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 Simply Put, Simply Great Dec 13, 2009
Despite the fact that some found the mixing on this double disc complilation to be horrible and all that, I found the music here fantastic. A terrific introduction to an amazing group. It is true perhaps, a song or two has been left off. That seems to be always the case. There's even the editted version of "Fanfare For The Common Man". But the two discs are full (79 & 78 min.) So if something else would have been added, something would have to come off. The bottom line: this is a awesome collection. If you are on the fence about purchasing it, by all means buy it. I'm sure you'll find it excellent, too.
1 of 2 found the following review helpful:
All You Really Need Oct 30, 2009
From previous reviews, you can glean that remasters don't always satisfy the hardcore fan. Being a somewhat tepid fan of Emerson, Lake and Palmer, this collection gives me everything I need and more. It's been said that the recent Beatle remasters were favorable to Ringo Starr. I think that this particular ELP collection pushes Greg Lake to the forefront.
Emerson, Lake and Palmer, as all the fan base knows, was born from the ashes of the Nice, King Crimson, and Atomic Rooster. The essential difference between the Nice and ELP can be stated like this: with Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Keith Emerson began relying on synthesizer instead of organ or piano. ELP's albums were produced with a perfectionist's touch, and the group veered from the approach of the Nice into a much more Romanticized type of classical rock. Those qualities can be traced directly to Greg Lake.
ELP's best albums--that is to say, the least pompous--are well represented here. There are roughly five cuts apiece from "Emerson, Lake and Palmer", and "Trilogy". "Take a Pebble", "The Endless Enigma", and "Trilogy" are particularly well arranged, and the piano interludes are the source of many a "New Age" performance.
It doesn't bother me much that there's a "drop-out" at a point in "Karn-Evil 9", because I never cared that much for that business in the first place. It was when "Brain Salad Surgery" came out that ELP was increasingly labeled as "bombastic", and Greg Lake was tagged as a "megaphone voice."
In reality, Lake had one of the more pleasurable voices in Rock, and his ballads were a major reason that ELP gained Top Forty status. Virtually all of the hits are included here.
As a bonus, there is the full version of the "Tarkus Suite" and "Bitches' Crystal", so you can frisbee your old copy of the Tarkus album into the garbage can if you wish. There could have been more of "Pictures at an Exhibition", and much less of "Black Moon", but with "Still, You Turn Me On", "Jerusalem" and "Toccata", the best of "Brain Salad Surgery" is included.
I still find it ironic that this group was vilified so much when Punk music broke wide in the late Seventies. If you listen to "Endless Enigma", you'll find Keith Emerson quoting some vintage suspense television scoring in the intro, and with "Peter Gunn", ELP anticipated the reworked movie score music of the hyper-hip jazzman John Zorn and his group Naked City.
So there.
1 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 What!? Jul 31, 2009
Ok, in all fairness, being born in the 70's I am too young to have been around when this band was at it's peak. However, I am mostly a fan of music produced before my time or from when I was very young, and I am especially a big fan of several progressive rock groups like Yes, Rush, Genesis, etc. Since ELP has connections with Yes and Asia, and is considered to be progressive rock (of course others argue that ELP is not prog rock), I thought why not give them a try?
I really mean no offense to people who are fans of ELP, to each is their own, but it is quite possibly the worst thing I ever listened to in my life. To me it is not even music, it sounds more like someone making sound effects and noises on a cheap child's playtoy keyboard from Wal-mart. I am a fan of many groups that most mainstream music listeners think are a bit weird, but these guys are way too weird for even me!
I fully expect to get thrown under the bus by some of the hardcore fanboys for this, but someone needs to go on here and give people who don't know this band their fair warning. I've mocked out a few Zeppelin and Yes haters in my day, so I probably deserve it! "This is art", or "this is smart music", or comments of that nature are expected. Of course, Andy Warhol said a painting of a bunch of soup cans was art, but all I see is a bunch of soup cans. I don't know, I am a big lover of music, and even play several instuments myself...and I am always willing to give anything different a try, but I just could not stomach these guys. Maybe if I smoked a whole bunch of...well you know...and then listened to these guys, maybe then I could appreciate them more...maybe, lol.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
The best prog rock collection out there! Feb 07, 2009
I love it. Tarkus full version and not edited. All my favorite ELP songs.
A great intro to ELP. Great price and the only one to buy if you cannot afford them all.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Uma grande coletânea Sep 17, 2008
Eis uma grade coletânea, de um grande grupo que marcou época.
Maravilhosos e sempre é ótimo ouví-los repetidas e repetidas vezes. A gente não se cansa mesmo.
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