Search - Keith Emerson & The Nice :: Absolutely the Best

From the Beginning

Robert Huggins | Suburban Philadelphia, PA United States | 06/20/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This isn't the only CD available of "The Nice" on the market, but it's a good place to start and hits most of the band's high points on their first three albums for the Immediate label. I don't know if "The Nice" was the very first progressive rock band, but their meshing of rock, jazz and classical music certainly made its mark and paved the way for many other prog rock bands. I wanted to hear the beginnings of Emerson, Lake & Palmer and this CD clearly demonstrates the dominance of Keith Emerson's keyboards even at this early stage. These recordings were made shortly before the synthesizer was introduced to rock audiences and Emerson is limited to piano and organ. Brian Davison (drums) and Lee Jackson (bass, vocals) are a surprisingly effective rhythm section, but poor Davy O'List (guitar) is mostly lost in the shuffle. It's no surprise that O'List left the band during the recording of the band's second album.



It's astonishing to me that this music was recorded over 35 years ago, and yet much of it still sounds fresh. Sure the recording technology of the late 1960s isn't what it is today, but the musicianship of the band more than makes up for any deficiencies of the recording. That said, it would have been nice to hear the guitar parts given a little more prominence, and Lee Jackson is certainly not one of rock's great vocalists. Though Jackson gives it his all, he simply isn't a vocalist of Greg Lake's caliber and I find myself more attracted to the band's instrumentals and those songs that are predominantly instrumental.



This CD is recommended to ELP fans who want to hear the beginnings of the ELP sound and to progressive rock fans, in general, who want to hear some of the genre's earliest recordings.

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