Published on Jan 4, 1999
For their long-time fans, Emerson Lake & Palmer were and are
the ultimate molding of classical music and progressive rock. For
their detractors, the band was the ultimate illustration of how a
genre could be taken too far.
I find myself in the middle of the two camps. While I’ve never
claimed to be highly knowledgable about the career of Keith
Emerson, Greg Lake and Carl Palmer, I’ve known what I’ve liked and
disliked in their music. In my book, they put out some music in
their nearly 30-year career together that has been touchingly
beautiful, while at other times they’ve been quite overbearing. To
each their own, I guess.
The latest offering from the band,
Then And Now, captures two different live portraits of the
group: one from 1974 at the height of their popularity, and one
from their recent tour. (Side note: I was at their show in the
Chicagoland area last year, but missed their entire set while a
bunch of us – guests of Dream Theater – waited to see if John
Pertrucci would come by for the meet-and-greet. No one checked
passes afterwards, so I could have waited around to meet the band,
but my feet hurt, and I really wanted to see Deep Purple.)
The first half of this disc showcases ELP’s set at 1974’s
California Jam. The sound quality is a bit touchy, occasionally
bordering on sounding like a higher-quality audience tape. Palmer’s
drum work on “Toccata” occasionally sounds washed out, although his
performance is interesting. The solo performances of “Still… You
Turn Me On” and “Lucky Man” by Lake are also eye-opening, highly
worth the experience only if you’ve never heard these works more
stripped-down. (Also, throughout this album, the cardinal sin of
fading out between tracks of a live album is committed. Sorry, but
this is a sore point for me.)
Possibly the best-known portion of this show is their
performance of excerpts from “Karn Evil 9” (originally off
Brain Salad Surgery). “First Impression Pt. 2” is the
portion most of us are familiar with, and ELP doesn’t disappoint.
However, “Third Impression” is a bit long in the tooth, and is a
performance for the die-hard fans only.
Rounding out the first disc and providing all the content of
disc two are selections from the 1997-1998 tour from around the
world. Although the voices show the passage of time, they still
ring out as loudly as the instruments. Long-time fans will welcome
the appearance of songs like “A Time And A Place” and “Honky Tonk
Train Blues,” while the fans who maybe know the band only from
classic rock radio will love hearing “From The Beginning”, “Karn
Evil 9 First Impression Pt. 2” and “Lucky Man” in their modern
glory.
The classical influence is most notable here, with the
appearance of a selection from Emerson’s “Piano Concerto No. 1” as
well as two workings of selections from Aaron Copeland, “Hoedown”
(which is a big mistake) and “Fanfare For The Common Man” (which
the band first did on
Works Vol. 1).
What is noteworthy about this era of performances is that the
music has more of an edge to it than it did in the early years,
almost daring the listener to take it on its own terms. For that
reason alone,
Then And Now might just capture ELP a new generation of
fans.
Then And Now has some rough edges to it — kind of like
Emerson Lake & Palmer’s career. But in the end, it’s a journey
into the time capsule that’s well worth taking.