Album Review #9 - Emerson, Lake, & Palmer - "Pictures At An Exhibition" (1971)

 

Album Review #9

 

Artist:  Emerson Lake & Palmer

Album:  Pictures At An Exhibition

Year of Release:  1971

Grade:  4 / 5

 

Band Members

Keith Emerson – Hammond organ, pipe organ, Moog synthesizer, Minimoog, Clavinet

Greg Lake – vocals, bass guitar, guitar

Carl Palmer – drums, percussion

 

 

Background

The band was formed in 1970 featuring Keith Emerson of the band The Nice, Greg Lake from the band King Crimson, and Carl Palmer of Atomic Rooster.  Emerson was a master of showmanship on his keyboards by playing them upside down or being spun around as well as stabbing the keys with a knife.  Palmer was a fantastic drummer being a flamboyant soloist.  Lake on the other hand was a solid anchor with his guitar playing and vocals.  The band became known as ELP and was one of the largest selling progressive rock acts.  However, that also came with a negative as they were known for musical excesses and extravagance.

 

As a whole, I generally like ELP’s music when it is more on the melodic side.  Some of the heavy progressive albums like “Tarkus” and some other tracks aren’t ones that I enjoy.  In other words, I like it when it is music vs noise.  I like some of their expanded length items that had a melody.

 

This album is unusual in that it is new music but recorded as a live album.  It is their arrangement of Modest Mussorgsky’s “Pictures At An Exhibition”.  While the original Mussorgsky composition has 10 pieces, ELP only used 4 of the pieces.  This is actually the first ELP album that I purchased.

 

 

Track Listing

1.      “Promenade” (Mussorgsky, arranged by Emerson)

2.      “The Gnome” (Mussorgsky, arranged by Palmer)

3.      “Promenade” (Mussorgsky, arranged by Lake)

4.      “The Sage” (Lake)

5.      “The Old Castle” (Mussorgsky, arranged by Emerson)

6.      “Blues Variation” (Emerson, Lake, Palmer)

7.      “Promenade” (Mussorgsky, arranged by Emerson)

8.      “The Hut of Baba Yaga” (Mussorgsky, arranged by Emerson)

9.      “The Curse of Baba Yaga” (Emerson, Lake, Palmer)

10.  “The Hut of Baba Yaga” (Mussorgsky, arranged by Emerson)

11.  “The Great Gates of Kiev” (Mussorgsky, arranged by Lake)

12.  “Nut Rocker” (Tchaikovsky, Kim Foley, arranged by Emerson, Lake, Palmer)

13.   “Pictures At An Exhibition”**

 

In reissues, it included the studio version rather only the live album version.

 

 

Review

The opening cut “Promenade” sounds like it should be played on a church organ with huge pipes and has that feel to it.  It sounds like a call to worship.  In this case, it is but to a musical experience.

 

It segues into “The Gnome” which plays into ELP prog sound with its timpani opening and duel drums, bass guitar, and keyboards.  It has a unique sound and almost borders on the “noise” rather than the melody that I like.  Then right at the end, it gets back to a melody base.

 

Then it segues back into “Promenade” but instead of the church organ feel, it is more of a modern keyboard sound.  Also, this version contains some haunting vocals by Lake.  It is two takes on the same piece of music and both are worthy.

 

“The Sage” is the first original track.  It has a nice melodic feel to it without being overwhelmed with Emerson’s keyboard acrobatics.  Lake’s vocals are a nice soothing touch and fits with the atmosphere within the song.  The acoustic guitar has almost a renaissance fair feel to it.

 

“The Old Castle” is an Emerson based song.  It is that sound that some fans of his just love – but I am not one of them.  I like Palmer’s drums but not Emerson’s theatrics.

 

“Blues Variation” has everything that I like about ELP.  A great melody, great drums, solid bass, and keyboards that actually sound like keyboards then some synthesized mess.  It shows what a great musician Emerson is.

 

Next up is a third trip to “Promenade”.  This is a more straight ahead version.  It sort of blends the two previous versions.  I do appreciate all three takes of this song.

 

“The Hut of Baba Yaga” picks up the pace.  While nobody would accuse of it being an outright rocker, it does have an uplifting quality.  Once again, it illustrates the skills of the musicians without the pompousness.

 

“The Curse of Baba Yaga” is another original cut.  Once again, it plays to Emerson’s ability to make noise rather than a cohesive song.  Lake has some great bass interplay with Palmer.  It is almost as if they are trying to pull Emerson back from the ledge.  About halfway through, they succeed and it is back to the ELP that I like.

 

A revisit to “The Hut of Baba Yaga” is a quick one.  It is almost like a reprise here.

 

“The Great Gates of Kiev” is probably my favorite of the Mussorgsky tracks.  It is a grandiose finale.  Great vocals by Lake, understated but powerful keyboards by Emerson, and perfectly executed drums from Palmer.

 

“Nut Rocker” is a unique add to this album because it is not a Mussorgsky related track.  However, it is a great cut.  A modernized rock version of a Tchaikovsky composition (Nutcracker).  ELP takes this classic song and brings it into the present.  It is a fun song and it seems like the musicians enjoyed recording it.