Track 1 is really good, and so are a lot of tracks on this
disc. However, there is not enough
complexity to satisfy my craving for complexity in music. I bought this because Emerson Lake and Palmer
were recommended to me as an early progressive band. However, though this may fit in the genre of
early progressive there have been many albums put out since that even the best
of Emerson Lake and Palmer doesn’t cut it for my taste for originality that is
cerebral.
Track 2 makes me think of what the baby boomers considered
great music. It was nothing that was in
comparison to the old jazz greats like Benny Goodman that the previous
generation listened. Truly the
popularity of this is a part of the reason why my musical teachers rejected
rock even as a valid medium for musical expression.
I personally did not give up hope in rock and I ended up
finding some really good music there that is far more cerebral than this. So there you have it, already by the second
track on this album there is starting to be some mediocre rock of which by
nature there is nothing really special about it.
The critic of this writing must face the fact that there are
oodles of more cerebral jazz albums than even The Very Best of Emerson Lake
& Palmer, and many more works that followed it in the vein of jazz fusion,
making this album practically an irrelevant selection because there is so much
stuff out there that is as good as this one.
I like track 3 and 4 though.
These are definitely a standouts.
However, this whole album would had to be at this level of quality in
order for me to give it a 4 star rating.
Likewise, despite this bands luck as having a place in history, the time
when audio recordings were really coming to be high quality, and due to their
playability at home (which has done wonders for snuffing out the whole idea of
live music), I believe that they will not stand the test of time, unless web
pages keep them in their top 100 lists of bands.
When I bought this album I felt like I was unearthing old
dinosaur hits that will be forgotten.
Why? Though my son might be
familiar with them, I would bet that he is the outlier, and that while Emerson
Lake and Palmer may be able to live off of royalties in the lifetime. I doubt that once they are gone, and the
baby boomers that loved them are gone, people won’t search for them nearly as
much. The primary reason for they will
be forgotten is that there has been a torrent of jazz/rock written at this level
of quality, including both higher quality and lower quality.
Track 5, 6, 7, 8, etc, reek of mediocrity. Some of them sound like movie soundtrack
ideas that do not rise above my expectations.
Despite my criticisms that this band lacks in the technicality
department, I do believe that these songs are pretty much beyond the scope of
what a high school band could play. In
fact, very few cover bands at the adult level could play this music. That is another reason why I expect Emerson,
Lake and Palmer to be forgotten.
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