's odd. A voice can go with age, if it's not looked after, but why shouldn't Lake have got _better_ on his instrument, after 30 years? Palmer also disappoints. There's a drum sound that dominates a lot of very boring music made in the 80s: that style where the drummer does little but come in with a deep "WHACK!" just a moment behind the beat, to sort of kick the song along. It was quite effective when the style was first developed (I think that Nick Mason may have originated the style in the mid-70s, or at least that Pink Floyd was one of the very first bands to use it, from _Obscured by Clouds_ onwards.) At the time it had a pleasantly laid-back, marijuana feel to it. Then it became a cliche, an integral part of the sound of every boring 80s big-hair stadium act, who went through the 80s and 90s putting out ghastly ballads while pretending to RAWK! also chanting a lot of tedious Rock Anthems, As If Punk (among other things) Never Happened. That plodding drummer's cliche has infected Carl's drumming too, turning an inventive percussionist into a minimalist, and threatening to drag otherwise interesting songs into a MOR morass. Still, there are compensations. Lake manages the vocals on the 90s shortened version of _Take a Pebble_ well enough; it's not as interesting a voice now it's roughened, but it's passable, and he improves for _Lucky Man_. I like the last section best, with Emerson storming his way through _Fanfare_, _Blue Rondo a la Turk_ (where Emerson includes references to the original, Mozart's _Rondo a la Turque_, in places where Brubeck's "blue" version doesn't), America and so on, on the way quoting bits of Shostakovich, Ginastera, himself (Abbadon's Bolero), Bernstein and any number of other people. It's not quite great music (and I agree with the previous reviewer on Emerson's choice of synth sound: it undermines a lot of what he plays) but it IS a lot of fun. My 3-star rating is mostly for the "Then" material, and even that is flawed by poor selection. The "Now" stuff would be lucky to get two stars. I'm probably being kind, awarding 3 stars to the whole. So this is one for serious fans only. There are some rewards here, but it's not a good place to begin acquaintance with ELP. Cheers!Laon"

No Garlands of Martian Fire Flowers For Anybody Here

Peter K. Geddes | back in the day | 09/22/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I don't know how this album got past ELP's Quality Control. I remember enjoying the '97-'98 shows that form the more recent part of this set, but I didn't enjoy these recordings. Greg Lake either had a cold when these recordings were made or else he is losing his voice. Either way, why put out an album to document the fact? The recent material also duplicates alot of the older material from the first part, which is performed alot better and with alot more energy and enthusiasm. So the newer stuff pales in comparison the the older stuff, even with the dodgy sound quality (it sounds like somebody put a cassette player up to the speaker of his/her TV in 1974 -- it's sound quality that I would expect on a bootleg) and bad edits.

So you have well-recorded but poorly performed material from 1997-8 and well-performed but poorly recorded material from 1974. I don't think anyone is well-served by this effort. No garlands of Martian fire flowers for anyone involved in the making of this ablum!









"

Emerson Lake&Palmer - 'Then And Now' (Eagle Entertainment)

Mike Reed | USA | 02/12/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Main reason I'm giving this 2-CD release a five-star rating is because it was a but different than most other live ELP discs I've heard.Similar,you understand,but not 'the same'.Maybe one reason was that I thought they really kicked ass on "Touch And Go".Okay,disc one is a live archive performance from 1974 California Jam,in which the best tunes were "Karn Evil 9:First Impression,Part 2/Third Impression" and the beautifully penned "In The Beginning"(this tune DEFINES classic rock).Disc two are assorted cuts from the trio's 1997-98 world tour,in which I couldn't get enough of "Tiger In A Spotlight","Hoedown","Knife Edge" or "Lucky Man".A must-have for any and all fans of Emerson Lake and Palmer.Even new/er fans would likely get a lot from 'Then And Now'.Highly recommended."