Search - Lake & Palmer Emerson :: Trilogy

Early ELP Magic

Slo-Hand | 02/22/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"'Trilogy' is probably the most cohesive and accessible of the early ELP albums, along with the Tarkus Suite and the Karn Evil movements of Brain Salad Surgery. 'Hoedown' became a live performance staple for the band. 'The Sheriff' expanded and improved upon the 'Jeremy Bender' comic relief formula from Tarkus. I 1st heard 'Trilogy' when I was 14 and the music left a huge impression on me. I played 'Trilogy' over and over again during a period of loneliness and alienation and the music just sunk into my bones and became part of my DNA. At the time bands like 'Yes' were not as musically or lyrically accessible to me. My teenaged brain could totally relate to Greg Lake's words. He may have been artistically responding to the critics of 'Tarkus' with 'The Endless Enigma Part 1'(who knows) but I knew what he was talking about because I felt exactly the same. There may never have been a greater musical virtuoso than Keith Emerson to grace an Arena rock stage. His keyboard work throughout this album is simply jaw dropping. Between this album and 'Tarkus' he set the bar impossibly high for all comers. Greg Lake kept up and complimented Keith with his powerful voice and distinctive basslines. 'From The Beginning' improves upon the 'Lucky Man' formula from the 1st album I think because it adds a degree of sophistication that would be rehashed again on Brain Salad Surgery with 'Still You Turn Me On'. Carl Palmer is a percussionist who saught out complexity because his talent was immense as can easily be heard throughout the band's early recorded work. For my money 'Tarkus' and 'Trilogy' are the best albums this band ever made. Not many of these cuts truly translate well to live performance because of their intricacy, tempos and tracking,(monitoring on a huge stage is a nightmare) but that's okay. This is still one of the most talented bands that pop,(yeah these albums were introduced to me by my younger sister along with other million selling acts like like Led Zeppelin, CSN&Y and Steppenwolf so these guys sold huge) music ever produced. To me only jazz greats like John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Charlie Parker rank higher musically."