November 20, 1970 - Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Emerson, Lake & Palmer

A month since my last release, another new band joins my library when Emerson, Lake & Palmer released their eponymous debut album on November 20, 1970. But who are Emerson, Lake & Palmer? They were a 3-piece progressive rock band formed in London, England consisting of  Keith Emerson (keyboards), Greg Lake (vocals, bass and guitars) and Carl Palmer (drums, percussion). This is the band that Lake left King Crimson for earlier this year and while I am sad to see him leave Crimson I am certainly happy to continue to listen to his great voice. Emerson, Lake & Palmer recorded this album before they had even played a single live show together. It has 2 "reworkings" as I call them, based on pieces from the early 20th century as these guys are influenced by classical music. Let's see how they sound!

Side 1 opens with "The Barbarian", the 1st "reworking" of a 1911 song by Béla Bartòk. It's an instrumental song led by some cool organ by Emerson. Palmer's quick drums come to a sudden halt and the organ flashes a bit as they go back and forth. A huge bass note signals a new part with some tight snare drum and Emerson on piano. He plays some absolutely superb piano and another huge bass note means Emerson is back on organ again. They play out a fantastic finish with some great drumming by Palmer. A wonderful intro to the talents of Keith Emerson. Track 2 is the 12 and a half minute "Take A Pebble", which opens with a slow piano riff with a bit of zip. We hear Lake's voice for the first time on the album, and it sounds wonderful as usual. He's backed by some excellent piano by Emerson and Lake's bass joins the mix in the second verse. A cool piano riff takes off on a new part with some cool bass backing. Around the 4-minute mark it gets very quiet and we hear water drops and Lake on acoustic guitar. He plays an extended true guitar solo that sounds amazing until some handclaps start a faster riff for a short bit. Emerson returns on piano around the 6:30 mark and soon it's his turn for a true solo. He plays one riff with one hand (a pretty fast cool riff at that) constantly while the other hand solos. Holy shit, this guy is talented and it really is a fantastic piano solo. The awesomeness continues as the bass and drums join in and all three members are really going off now. Really really great stuff. A new piano riff starts with about two minutes left with heavy drums by Palmer. They play one last verse, again Lake's voice just sounds so epic. Side 1 ends with the other "reworking" of a Leos Janacek classical suite, and also features elements of J.S. Bach. It opens with a great catchy bass riff and some more excellent singing by Lake. Emerson plays some cool organ after each of the first two verses and Palmer is very precise and tight on the drums. Emerson then plays a solo on the synthesizer that sounds interesting, as well as another part with some cool percussion. Back on the organ now, Emerson copies the original bass riff and it sounds fantastic! He plays a cool little bit before a trippy slowed down fadeout ends the side.

Side 2 kicks off with "The Three Fates", a three-part suite written and mostly performed by Emerson. It opens with him playing a massive pipe organ and boy does that sound great. It's sound is so loud and epic and amazing. He plays a cool quieter bit as well before returning to slamming those notes down. The second part begins when Emerson switches to piano for another truly amazing solo. He plays incredibly fast, hitting so many different notes, but it doesn't sound like madly bashing the keys, it's very beautiful and precisely done. The third and final part has a brief return to the pipe organ, before he starts a new piano riff with drums by Palmer backing. Just like earlier, Emerson uses one hand to carry the song the other to go insane with. It's a fantastic ending to a fantastic song. Track 5 is called "Tank" which is carried by a cool bass riff. Emerson plays clavinet on this song and it has an interesting sound to it. He plays a solo on that before having a cool little back and forth part with Palmer on drums. It's Palmer's turn for a solo, as we hear an extended drum solo with some really great stuff. All three members are at the top of their game, and after the drum solo, we hear a new part with Emerson on both clavinet and synthesizer. The synthesizer solo is really something and it just keeps going and going until the end, making another great song off this debut. The final song on the record is titled "Lucky Man", a folk rock song written by Lake when he was only 12 years old. It's led by a quick acoustic guitar riff and Lake sings softly about a man who seems to have everything. His voice is doubled in the chorus for more impact and it sounds great as usual. Lake plays a cool electric guitar solo before returning to acoustic for a couple more verses. Emerson plays another synthesizer solo to close out the song, and it's a pretty trippy one.

That wraps up "Emerson, Lake & Palmer" and that was a very good album. Any amount of superlatives don't seem enough as this record has several downright awesome tracks. It will be very tough for these guys to top this epic music, but I certainly can't wait to hear them try. My next release is the last of the year, see you "next month"!