Emerson Lake amp Palmer - Very Best of (13 tracks) +Album Reviews

Great songs, but...

David Hogan | Edison, NJ USA | 12/19/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you are new to ELP, and insist on buying a "Best of" compilation, it would be better to buy the collection simply titled "Best of Emerson, Lake and Palmer" (as opposed to this, which is VERY best of ELP). "Best of" was released years ago, but is still available currently at most stores. That cd is better because it includes the entire Tarkus suite, and as any ELP fan well knows, it is ridiculous to call an ELP collection their "Very best" material if it excludes Tarkus. Also, the original "Best of" has Hoedown, an essential early instrumental hit.However, it should be noted that because this Cd ("Very Best of ELP") excludes the Tarkus suite (20+ minutes), it includes a few songs the other collection does not..."Pirates", the full version of "Fanfare for the Common Man," the "Peter Gunn" theme, and snippets from the "Pictures at an Exhibition" album. All things considered though, I would consider the other collection to be a hell of a lot closer to "The best" of ELP than this one because of Tarkus."

Great Music, Lousy Mastering

SAL | NY US | 04/04/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This album is chock full of some classic music. A good selection overall that represents a fine cross section of the bands talents and evolutuion. Unfortunately, as any ELP fan can verify, the recordings leave a great deal to be desired. I find it odd that the best sound on the entire compilation is one of the live examples near the bottom of the track list. "C'est La Vie" is recorded live, but somehow outshines all of the studio material as far as Clarity, Depth of Image, Ambiance and Frequency Response. Almost all of the studio tracks sound flat and very scewed toward the high end. I am a fan from way back but have always been dissappointed with ELP's recordings and purchased this compilation hoping for some noticeable improvements from the mastering engineers at Rhino. Needless to say, I am not impressed."

Not "The Very Best Of..."

Master Chris | 06/15/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is good to get if you are not the ELP fan and just like their acoustic songs like everybody else. However, if you are the ELP fan, you will think,"Why isn't Tarkus in here, or The Endless Enigma, or Hoedown, or Take a Pebble, or...(and the list goes on and on). If you want a better "Best of", go for "The Best of Emerson Lake & Palmer" or "ELP: The Atlantic Years".

PROs: You get the great acoustic songs: Lucky Man, From the Beginning, Still... You Turn Me On, and C'est La Vie. And you get great rock songs like Pirates, the full Fanfare For The Comman Man, Knife-Edge, Karn Evil 9 1st Impression Part 2, Jerusalem, and Trilogy.

CONs: It lacks a lot of songs. Also, the live versions here aren't all that great. An ELP fan would know why this is not "The Very Best Of Emerson Lake & Palmer".

Look for better "Best of"s than this one."

I didn't even know this existed, but now I know why.

nayten | Altoona, PA USA | 04/19/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"No Tarkus.

ELP is a band that aren't very approachable if you aren't a diehard fan. Tarkus is the song that sums up the bands eclectic power, high energy hooks, ridiculously strong musicianship, and over the top egos. To include the more lighthearted Pirates in leu of this is a crime.

That being said, the collection isn't half bad, it just isn't half good, either. A two disc compilation would better serve the band justice. There just isn't enough space on one cd to accurately sample each stage of ELP well enough for a good understanding.

Of course, newcomers will find the early hits Lucky Man and Knife Edge welcome, powerful, and catchy. From there, we continue to a nice set of Brain Salad Surgery hits, arguably the bands strongest era. Next, the best of the sketchy Works era is featured, with Still... You Turn Me On, Lake's own ballad, and the band's poppy take on Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man. The cd rounds out with a few live songs. However, the two featured really don't do ELP's live set justice.

Over this, I would recommend Rhino's Best Of set. Additionally, for the newcomer, I urge you to by "Welcome Back My Friends..." for the strongest possible live experience. While the quality of WBMF is sketchy at points, it's the best representation of the band's strong live show experience. For the diehard fans, you owe it to yourself to pick up the boxset, Return of the Manticore.

All in all, a fair attempt at a friendly compilation... but there's better choices out there, so don't overlook them."

Very Best is a Mixed Bag

colinwoodward | Virginia | 07/21/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"What, no Tarkus? For those who love ELP, you don't need this album because you have everything they made. For those that hate them, you probably can't enjoy any of their songs other than radio friendly "Lucky Man." For the middle-of-the-road fan of ELP, like me, this album is something of a pleasure as well as a disappointment. Most of the songs here are solid, but tracks 9-13 are so different from one another (with the early-70s "Hut of Baba" much better and energetic than the later 70s version of "Fanfare") that they sound as if they were done by different bands. It is a tribute to ELP's ecclecticism that they could cover anything from Henry Mancini to Mussorgsky. But I'm sure there's more interesting material on the shelf than their cover of the "Peter Gunn" theme. And the compliers of this CD should have included something from "Tarkus." They also should have listed the songs chronologically rather than have the last track, from the early 70s, placed after their later concert material. And while I like all the songs from "Brain Salad Surgery" included here (tracks 5-8), they are more enjoyable in the context of the entire "BSS" album. And from a sound point of view, there is a noticeable drop in the volume of the CD when it gets to the BSS tracks. The first few songs sound sharp and crisp, but "Jerusalem" sounds muffled. Perhaps some better mixing would have benefited this CD. From what I've heard, fans of ELP, or those interested in their music, would be best advised to get their longer "Best of" available on Rhino that includes music from "Tarkus." Since I only have one album by ELP on CD (BSS), I will play this one from time to time. But ELP were really an album band, not a singles band. Best to absorb them an album at a time rather than fool around with Best of compliations."

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