Published on Apr 7, 1999
There are two main schools of thought regarding ’70s progressive
rock superstars Emerson, Lake & Palmer. In this corner, we have
those who believe that the group was years ahead of its time and
remains cutting-edge to this day. In the opposite corner, we have
those who believe that ELP represented the bloated, overbearing
side of prog-rock and epitomized its excesses in the worst way.
Me? I’m just Mills Lane standing in the middle of the ring,
waiting for the blood to start spurting. There have been some
efforts of ELP over the years that I’ve absolutely loved, while
there have been others that I’ve wanted to take outside and beat to
death with an axe.
Whatever your opinions of ELP are, there is no denying that they
did blaze a trail for progressive rock that is still being carved
today. Hundreds of groups would not have had the chances they do
today had it not been for Keith Emerson, Greg Lake and Carl Palmer
taking musical chances at a time when record companies weren’t
afraid of pouring money into such experimental groups.
Their “children” – the bands that carry the progressive rock
torch today – now have paid tribute with
Encores, Legends & Paradox: A Tribute To The Music Of
ELP. While there are some interesting takes on the music here,
the disc itself is hampered by the fact that it is a “for the fans”
release. While there may be some people who would check out the
disc because of the long list of guest musicians (inluding Jethro
Tull’s Martin Barre, Dream Theater’s James LaBrie, Mike Portnoy and
now ex-member Derek Sherinian, Geoff Downes and John Wetton), I
don’t see many people getting into ELP thanks to the new spins on
their music.
Some of the arrangements are very interesting, and are enough to
make me go back to the orignal albums to give them another listen.
“Knife Edge” (featuring Glenn Hughes, Simon Phillips, Marc Bonilla
and Robert Berry) is one such track, one that captures the essence
of the original’s plodding tempo while giving the sound a kick into
overdrive. Likewise, “The Endless Enigma” (a track I wasn’t
previously familiar with) is a winner, with Portnoy, Downes, Trent
Gardner and Wayne Gardner sending this track through the roof.
(Another track I liked that I wasn’t too familiar with was
“Tarkus,” featuring Phillips, LaBrie, Bonilla, Sherinian and
Berry.)
A few other tracks fall a little flat – surprisingly, this
includes “Karn Evil 9, 1st Impression,” quite possibly the
best-known ELP song in their catalog. Berry, Phillips, Mark Wood
and Jordan Rudess (now with Dream Theater) do their best to put a
unique spin on the song, and it does get better with repeated
listens, but in this case, this song is an example of why you don’t
want to mess with the classics.
A few other tracks, like “Toccata” and “Bitches Crystal,” were
songs I just couldn’t build up enough excitement for to really get
into. Likewise, “Hoedown” (featuring violinist Jerry Goodman) was a
major disappointment, though I think we’re at the point where
anything but the original version by Aaron Copeland will
disappoint.
However, all the artists should be commended for tackling such a
difficult subject for a tribute album as ELP. Any tribute album is
a difficult task to put together, as you don’t want to mimic the
original note-for-note, but you don’t want to distance the
long-time fans by radically altering the song.
Encores, Legends & Paradox tries to walk the line, and
in many cases, does so admirably. Unfortunately, unless you’re
really into Emerson, Lake & Palmer, this disc might not do very
much for you.